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Marquez Dominates FP1 at Silverstone, Lorenzo Is All Over His Rear Wheel

The British Grand Prix weekend got the green light this morning at the legendary Silverstone circuit, and the 25 riders had their first outing on British tarmac this year. The rather cold weather was not ideal for setting blistering lap times, but FP2 later this afternoon might be friendlier.
Marc Marquez leads in FP1 at Silverstone, 2015 6 photos
Photo: motogp.com
Marc Marquez, Silverstone 2105, FP1Marc Marquez, Silverstone 2105, FP1Marc Marquez, Silverstone 2105, FP1Marc Marquez, Silverstone 2105, FP1Marc Marquez, Silverstone 2105, FP1
Marc Marquez was the fastest rider in FP1 at Silverstone as he lapped the track in 2'03.111, a much slower performance than the fastest lap. It was also Marquez who set the best pole back in 2013, with a whopping 2'00.691.

Jorge Lorenzo gradually reduced the gap to the leader, ending the session in the second position, 0.388 seconds slower, and was followed by his teammate Valentino Rossi 0.468 seconds later. The leading trio were the only riders to drop below the 2'04 bar this morning.

The two Ducati factory riders rounded up the Free Practice 1 top five, with Andrea Iannone continuing to be in a great form and being one tenth slower than Rossi, while Dovizioso was clocked 0.043 seconds slower than his colleague.

A great first outing for Scott Redding and Bradley Smith in their home round, as they finished FP1 6th and 7th, respectively, followed by Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, Tech 3's Pol Espargaro and LCR Honda's Brit, Cal Crutchlow. The Suzuki machines were 12th and 13th with Vinales and Aleix Espargaro at the helm. Aprilia's new rider Stefan Bradl was 18th.

This afternoon's session may be the crucial one

Even if the car races at Silverstone have left their mark on the British track and some areas are a bit uneven and wobbly, the temperatures this weekend will play the lead role in this Grand Prix round.

The weather in the morning is rather chilly, and the sun doesn't shine equally on all the track sectors. This is how we spotted different temperatures ranging from 12 degrees Celsius to 25 C (54-77 F). The wind and track layout can also give riders a hard time, as the headwinds tend to cool down the front tire and in some areas, the succession of turns may cause loss of front grip.

We saw several machines with brake disc protectors installed on the fork to prevent the rotors from cooling down excessively. As temperatures are expected to raise a bit, and the sun might shine on the entire track, we can expect that the Free Practice 2, which will start in less than an hour (at the time of writing) be the most important towards deciding who gets in Q1 and Q2.

We remind you that Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi have the same number of points, 211, with the Spaniard leading thanks to more victories. Marquez has sort of gotten used to no longer being able to fight for the title this year, but he will be eyeing two things.

First of all, the fact that he can no longer pretend the title doesn't mean he will stop trying to claw as many victories as possible. On the other hand, he knows that his hard riding, maybe coupled with strong performance from the factory Ducati machines, could give both Yamaha drivers quite a hard time, and he WILL try to mess things up as much as possible, have no doubt about this.

Catch up with us later for FP2 results.
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