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At Silverstone, the weather keeps everyone in check, so the best bet is to play your cards early, avoiding any unpleasant surprises in FP3 on Saturday morning due to rain. So, that is why the final moments of Friday afternoon become a sort of early qualifying session, where the riders try to get into the top ten.
After seeing Yamaha ahead of the rest in the morning, in FP2 Andrea Dovizioso took to the track with knife in teeth, sending a very clear signal to the competition. In fact, he set the best time at 2’01”385, done on the third-to-last of his sixteen laps. The Italian used the medium tyre on the rear, confirming his great confidence on the British track.
There were also good signs for Jorge Lorenzo (+0.397) who, until five minutes from the end, was outside the top ten. Then the Majorcan dug in his spurs, taking home the fifth best time, only 37 thousandths ahead of Jack Miller’s Ducati. On the other side of the Pramac garage, things did not go so well, where Danilo Petrucci was unable to do better than the twelfth best time at more than a second behind the leader.
Following just behind Dovizioso was Cal Crutchlow, only five thousandths behind the FP2 leader. The hometown hero had the fastest Honda on the British track, 56 thousandths ahead of Maverick Viñales, with Marc Marquez nipping at his heels. The six-time world champion used the hard tyre, working on pace, but he seems to be leaving a few tenths somewhere along the track compared to Dovizioso. The dips on the track are certainly not helping the Spanish rider.
In any case, one thing is certain: Silverstone has once again smiled on the M1 machines. In addition to the third place time done by Viñales, Johann Zarco stands out in seventh place (+0.577), 190 thousandths ahead of Valentino Rossi. This time, the Doctor was forced to reckon with a gap that touched eight tenths of a second. During the session, the Italian worked on pace, using the medium tyre on the rear. This was the same tyre used by Andrea Iannone, who followed 79 thousandths behind him, followed by Alvaro Bautista.
Outside the top ten was Franco Morbidelli (+1.374), fourteenth and hounded by Pedrosa, then Aleix Espargaró and his Aprilia. Alex Rins was only 19th. Noteworthy was Tito Rabat’s crash (with no consequences for the rider).
