MotoGP British GP: Martin leads Aprilia duo in opening practice
Pramac’s Jorge Martin led the way in opening practice for the British Grand Prix on Friday, leading Aprilia duo Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro.
Aprilia led the majority of the 45-minute session at Silverstone, having won last year’s race with Aleix Espargaro at the wheel of the RS-GP.
Maverick Vinales set the early pace on the factory bike with a 2m01.436s, before improving to a 2m00.319s to cement his position at the front.
Team-mate Espargaro was the first rider to break the 2m barrier, lapping the circuit in 1m59.769s after 12 minutes on the clock to snatch the top spot from his team-mate.
Espargaro’s time remained unbeaten until the final third of the session, when Martin ended Aprilia’s stranglehold with a 1m59.627s flyer on the Pramac Ducati.
Espargaro responded with a 1m59.719s, but that still left him trailing Martin by 0.092s at the front of the order.
The championship contender slowly extended his advantage in the final 10 minutes, first improving to a 1m59.509s before going even quicker with a 1m59.383s.
Vinales made one last attempt at overhauling his countryman but his best effort of 1m59.473s fell short by 0.090s, as Martin drew first blood in the second part of the season.
However, it was still a strong start to the weekend for Aprilia, with Espargaro finishing right 0.246s adrift of Vinales in third.
KTM’s Jack Miller ran near the front for the majority of the session and took fourth as the chequered flag dropped, ahead of Franco Morbidelli on the second of the Pramac bikes.
Enea Bastianini was the top runner for the factory Ducati team in sixth place, two spots clear of his world champion team-mate Francesco Bagnaia. The Ducati two were separated by Fabio di Giannantonio on the VR46-entered GP23, as five Ducati bikes occupied the top eight spots.
Fabio Quartararo put in a solid effort on the factory Yamaha to take ninth place, less than half a second off the pace set by Martin.
Gresini’s Marc Marquez was able to complete the top 10 despite a crash at Stowe in the final minutes of the session when he was on a flying lap. He was the last of the riders to lap in the 1m59s bracket.
Tech3 GasGas’s Pedro Acosta also ended up in the gravel late on in practice, but only just nudged the barriers after going off at Brooklands with seven minutes left on the clock.
A 2m00.052s lap left him 11th in the timesheets, ahead of the second Gresini bike of Alex Marquez and factory KTM rider Brad Binder.
A total of 23 riders started the British GP weekend, with Remy Gardner getting a wildcard outing with Yamaha.
