Espargaro fastest on Friday at Silverstone

Aleix Espargaro produced a blistering final lap in the dying seconds of afternoon practice to end day one on top at the British MotoGP at Silverstone.

The Aprilia Racing rider knocked Jorge Martin off the summit on his final lap, lapping six tenths faster than his Pramac Ducati rival.

Red Bull KTM’s Brad Binder made a big improvement from the opening free practice session in the morning, when he was 13^th, to climb to third.

The 60-minute session was the sole chance for riders to seal their place in Qualifying 2 after a tweaked weekend format came into place at round nine of the championship this weekend.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez missed the chance to progress straight to Q2 after finishing outside the top 10 in 11^th and 13^th respectively.

Morning pacesetter Marco Bezzecchi, who was again at the forefront on the VR46 Ducati, suffered a big crash at Turn 7 on his out lap before he had a chance to complete his second time attack.

The Italian had led the way after his first time attack, bettering Maverick Viñales’ lap by two tenths with a 1:59.081s. Bezzecchi still finished seventh overall and goes straight into Q2, which is likely to be held in the wet on Saturday with rain expected at the British circuit.

Viñales was also a faller in the session, but he returned to post some fast times and eventually finished fourth, 0.721s down on team-mate Espargaro, with Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) and championship leader Francesco Bagnaia the top six.

Lenovo Ducati’s Bagnaia – last year’s British GP winner – made a big leap after languishing in 14^th in FP1, slotting into sixth on the factory Desmosedici after a brief stint at the top.

Jack Miller was eighth on the Red Bull KTM behind Bezzecchi, with Luca Marini – second quickest in the morning on the VR46 Ducati – in ninth after a spill in the hour-long session.

Alex Marquez secured the final Q2 place in 10^th on the Gresini Ducati, 1.15s adrift of Espargaro, with Quartararo next ahead of team-mate Morbidelli and Honda’s Marquez.

Miguel Oliveira (RNF Aprilia) and Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo) rounded out the top 15.

Joan Mir struggled on his return from injury on the Repsol Honda, ending the session in 18^th.

LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagama was 20^th with Iker Lecuona – filling in for Alex Rins – 22nd on the second of the LCR bikes.

Pol Espargaro, back following a long injury lay-off after a heavy crash at Portimao in Portugal at the beginning of the season, was 21^st on the GASGAS Tech3 KTM.