MotoGP Silverstone FP1 LIVE: Johann Zarco crashes and shines! Fabio Quartararo down and 4th.

That's it, the MotoGP world championship is coming out of its summer torpor due to the cancellation of the Finnish Grand Prix to make us gasp once again in front of the best riders in the world in search of the supreme title!

And what could be better than a confrontation with an uncertain outcome, fabio quartararo leading by only 21 points ahead of a Alex Espargaro in full positive spiral on his Aprilia RS–GP?

The icing on the cake is that it happens at Silverstone, the site of the Noale firm's first podium in MotoGP, and to make it even more interesting the competent authorities have judged thatThe Devil had behaved badly in delaying his main adversary Assen, and therefore inflicted a Long Lap penalty at Silverstone which is controversial to say the least. However, we know the French rider's winning tactic, namely to take the lead as quickly as possible and escape so as not to be blocked behind an opponent who is difficult to overtake with the power that the Yamaha YZR-M1 has...

There, with the Long Lap which must be carried out at the very start of the race at turn #14, it seems certain that the reigning Silverstone winner, Fabio Quartararo, will not be able to apply its winning strategy and, therefore, opens the door to a possible significant rise inAlex Espargaro in the general classification! To see if the 3 turns rule receives an adjustment…

There is no shortage of other topics of interest, starting with Johann zarco, third in the championship and still the best Ducati rider, although this time not invited to an official press conference. For what ? Even the Pramac communications service could not provide us with an answer…
Perhaps because we give more potential to Francis Bagnaia, 4th in the general classification despite 4 blank results and thanks to 3 victories, in the genre " hit or miss ", facing the French Diesel which is currently on the second step of the podium and does not have lasting memories of Silverstone in MotoGP (fall in 2019, 11th in 2021). Last year, the summer break was not beneficial to the French driver: will it be the opposite in 2022? We wish him…

The news, in addition Marc Marquez still convalescing and replaced by Stefan bradl, is marked by the planned renunciation byAndrea Dovizioso and, consequently, the return of Cal Cructhlow after Misano.

The rest, we will find out now, during this first 45-minute free practice session which will take place with mild skies and temperatures of 16° in the air and 27° on the asphalt. Let's enjoy these few live moments thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

Here are the past references:

Silverstone MotoGP™	2021	2022
FP1	2'00.941 Marc Marquez (See here)	1'59.893 Johann Zarco (See here)
FP2	1'59.317 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
FP3	1'59.288 Jack Miller (See here)
FP4	2'00.002 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Q1	1'59.288 Johann Zarco (See here)
Q2	1'58.889 Pol Espargaro (See here)
Warm Up	2'00.325 Aleix Espargaro (See here)
Course	Quartararo, Rins, Aleix Espargaro (See here)
All time lap record	1'58.168 Marc Márquez (2019) (See here)

When the red lights go out... Joan mir rushes first in front Franco Morbidelli, while fabio quartararo remains faithful to his strategy of starting last, this time behind the two Aprilias.

In terms of tires, the soft tire is popular at the front, the medium at the rear.

Franco Morbidelli registered the first reference in 2'05.019 but at the end of the first flying lap Fabio Quartararo wins at the top of the timesheet in 2'03.631 ahead Johann zarco.

The following passage shows alex rins in 2'02.252 ahead Jack Miller, Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco while fabio quartararo did a first Long Lap test.

One more round and Jack Miller is 2'01.432 ahead Johann Zarco, Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro while Francesco Bagnaia makes a mistake at high speed at turn #4.

Meanwhile, fabio quartararo seems to have a mechanical breakdown (engine off) and returns by pushing his machine then being pushed by Jack Miller.

As the first quarter of an hour approaches, we find Alex Rins at the top of the ranking in 2'00.961 ahead Takaaki Nakagami, Aleix Espargaro, Marco Bezzecchi, Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco.

Maverick Vinales then achieved the best time in 2'00.827 before almost everyone returned to the box for a first quick debriefing.

The hierarchy is then composed of Maverick Vinales, Alex Rins, Takaaki Nakagami, Aleix Espargaro, Marco Bezzecchi, Miguel Oliveira, Alex Márquez, Jorge Martin, Johann Zarco, Jack Miller, Brad Binder, Raul Fernandez, Pol Espargaro, Enea Bastianini, Joan Mir, Remy Gardner, Andrea Dovizioso , Luca Marini, Francesco Bagnaia, Franco Morbidelli, Stefan Bradl, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Darryn Binder and Fabio Quartararo.

On resumption, alex rins regains command in 2'00.728 while fabio quartararo second position is reestablished.

15 minutes from the checkered flag, Johann zarco made a mistake at high speed in turn #7 after lighting the first sector in red, without seriousness for the French driver.

fabio quartararo did a second Long Lap test while alex rins improves in 2'00.527 before stopping at his box.

Six minutes from the end of the session, Alex Espargaro is inserted between alex rins et Fabio Quartararo, when John Zarco returns to the track with his second motorcycle.

Four minutes later, fabio quartararo took command in 2'00.438 before handing it over to Francis Bagnaia in 2'00.291 then at Alex Rins in 2'00.220.

Johann zarco then erased his fall in a beautiful way, setting the best time in 1'59.893!

At the end of this first session, the top 10 is therefore made up of Johann Zarco, Francesco Bagnaia, Alex Rins, Fabio Quartararo, Takaaki Nakagami, Aleix Espargaro, Maverick Vinales, Joan Mir, Jorge Martin et Brad Binder with a KTM with a noticeably lengthened front cylinder exhaust.

MotoGP British Grand Prix FP1 results:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com