British MotoGP, Silverstone - Full Qualifying Results

Official Silverstone MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Johann Zarco FRA Ducati 1m 57.767s (2022)
Fastest race lap:
Alex Rins SPA Suzuki 1m 59.346s (2022)

Marco Bezzecchi takes pole position for the British MotoGP at a soaking Silverstone, despite finishing the session on the ground.

World championship leader Francesco Bagnaia fell with six minutes to go, sprinting back into the Ducati garage, with Alex Marquez, Luca Marini and then Bezzecchi later sliding off.

But Bezzecchi, who suffered a front-end fall (at turn 16), rather than the rear slides for most others, kept pole despite the accident.

"Definitely a challenging day due to the weather, but I'm very satisfied with the pole position, which is also very useful in view of tomorrow's race, and with the sensations in wet," Bezzecchi said.

"I immediately felt at ease also considering the amount of water on the track. I gained more and more confidence and in the end I made a small mistake which cost me the crash. It will be a really complicated Sprint, especially at the start, if it continues to rain like this. Let's stay focused, get the bike back on track and give it our all."

KTM's Jack Miller and Gresini Ducati's Alex Marquez will complete the front row, today and tomorrow, with Bagnaia only slipping to fourth despite his mishap.

2021 champion Fabio Quartararo will start 22nd and last for Monster Yamaha after failing to advance through Qualifying 1.

"This was not the start of the day we expected," Quartararo said. "This morning in FP2, the feeling in the wet was bad, and we didn‘t make a step. I made a mistake in Q1 and then I had to stop at the box. Then the tyre was cold, and I was able to do only one lap. We will try to make a step now to improve the feeling, and then we will see the result."

Track conditions were on the limit this morning, with riders experiencing aquaplaning, putting the afternoon Sprint race in doubt unless the rain eases.

Franco Morbidelli and Augusto Fernandez lead a soaking wet Qualifying 1 at the British MotoGP and now advance to the Qualifying 2 pole position shootout.

Fabio di Giannantonio, fastest in final practice, suffered an early fall. Fabio Quartararo was another rider to lose the rear, saving it but running off and appearing to stall.

The Frenchman will start 22nd and last on the grid, having lapped over 7s behind Morbidelli during his 5 laps..

• British Moto2: Latest Results
• British Moto3: Latest Results

MotoGP returns from its summer break with reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia leading the standings by 35-points over Jorge Martin (Pramac) and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46) one point further back to complete an all-Ducati top three.

A revised practice format from this weekend means only Friday’s second session will be used to determine the top ten riders receiving direct access to Qualifying 2. Opening practice now becomes a ‘free’ session, like FP3.

After being tested by teams in the opening eight rounds, punishments for breaching MotoGP’s new real-time Tyre Pressure Monitoring System will be implemented from Silverstone.

For now, post-race punishments will only be given if tyre pressure falls below the minimum specified by Michelin for at least 50% of a Sunday race distance and 30% of a Sprint race, and apply as follows:
· 1st offense: Warning
· 2nd offense: 3-second time penalty
· 3rd offense: 6-second time penalty
· 4th offense: 12-second time penalty

Pol Espargaro (GASGAS Tech3), plus Marc Marquez and Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) have used the summer break to recover from injuries and return to action this weekend - Espargaro for the first time since the Portimao season opener.

However, newly announced 2024 Yamaha rider Alex Rins remains absent due to his Mugello leg fractures and is replaced at LCR Honda by WorldSBK rider Iker Lecuona.

There have been eight different winners in the last eight races at Silverstone: Jorge Lorenzo (2013, Yamaha), Marc Marquez (2014, Honda), Valentino Rossi (2015, Yamaha), Maverick Vinales (2016, Yamaha), Andrea Dovizioso (2017, Ducati), Alex Rins (2019, Suzuki), Fabio Quartararo (2021, Yamaha) and Francesco Bagnaia (2022, Ducati).

Weather forecasts warn of potential showers throughout the weekend, especially on Saturday.

Marco Bezzecchi leads an all-Ducati top four during opening practice for the 2023 British MotoGP at a dry but overcast and chilly Silverstone.

VR46's title contender Bezzecchi set the pace for much of the 45 minutes, with Aprilia's Aleix Espargaro and Mooney team-mate Luca Marini completing the top three during the middle stages.

Bezzecchi was then pushed down the order by the appearance of some new medium rear tyres in the closing stages, but Bezzecchi returned the #72 to the head of the timesheets by just 0.036s over Marini on his final lap.

Pramac Ducati team-mates Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco followed with Jack Miller getting his KTM spectacularly sideways under braking on his way to best of the rest in fifth.

Reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia moved to twelfth on his penultimate lap, then was frustrated to run wide.

In a change to the previous practice format, the Friday morning session has become a 'free practice' with only this afternoon's second practice decided the top ten riders with direct access to Qualifying 2.

Competing in his first session since confirmation he will be replaced at Monster Yamaha by Alex Rins next season, Franco Morbidelli was caught out by a cold rear tyre and flicked from his M1 on an out lap with 15mins to go.

The Italian looked to have some aero fitted at the time and team-mate Fabio Quartararo then duly emerged with bigger wings fitted, which would be their one available in-season aero update. Morbidelli returned to claim seventh and top Yamaha, with Quartararo tenth.

LCR Honda's Takaaki Nakagami also has some new aero this weekend, a wide 'ground effect' style design of the type first used by Aprilia. Meanwhile, factory Aprilia riders Espargaro and Maverick Vinales had a revised update to their lower fairings.

The Repsol Honda team of Marc Marquez and Joan Mir appeared to use HRC chassis this morning, while LCR riders Nakagami and stand-in Iker Lecuona ran the Kalex.

Marquez was the top RC213V rider, in 15th.

Taking part in his first MotoGP session since Portimao, the recovering Pol Espargaro was 22nd and last for GASGAS Tech3, 3.5s from Bezzecchi.

With the pits, paddock and starting grid being moved to the new Wing this year, a special practice start period was held after the session, which saw a fall for Enea Bastianini.