British GP
The Frenchman from Ducati beat the best time on the circuit while Aleix Espargaró survived after a massive crash with a good sixth position on the grid
Johann Zarco struck first at the British Grand Prix. The French Ducati rider broke the Silverstone circuit record to take pole position in the British race.
As many as eight riders broke Marc Márquez’s old lap record of 1:59.936, which the Honda rider set in 2019, with Zarco’s 1:57.767 beating six riders under the 1:58 barrier
The Frenchman edged out Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales by 0.098sec to put himself in prime position to aim for his first victory in the premier class. Ducati’s Jack Miller completed the front row, beating reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo by just seven thousandths of a second.
“I’m very happy. I am very confident in FP4 with the hard rear tyre”, said Zarco, who was fastest in the last practice session before. “It was necessary to give an extra push with the second tire. I’m really glad I was able to do it… Nobody was braking on the track and there were only a few drivers in front of me. It was enough to get this extra motivation.”
Viñales’ teammate Aleix Espargaró was stretchered off the track after crashing at the Farm corner during FP4 and taken for medical less than an hour before the start of Q2. He was soon declared fit to race despite suffering some bruising to his right foot and returned for Q2, producing the first new lap record of the day with a 1:57.966 to take provisional pole.
However, he was dragged back down to sixth as title rival and championship leader Quartararo briefly clinched pole before Miller snatched it from him, with Zarco eventually pulling away after a late surge from Viñales. .
Quartararo was pushed to the second row and will start in fourth place. He will have to overcome a long lap penalty on Sunday to secure a second consecutive win at the British GP.
Espargaró is 21 points behind Quartararo heading into the first race since the summer break, with Zarco a further 37 points behind in third.
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