MotoGP Silverstone: Espargaro out paces Martin for FP3

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was the man of Saturday morning with a 1’58.254 lap after an intense MotoGP FP3 at Silverstone.

Prima Pramac’s Jorge Martin was a mere 0.028s shy of the best premier class time with Ducati Lenovo’s Jack Miller another half a tenth back for third.

Saturday practice began with Pramac’s Johann Zarco leading the way on 2’00 pace with Miller and Ducati teammate Pecco Bagnaia firing up from second and fourth before the Australian bettered to first. Aprilia’s Maverick Viñales claimed second with Red Bull KTM’s Miguel Oliveira demoting Bagnaia for fifth.

Fabio Quartararo kicked the second day at Silverstone off from sixth in the session times as the leading quintet continued to squabble for position. Zarco returning to the top with the first 1’59 of the day from Miller and Viñales as Brad Binder, Espargaro, Enea Bastianini and Joan Mir completed the top ten.

The South African joined his KTM teammate in fifth next time around before the pattern continued above. Bagnaia slotting in behind Miller in third with Espargaro doing likewise just 0.068s shy of the leading RS-GP in fourth and fifth as the Austrian outfit dropped down and were slit by the reigning champion from seventh.

Mooney VR46’s Luca Marini continued his strong showing with a move to ninth, albeit still adrift of the Q2 places overall. Teammate Marco Bezzecchi holding the gateway time to promotion as just four-tenths covered the top ten, with Bagnaia and Marini the first denied.

Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins rose to third at the halfway stage before continuing to improve next time around on a near silent track. The Spaniard’s 1’59.431 headed the session with 20 minutes to go with LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami the first rider to improve on his Friday pace