Zarco leads Ducati 1-2 finish in the opening practice of British GP

Johann Zarco and Pecco Bagnaia took the top spots in MotoGP’s opening British Grand Prix practice session at Silverstone despite both Ducati riders crashing.

Johann Zarco made the best first impression following the MotoGP summer break by dominating the opening free practice session for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The Pramac Ducati rider spent the majority of the practice session not pursuing the fastest laptime as competitors like Suzuki’s Alex Rins and Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales alternated at the top. However, after colliding earlier at Turn 7, Zarco decided to put on a new set of tires in the final moments to try and set the fastest time.

Despite an early crash, teammate Desmosedici rider Francesco Bagnaia was the only other rider to lap in the 1:59s and was only 0.027s behind him after a strong second half of the Silverstone circuit saw him clock in a 1:59.893s, the first sub 2:00 time of the weekend.

The factory Ducati champion skidded off the front of his machine at the fast Turn 4, requiring a return to the pits on a scooter to grab his backup bike. Rins finished third ahead of series leader Fabio Quartararo while Takaaki Nakagami rounded out the top five on his LCR Honda.

Aleix Espargaro and Vinales of Aprilia finished sixth and seventh, respectively, in front of Joan Mir on the second Suzuki GSX-RR. Jorge Martin made a last-ditch effort to finish ninth, barely ahead of Brad Binder on the quickest KTM.

The fastest rookie was Marco Bezzecchi, who finished 13th overall on his VR46-powered Ducati, barely ahead of Miguel Oliveira’s second factory KTM and behind Jack Miller.

Enea Bastinaini, driving the first Gresini Ducati, finished just 16th, while Andrea Dovizioso, who will shortly retire after Misano MotoGP round finished 20th on his RNF Yamaha and was only ahead of his fellow countryman Franco Morbidelli, driving the sister factory M1.

2022 BRITISH MOTOGP FREE PRACTICE 1 RESULTS