QUARTARARO RECOVERS FROM CRASH TO TOP TIMES

After suffering a painful fall, MotoGP Championship leader Fabio Quartararo rebounded emphatically to lead the way on the opening day of action at Silverstone.

The factory Yamaha rider limped away from an accident at Club early in the second practice session and appeared to have injured his right ankle, needing assistance to walk away from the scene of the accident.

However just minutes later Quartararo was back on his bike and obliterating the field, ending the day over 0.5s clear of his fellow competitors.

At the end of the day, Quartararo was fastest with a 1m 59.317, 0.512s clear of factory Ducati rider, Australian Jack Miller.

Throughout the day Miller was the pick of the Ducatis, beating Styrian Grand Prix victor and Pramac Ducati rider Jorge Martin by 0.11s.

Having his best day of the season to date was Pol Espargaro on his factory Honda, after moving from KTM to the Japanese manufacturer over the off-season it has been a difficult period for Espargaro.

However, in the first two practice sessions Espargaro found himself constantly within the top five throughout the day.

He sat in second with just a couple of minutes to go, but was shuffled back by Miller and Martin to fourth.

His teammate and eight-time Motorcycle World Champion Marc Marquez ended the day in fifth position.

Marc Marquez topped FP1 despite high speed crash – Image: Motorsport Images

Marquez actually topped the first session of the day, however the session was curtailed when he crashed travelling at 275kph crash at Maggots but luckily escaped injury.

Marquez improved his time late in session 2 to end the day fifth fastest, 0.734s off Quartararo and only 0.016s from Espargaro.

Miller’s Ducati teammate was 12th ahead of Pol Espargaro’s brother Aleix on the Aprilia.

Aleix could have been higher at the end of the day but on his final flying lap was held up by his brother.

The most recent race winner Brad Binder was the highest placed KTM in eighth ahead of Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Valentino Rossi who had one of his best days on his #46 Petronas Yamaha bike.

Two notable absentees from the top 10 were reigning champion Joan Mir and champion contender Johann Zarco who ended up 13th and 14th respectively behind Iker Lecuona and Enea Bastianini.

All four of these riders will be hoping for an untroubled session in the morning so that they can elevate themselves into the top 10.

All 22 riders improved their times in the afternoon, however in practice 1, it was Marquez from Aleix Espargaro, Quartararo, Pol and Miller.

Qualifying begins just after 11.00pm AEST tonight on Fox Sports 507.

For more of the latest MotoGP news pick up the current issue of Auto Action. Also make sure you follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or our weekly email newsletter for all the latest updates between issues.