MotoGP Silverstone Practice LIVE: Jorge Martin, like this morning!

After a four-week break, the Championship World MotoGP comes out of its summer torpor to go to the Silverstone circuit for the British Grand Prix, and celebrate the 75th anniversary of motorcycle Grand Prix. 

More than a simple Excel table, our graph allows you to immediately see the highlights of the first part of the season, with in particular the change of leader made during the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring, George Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) having arrived there with 10 points in advance and having left before as much delay on the new leader, the reigning champion Francis Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). On the side of the Reds, who like the other teams will ride with a special 75th anniversary vintage livery, the confidence is all the more complete as the spearhead of Pramac seems to have marked time in Germany...

Francis Bagnaia : “Honestly, it was good to have a little break after the GP at Sachsenring. I went to Sardinia with my wife and it was fantastic to rest a bit, then the week of the wedding I started training again. It wasn't easy to concentrate on training, knowing that I was getting married in five days, but honestly it was a fantastic day that I enjoyed very much and everything was fantastic, more beautiful than I expected. was expecting, so it was great. Then we had World Ducati Week and it's not easy for a Ducati rider to relax during that kind of weekend because you want to be everywhere to meet the Ducati fans, which is hard to do. But I really enjoyed everything and I hope the Ducati fans had a good opportunity to enjoy the race and the show with us.
I like the layout of the track, it's one of the most beautiful, it's very long and very smooth, not very bumpy. This season we're going to experience some new weather conditions because it's not normally this hot, but I think I'm going to have fun and I love this track. »

George Martin : “It was good to stop, like Pecco said, but I wasn't able to completely disconnect. Even though I was on the beach, I still tried not to lose my shape. I analyzed with the team the last crashes at Mugello and Jerez and it seems that there are similar situations. Let's try to work on it and avoid this in the future, because we lost the lead and some good opportunities for victory. »

For the 3rd step of the final podium, but at a distance, a duel opposes Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) at Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team), the two men themselves being detached in front of a trio composed of Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing), from which we expect a lot on the British track which is well suited to Aprilias, ahead Peter Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) who are competing this year for the place of “best KTM” before finding themselves in the same box next year.

Three other pilots, Fabio DiGiannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team), Alex Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) latest winner at Silverstone and Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) winner of the 2023 Sprint, stand out from a peloton in which we find a few athletes with a still uncertain future, such as Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing) which is said about the departure of the American team, Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) or Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3).

Of course, the major event of Thursday was the magnificent presentation of the vintage MotoGP liveries…

But to write the tenth chapter of this 2024 MotoGP season, it will be necessary to cover the 10 meter route 5900 times during the Sprint on Saturday and complete 20 loops on Sunday, on a track with a grippy and not very abrasive surface characterized by rapid, fluid sequences. without major braking and restarts. Brembo sleeps soundly, Michelin provided a harder hard front tire...

Of the current full-time riders, 8 have reached the podium at Silverstone in MotoGP: Maverick Vinales (4), Marc Marquez (3), Alex Rins (2), Francesco Bagnaia (2), Aleix Espargaro (2), Fabio Quartararo (1), Jack Miller (1) and Brad Binder (1).
3 took pole position: Marc Marquez (5), Johann Zarco (1) and Marco Bezzecchi (1).

There have been nine different winners in the last nine MotoGP™ races at Silverstone: Lorenzo (2013), Marc Marquez (2014), Rossi (2015), Viñales (2016), Dovizioso (2017), Rins (2019), Quartararo (2021), Bagnaia (2022), A. Espargaro (2023). Another winner would become the 10th winner in the last 10 races here.

The records are set in 1'57.767 for pole position (Johann zarco) since 2021, and 340,6 km/h for the speed (Enea Bastianini) since 2022!

 

As for the weather forecast, we are in England but the weekend seems generally mild...

