MotoGP Training Silverstone 2026: Bezzecchi sets new lap record

– On the training day for the British Grand Prix in Silverstone, a new MotoGP lap record was set several times. At the end of the record chase, Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) was the fastest ahead of Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia).

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At 23 degrees Celsius, it was significantly cooler in Northamptonshire compared to the heatwave in Central Europe. Under these optimal conditions, the usual race preparations were initially on the agenda.

At the front wheel, the riders used the hard tire. At the rear wheel, both the medium and soft tires were used in race trim. Marc Marquez (Ducati) and Alex Marquez (Gresini-Ducati) ran medium.

Marc rode in the first run behind his brother, who had been the fastest in the morning. However, Marc lost contact due to a mistake in Stowe. After the first run, Alex Marquez led the timing with 1:58.201 minutes.

Raul Fernandez switched from the medium rear tire to soft for his second run and set a new best time of 1:57.779 minutes at halfway through the training, improving to 1:57.739 minutes on his next lap.

Soon after, Trackhouse boss Justin Marks, who is in Silverstone, was able to enjoy a one-two lead. Ai Ogura also switched to a new soft rear tire and took the lead with 1:57.628 minutes.

Marc Marquez also switched to the soft rear tire at halfway through the training and improved to third place in his third run. Alex Marquez refrained from using the soft rear tire during the race preparations.

Record chase during qualifying attempts

20 minutes before the end of training, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) opened the qualifying attempts. Brad Binder caused yellow flags. He started his flying lap behind his KTM teammate Pedro Acosta and crashed in Luffield.

Acosta did better and took the lead, but his name did not stay there long. First, Alex Marquez set the best time, but his time was shortly after beaten by Marc Marquez.

Then the stopwatch stopped at Ogura at 1:56.810 minutes. That was a new lap record. For the first time ever, a MotoGP lap under 1:57 minutes was driven in Silverstone.

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Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46-Ducati) also rode 1:56.9 minutes. The other pursuers were still in the 1:57 minute range. Marc Marquez, Bezzecchi, and Raul Fernandez completed the top 5 after the first attempts.

It did not go optimally for Bagnaia. The 2022 Silverstone winner was outside the top 10 and improved to tenth place. Five minutes before the end of training, Bagnaia crashed in Brooklands. His training was over.

Soon after, yellow flags were shown again. Acosta had crashed in The Loop. It was already his second crash of the day. At that time, the KTM rider was in eighth place.

Then Raul Fernandez set a new best time and thus a new lap record with 1:56.615 minutes. But the time chase was not over yet. Bezzecchi rode the fastest Silverstone lap of all time with 1:56.280 minutes.

Thus, the Italian was one second faster than the old lap record from the previous year. The first eight riders stayed under this old lap record. Bezzecchi was ultimately 0.335 seconds faster than Raul Fernandez (to the results).

In third place followed the first Ducati rider with Di Giannantonio. His deficit was already four tenths of a second. With Jorge Martin and Ogura, all four Aprilia riders were found in the top 5.

Marc and Alex Marquez were seven tenths of a second behind and took sixth and seventh places. Also, one Honda and one Yamaha rider each made the direct Q2 qualification.

Joan Mir (Honda) was eighth and Jack Miller (Pramac-Yamaha) ninth. With a one-second deficit, the last Q2 spot went to Acosta. Bagnaia was pushed back to 13th place. He is in Q1 for the fifth time this season.

The final training starts on Saturday at 12:10 CEST, directly followed by qualifying from 12:50 CEST. The sprint over 10 laps starts at 17:00 CEST.

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