Valentino Rossi is renowned for nurturing young talent in motorcycle racing with the VR46 Riders Academy, which now runs teams in Moto3 and Moto2. Two of his academy riders, Francesco Bagnaia and Franco Morbidelli, will ride in the premier class in 2019.
Jorge Lorenzo took pole position for the British GP today, but he wasn’t unaffected by the conditions in FP4. Lorenzo was one of 5 riders that went off track at Stowe due to large amounts of surface water and spoke about both this incident and his pole position in the post qualifying press conference.
It seems to be unanimous among riders that the conditions at Silverstone today were dangerous and would not be suitable for the race tomorrow. We will wait to see if the forecast is correct, but in the meantime the riders spoke about why the track was dangerous in the rain.
Following a rain-affected Saturday at the British GP that saw a red flagged FP4 and a significantly delayed qualifying, the time of tomorrow’s MotoGP race has been moved earlier to 11:30am in the hope of avoiding the worst of the rain.
Jorge Lorenzo has claimed pole for the British GP at Silverstone in mixed conditions, setting a pole lap time of 2:10.155 ahead of Andrea Dovizioso and Johann Zarco.
Marcel Schrotter set the pace in FP3 this morning at the British GP, setting a lap time of 2:08.182 early on in the session. Last year, the fastest time in this session was 2:06.993, but the weather in 2017 was hot and sunny as opposed to cold and windy this year with spots of rain.
Jakub Kornfeil finished top of FP3 at Silverstone, a session that was slow to see much track action due to the wet patches on the track. The wet patches were caused by the heavy rain that fell yesterday and the cold temperatures this morning are clearly not enough to dry the track.
The problems Yamaha currently face have been known for some time, and both Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales have been outspoken about what needs to be improved. Following Friday practice at Silverstone, which comes after a test at Misano, it seems some improvement has finally been made.
Andrea Dovizioso comes to Silverstone as last year’s race winner and has already started strong in 2018, finishing top of the combined times after practice.
Despite finishing 2nd in the combined times on Friday, Cal Crutchlow is undecided on which direction to take with the set up of his bike for his home race. The British rider was the top Honda after FP1 and FP2 and spoke in his media debrief about his feeling with the bike after practice.
The winner of last year’s British GP, Andrea Dovizioso, was fastest in FP2 at Silverstone today, setting a lap time of 2:01.385. Seven riders went faster than Maverick Vinales’ 2:02.073 set in FP1 this morning, including Vinales himself who improved to a 2:01.446 and finished in 3rd place.
Marcel Schrotter has finished Moto2 FP1 at the top of the times followed by Mattia Pasini and Sam Lowes.
Philipp Oettl has finished top of the times in FP1 at the British GP ahead of Aron Canet and Marco Bezzecchi.
Cal Crutchlow will head into his home Grand Prix this weekend with a freshly signed one-year contract extension, which will see him remain with his satellite LCR Honda team until the end of 2020.
After taking a hard fought victory last time out at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, Jorge Lorenzo is feeling confident as MotoGP heads to Silverstone for the British GP.
Marc Marquez confirmed today that he will be attacking if necessary in the British GP on Sunday, despite having a comfortable lead at the top of the championship.
Sam Lowes has confirmed that he will remain in Moto2 for 2019, returning to the Gresini Moto2 team with whom he completed a successful season in 2016.
