2014 Silverstone Friday Practice Results
After losing his first race of the season two weekends ago at Brno,
After winning the opening-10 rounds in 2014 MotoGP, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez lost his first race two weeks ago at Brno. And as the series heads to the UK for round 12 this weekend, he wants to return to the top of the podium.
Marquez began his quest back to the top Friday at Silverstone during the first day of free practice for the Hertz British Grand Prix. There, the reigning MotoGP Champion wasted no time, leading both free practice sessions.
Riding under usual UK wet and damp conditions, Marquez led the opening session with a 2:03.208 – 0.661 of a second faster than the next fastest rider, Pramac Racing Ducati’s Andrea Iannone.
But things only got quicker in the second free practice when the 21-year-old Spaniard topped the time sheets with a 2:02.126. To put this time into perspective, the circuit record (under race conditions) is a 2:01.941, which was set by Marquez’s teammate Dani Pedrosa last season.
Marque – who lost last year’s Silverstone race to Movistar Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo – was untouchable in FP2, leading LCR Honda’s Stefan Bradl by 0.509 of a second, and Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso by 0.885 of a second. The next nearest rider was Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Bradley Smith, the local rider who trailed by 0.944 of a second.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda RC213V MotoGP) says: “Today I felt good from the beginning. Silverstone is bit of a special track; there are many bumps and the temperatures are low, but we found a good base from the start and this helped us for the entire day.
“It is only Friday, but it is always important to start the weekend like this. For tomorrow we will try above all to improve how the bike absorbs the bumps, to go faster and take a small step forward.”
Fifth quickest was Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati’s Yonny Hernandez, who was 1.201 seconds back.
Rounding out the top 10 were GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Scott Redding, Iannone, GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista, Pedrosa and NGM Forward Racing Yamaha’s Aleix Espargaro.
As for the factory Yamaha duo, Lorenzo was 11th quickest, 1.374 seconds off the pace, and nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi was 13th 1.826 seconds back.
Nicky Hayden’s substitute on the Drive M7 Aspar – Leon Camier – crashed with five minutes remaining in FP2. He ended the day 17th. The other American, NGM Forward Racing’s Colin Edwards, opted out of Friday practice.
The 23-rider grid returns to the Silverstone grid Saturday for another two free practice sessions ahead of qualifying.
For a preview of the round, including full point standings, visit 2014 Silverstone MotoGP Preview.
2014 Silverstone MotoGP Free Practice 2 Results:
Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev.
1. 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 318.0 2’02.126
2. 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 319.1 2’02.635 0.509 / 0.509
3. 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 318.3 2’03.011 0.885 / 0.376
4. 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 317.9 2’03.070 0.944 / 0.059
5. 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Energy T.I. Pramac Racing Ducati 316.8 2’03.327 1.201 / 0.257
6. 45 Scott REDDING GBR GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 308.6 2’03.333 1.207 / 0.006
7. 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 318.2 2’03.353 1.227 / 0.020
8. 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA GO&FUN Honda Gresini Honda 319.0 2’03.391 1.265 / 0.038
9. 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 319.8 2’03.410 1.284 / 0.019
10. 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 311.3 2’03.468 1.342 / 0.058
11. 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 315.6 2’03.500 1.374 / 0.032
12. 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 321.5 2’03.542 1.416 / 0.042
13. 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 314.9 2’03.952 1.826 / 0.410
14. 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Ducati Team Ducati 318.4 2’04.057 1.931 / 0.105
15. 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM NGM Forward Racing Forward Yamaha 307.6 2’04.411 2.285 / 0.354
16. 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Drive M7 Aspar Honda 307.9 2’04.762 2.636 / 0.351
17. 2 Leon CAMIER GBR Drive M7 Aspar Honda 304.5 2’04.928 2.802 / 0.166
18. 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Honda 308.4 2’05.002 2.876 / 0.074
19. 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Octo IodaRacing Team ART 297.6 2’05.827 3.701 / 0.825
20. 70 Michael LAVERTY GBR Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 301.4 2’06.335 4.209 / 0.508
21. 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Avintia Racing Avintia 304.0 2’06.369 4.243 / 0.034
22. 23 Broc PARKES AUS Paul Bird Motorsport PBM 298.4 2’07.855 5.729 / 1.486
23. 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Avintia Racing Avintia 300.5 2’08.397 6.271 / 0.542