This morning, George Martin did not leave it to anyone to lead the operations, even if the Aprilias, as expected, seem very competitive…

While waiting to discover more, when the 23 pilots (Remy gardner is Wildcard for Yamaha instead of Cal Crutchlow) are preparing for this 60-minute pre-qualifying practice, under a rather clear sky and temperatures of 24° in the air and 43° on the ground, let's take advantage of these few live moments thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

Here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

MotoGP™ Great Britain, Silverstone	2023	2024
FP1	2'00.295 Marco Bezzecchi (See here)	1'59.383 Jorge Martin (See here)
Practice	1'58.183 Aleix Espargaro (See here)	1'57.911 Jorge Martin (See here)
FP2	2'18.076 Fabio Di Giannantonio (See here)	(See here)
Q1	2'15.884 Franco Morbidelli (See here)	(See here)
Q2	2'15.359 Marco Bezzecchi (See here)	(See here)
Sprint	Alex Marquez Bezzecchi Vinales (See here)	(See here)
Warm Up	2'10.207 Marco Bezzecchi (See here)	(See here)
Course	Espargaro, Bagnaia, Binder (See here)	(See here)
All time lap record	1'57.767 Johann Zarco 2022 (See here)

When the red lights go out, Maverick Vinales rushes first, Fabio Quartararo the last.

We start the session straight away with multiple tire choices.

The motorcycleEnea Bastianini lets out a beautiful blue smoke, that of Marco Bezzecchi also.

At the end of the first round, George Martin is already in the lead, in 2'00.093 ahead John Zarco.

In the next passage, Alex Espargaro improves this reference to 1'59.979 while Takaaki Nakagami makes a minor mistake at turn #9

George Martin regains the advantage in 1'59.583 in front Fabio DiGiannantonio in the third flying lap, then Francis Bagnaia takes command in 1'59.487 taking advantage of the wake of Maverick Viñales.

The Ducati official, whose combination was starting to open slightly, did not let up his effort and posted 1'59.142 at the top of the table.

At the end of this first quarter-hour run, it nevertheless presents Enea Bastianini in 1'59.026 ahead Francesco Bagnaia, Maverick Vinales, Jorge Martin, Franco Morbidelli, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Alex Márquez, Aleix Espargaro, Marc Márquez, Fabio Quartararo, Alex Rins, Brad Binder, Raul Fernandez, Pedro Acosta, Johann Zarco, Jack Miller, Miguel Oliveira, Augusto Fernandez, Joan Mir, Luca Marini, Marco Bezzecchi and Remy Gardner.

Jack Miller reminds those it may concern that he knows how to go fast in MotoGP by then taking third position then Peter Acosta does the same by positioning itself fifth.

It is in this order that the drivers reach the halfway mark, with for the moment a top 10 made up of Enea Bastianini, Francesco Bagnaia, Jack Miller, Maverick Vinales, Pedro Acosta, Jorge Martin, Aleix Espargaro, Franco Morbidelli, Marc Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio.

With a rear tire having already covered 12 laps, Jorge Martin then comes to intervene between the two official Ducati riders, at the moment when Maverick Vinales Fit a new soft rear tire.

The Aprilia pilot logically took command in 158563, but George Martin holds up more than well, just 3/10 slower.

Raul fernandez, who inaugurates his Aprilia RS–GP 24, is then in third position.

As the final rush approaches, the top 10 is now made up of Maverick Vinales, Jorge Martin, Raul Fernandez, Enea Bastianini, Francesco Bagnaia, Aleix Espargaro, Jack Miller, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Pedro Acosta and Marco Bezzecchi.

The serious things begin at the start of the last quarter of an hour, Marc Márquez patiently waiting for a wheel to take the track… and it will be Jorge Martin for the occasion.

Meanwhile Alex Espargaro registered 1'58.512, or 51 thousandths ahead of his teammate, but Francis Bagnaia seems to be riding on his confidence and posts 1'58.447.

Fabio DiGiannantonio, overmotivated by his assured future, achieves 1'58.417 but has to bow to a George Martin determined in 1'58.262.

Seven minutes from the checkered flag, a change in this hierarchy Jorge Martin, Enea Bastianini, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Francesco Bagnaia, Aleix Espargaro, Maverick Vinales, Marc Márquez, Marco Bezzecchi, Raul Fernandez, Pedro Acosta, is still possible and almost all the drivers rush into their box to fit a new rear tire.

The pace picks up again and Francesco Bagnaia clocks a 1'58.030 but is surpassed by Alex Espargaro in 1'57.956. We don't stop there, and George Martin achieves 1'57.911 at the drop of the flag.

Finally, Jorge Martin, Aleix Espargaro, Francesco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Jack Miller, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Brad Binder, Maverick Vinales, Marco Bezzecchi and Marc Márquez will go directly to Qualification 2.

MotoGP Practice standings for the 2024 British Grand Prix at Silverstone:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com

MotoGP Great Britain