A chilly but dry day in Silverstone started the second half of the season in earnest, the Repsol Honda Team getting straight back to work with Marc Marquez and Joan Mir.

The sound of Grand Prix paddock roared back to life in Silverstone with a revised format for the remainder of the year, Free Practice 1 (the first session on Friday) no longer counting towards the combined standings for Qualifying. With the new format, the Repsol Honda Team spent FP1 getting back into MotoGP mode after the break and making the initial adjustments for the Silverstone Circuit.

On the Marc Marquez side of the garage, the #93 made improvements over the course of the day and managed a best lap of 1’59.455 in the closing stages of the afternoon session. The time moved him inside the top ten briefly, before eventually concluding the day in 13th. 1.272s from Aleix Espargaro’s best time, Marquez was not focused on a single flying lap and instead spent him the day continuing to assess his Repsol Honda Team RC213V.

Joan Mir made a welcome return to the track after his extended break. His early focus was on getting back up to speed before continuing to work on refining the electronics and getting comfortable once again. Just on the edge of the 1’59s, a best time of 2’00.357 saw the #36 end the opening day in 18th and as the second fastest Honda.

Many forecasts are calling for heavy rain on Saturday at the British GP, another challenge for the riders to overcome.

Marc Marquez

13th 1'59.455

“We spent today going in a steady way to get the confidence back, I started a little stiff but I improved towards the end. Of course we would like to be closer to the top of the time sheets, but at the moment we need to focus on improving what we have. Physically, I have some pain in my right leg, around the abductor muscles, but it is what it is and we keep working. The focus this weekend is inside my team and myself, building a base and getting stronger.”

Joan Mir

18th 2'00.357

“I have had to be patient to get to this point but it was great to be back on the bike again and with the team. We started with the base that we were using in Le Mans because I felt the most competitive with it in the first part of the season. After the time away, I needed a couple of laps to understand everything but overall it was quite natural. Today was about working with what we have, the electronics are an area we are working on. Of course, we need to keep improving, but it is important to keep being patient and take it step by step.”

MotoGP 2023
Practice Round 9   Great Britain

Friday Practice - British Grand Prix

Dry
Humidity
79%
Track Temp
26°C
Air Temp
16°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Espargaro Aleix 41 SPA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 1'58.183
2 Martin Jorge 89 SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 0.671
3 Binder Brad 33 RSA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 0.715
4 Vinales Maverick 12 SPA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 0.721
5 Zarco Johann 5 FRA Pramac Racing Ducati 0.760
6 Bagnaia Francesco 1 ITA Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 0.790
7 Bezzecchi Marco 72 ITA Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 0.835
8 Miller Jack 43 AUS Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1.018
9 Marini Luca 10 ITA Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 1.063
10 Marquez Alex 73 SPA Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 1.115
11 Quartararo Fabio 20 FRA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1.242
12 Morbidelli Franco 21 ITA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1.271
13 Marquez Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 1.272
14 Oliveira Miguel 88 POR RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia 1.482
15 Bastianini Enea 23 ITA Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 1.510
16 Di Giannantonio Fabio 49 ITA Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 1.531
17 Fernandez Raul 25 SPA RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia 1.543
18 Mir Joan 36 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 2.174
19 Fernandez Augusto 37 SPA Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing KTM 2.359
20 Nakagami Takaaki 30 JPN LCR Honda Honda 2.440
21 Espargaro Pol 44 SPA Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing KTM 2.626
22 Lecuona Iker 27 SPA LCR Honda Honda 2.939
Location Information

The Silverstone Circuit is long, fast and flowing, with a lot of fast changes of direction and a mixture of corners: the stadium section from Abbey through the Loop to Aintree is tight and technical, Woodcote and Copse are long and fast, the Maggotts/Becketts complex a bit of both. It… read more.

Length 5.900 kilometres / 3.666 miles
Width 17 metres
Left corners 8
Right corners 10
Longest straight 0.770 kilometres / 0.478 miles
Constructed 1948
Modified 2011

Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, United Kingdom - View in Google Maps

www.silverstone.co.uk

Records

Pole Position 1m 57.309s (181.0 km/h) Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia, 2024)
Race Lap 1m 58.895s (178.6 km/h) Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia, 2024)
Race Time 39m 51.879s (177.6 km/h) Enea Bastianini (Ducati, 2024)
2024 Race Winner Enea Bastianini (Ducati)
2024 Sprint Winner Enea Bastianini (Ducati)