This team secures a direct place at Silverstone with the sixth quickest time

• Fabio Di Giannantonio is third with the Ducati of the VR46 Racing Team

The Ducati Lenovo Team completed the opening day of action at Silverstone, host of the twelfth Grand Prix of the season. Marc Márquez finished Practice in sixth position, while Francesco Bagnaia – thirteenth – will have to tackle Q1 at the British venue.

Márquez, sixth quickest also in FP1, stayed in the top ten throughout the afternoon session and improved at every outing to eventually clock the sixth fastest lap. Bagnaia had fought his way back into tenth place in the closing stages, but a crash on his final time attack denied him one last opportunity to secure a direct place in Q2.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will resume proceedings tomorrow morning at 11:10 local time (GMT +1) for Free Practice 2, which will be followed by Q1 (11:50), Q2 (12:15) and by the twelfth Sprint of the season, to be contested over a ten-lap distance from 16:00.

Marc Márquez (#93 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 6th
“It was a good Friday and I feel good. This is a circuit, like Assen, where our main rivals are very strong, but we’ll keep working to bridge the gap and be part of the battle. We’re not as effective as we’d like to be in the flowing sections of the track and this is a key area to improve. The goal is obviously to get the best out of this weekend, but at the moment I think we’re capable of fighting for a top-five to top-seven finish.”

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 13th
“We knew that finishing in the top ten wasn’t going to be easy. This is a challenging track, especially if you’re not fully fit. I still feel discomfort in my hand, at the point where I apply pressure on the handlebar under braking and when entering right-hand corners. Usually, this type of surgery has a short recovery period, but I still feel limited both in training and on the bike. In any case, we need to grit our teeth and I hope the painkillers will help. There’s still work to do on the technical side, especially regarding grip, in order to try and make it into Q2.”