MotoGP

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) has taken an incredible home pole position at the Octo British Grand Prix, as the Brit kept his stunning wet weather form from the Czech GP running and took only his third career pole. Crutchlow, who has shown good form at Silverstone Circuit throughout the weekend, sees his fairytale continue as he lines up in P1 once again for Sunday’s race – fresh from taking the first British win in 35 years last time out. It is the first British pole position in a home GP since 1977. Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi took P2, with Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) completing the front row in a big improvement in the wet conditions.

The top ten in Q2 were joined by Q1 graduates Eugene Laverty (PULL&BEAR Aspar) and Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) as the two men made the most of the weather to come to the fore, with big casualties including Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) just forced out as the wet weather shook up the order. Espargaro’s temporary teammate Alex Lowes, riding in place of injured Bradley Smith, put in an impressive Q1 performance to line up behind Espargaro on the grid for Sunday’s race, as the rain gave the WorldSBK rider a good opportunity to show his skill set.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) has been having a solid weekend at Silverstone after a tough start to the season, and despite wet weather problems in Brno the Spaniard made good on his impressive FP4 improvements in the British GP. The cool conditions on track didn’t seem to cause the problems Pedrosa has often suffered recently, and the 3-time world champion crossed the line on his final effort to pip teammate Marc Marquez to P4. Marquez, who had been a frontrunner in the session, crashed in the last third and sat the final few minutes of Q2 out as he watched on from behind the barriers. Initially on the front row, his time was still good enough for a good starting position for Sunday’s showdown.

Eugene Laverty (PULL&BEAR Aspar) will line up P6 after graduating from Q1 – despite a late crash in the session that saw the Irishman lose out on a possible pole lap – in another impressive showing in tough or changeable conditions. Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) heads up row 3 at his home race, with a solid session that saw him recover well from a fall in FP4. Redding has a great record at Silverstone and will be looking to impress on Sunday once again, having now taken 2 podiums in the premier class. Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) had an uncharacteristically anonymous session in the wet to cross the line for P8, ahead of reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). Lorenzo, just pipped by teammate Rossi in wet FP4, put in some good laps under the rain and was the initial leader of the session before Crutchlow struck back and he was unable to improve.

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) suffered a fall in the session and will begin the race from P10, with the Italian heading for the Medical Center to get checked out and subsequently being declared fit. Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was P11, ahead of Q1 graduate Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), who suffered a crash near the beginning of the session as he recovers from another fall in Austria in which he suffered two hairline fractures.

The race will get underway at the later time of 15:30 local time (GMT+1), with the weather looking set to improve overnight – and a local hero on pole.

 

Moto2

Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) has taken an impressive pole position under pressure at his home GP in the UK, topping the drenched QP session in the final minute, ahead of reigning champion Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) and wet weather Brno winner Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP).

Threats of rain became buckets of rain as the qualifying sessions for all three classes were hit by the English drizzle – throwing up a few surprises and opportunities for those wiling to take them. In Moto2™, the early pace was set by Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Alex Marquez as the 2014 Moto3™ world champion took provisional pole, before title defender and points leader Zarco struck back. It was Lowes who then came up with the goods in the final minutes, and pulled it all together to eventually cross the line almost four tenths clear. Lowes had also been quickest at his home GP in the dry and will be feeling confident ahead of race day.

Zarco, with a good rhythm and improving his pace bit-by-bit, looked the man to beat for the honors, before Lowes hit back on his last attempt. Zarco then lost his Ajo Motorsport machine into T1, also losing the chance for one final push at pole position. The Frenchman has a 44 point advantage over Lowes in the title fight however, and a front row start will prove a good position as he looks to defend or increase his lead.

Folger, fresh from his first win in over a year at the Automotodrom Brno, showed hit wet weather skill set off once again as the German knocked Marquez off the front row by a tiny 0.004 margin. The German will be looking for back-to-back wins, but the weather may change for Sunday.

Alex Marquez then heads up Row 2 after a late lowside denied him the chance to improve his lap, the last rider within a second of Lowes, with Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) and Marquez’ teammate Franco Morbidelli completing row 2.

Isaac Viñales (Tech 3 Racing) was P7, ahead of Lorenzo Baldassari (Forward Racing) and Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) on Row 3, with Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) completing the top ten despite a crash. The Swiss rider will be looking to move forward if the race is dry, having had good pace in better conditions.

Moto2™ get out on track for another battle at 14:00 local time (GMT+1), on the slightly later British GP timetable.

 

Moto3

The skies opened at Silverstone for the promised Saturday drizzle at the Octo British Grand Prix, and unfortunately for Moto3™ it was just ahead of their qualifying session that the rain came down. After almost no track time for the lower class having been affected by the weather, the session was sure to throw up a few surprises and it didn’t disappoint, with high rates of attrition and one big name suffering a small mistake with big consequences.

The pacesetter in the dry at the British GP has undoubtedly been 2015 pole sitter Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0), but the Spaniard was one of the first major casualties of the weather as he took a tumble and was unable to restart the bike to get back to pitlane. Heading back to the garage with the clock ticking down and bike en route, Navarro was left at the mercy of the weather, along with his contemporaries. With the rain not improving and conditions treacherous over the length of the 5.9km circuit, it was Francesco Bagnaia (PULL&BEAR Aspar Mahindra) who put the lap together when it counted, taking his Mahindra to the top of the timesheets. The Italian heads his compatriot Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Moto3) on the front row, ahead of Dutch rookie Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who qualified in P3. Navarro will begin the race from a difficult P18, although the Spaniard will be looking to move forward quickly if Sunday proves to be drier – having topped FP3 by seven tenths of a second.

Bagnaia, who won the Moto3™ race in Assen in a first career victory, has now added another string to his impressive 2016 bow with his first career pole. The Italian is set to make the move to the new Sky Racing Team VR46 Moto2™ outfit at its inception in 2017, and will also be looking to fight for the victory in the dry if the race proves to be so – having topped FP1 on Friday. Enea Bastianini will be happy for another front row start in the Moto3™ class, as the race winner continues to get back to the front of the pack in the lower category. Bastianini has shown good dry pace at Silverstone but had some competition from teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio before the rain came down; then moving up the order into P2. Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) continued his progress in the Moto3™ world championship as he took his first front row start at the British GP, with a previous best qualifying position of P4 at the Sachsenring. The Dutch rookie excelled in the tough conditions to outqualify teammate Brad Binder – no mean feat with the South African 61 points clear at the top of the championship – but has a grid penalty and will line up P8.

Niccolo Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold) qualified in P4 despite a late crash at the final corner and will move onto the front row, just ahead of championship leader Binder, who was fifth fastest and will head the second row of the grid. Rookie and Austrian GP winner Joan Mir (Leopard Racing) was sixth in the rain at Silverstone, ahead of Jules Danilo (Ongetta-Rivacold), with both gaining a place after Bendsneyder’s penalty. As does Jorge Martin (PULL&BEAR Aspar Mahindra), who took P8 in the session, with Bendsneyder slotting in ahead of another crasher in Sky Racing Team VR46 rookie Nicolo Bulega. Bulega’s teammate Lorenzo Dalla Porta, who is the current leader in the CEV Repsol Moto3™ Junior World Championship and comes into the MotoGP™ paddock full time for the first time in Silverstone, put in an impressive performance to complete the top ten.

The lights go out for the Moto3™ race at 12:30 local time (GMT+1), with the pack shuffled and the race sure to be another modern classic.

 

Source: motogp.com