Fourth fastest time for Repsol rider, very competitive throughout the first day. Teammate Fabio Quartararo places thirteenth and Maria Herrera, twenty-eighth.
Jorge Navarro is showing at recent races, at circuits he rode at last season, that he is a top contender for a Grand Prix podium debut. The young Repsol rider has battled with the fastest riders in the class as of late, coming close to a rostrum and even victory. To date, his goal has eluded him, but Navarro continues to work hard for it. His top time this morning at Silverstone and fourth in the second free practice session prove as much. The Spaniard was just 4 tenths off the quickest time of the day, set by Romano Fenati.
Teammate Fabio Quartararo made considerable improvements throughout the first day. In the morning session, the Frenchman finished almost two seconds down on his teammate, in nineteenth. In the afternoon, the Repsol rider lowered his times by nearly 2 seconds to pull himself up to thirteenth place on the combined timesheet.
Maria Herrera feels especially comfortable at Silverstone. In the morning session, the Repsol rider set the twenty-fourth fastest time, giving a sign that the track is one that she enjoys. In the afternoon, some experiments with the setup of her bike and traffic on the track prevented her from improving on her FP1 position, but she did lower her best time by just over a second.
Saturday sees a third free practice held in the morning, and qualifying in the afternoon to decide the grid for Sunday.
Fabio Quartararo
13th, 2:15.607 sec, 30 laps, 177 km.
“Today was a difficult day but we improved a lot in the second session. This morning I struggled a lot, but I am slowly learning the circuit better. Tomorrow we will work to find a good setup. This morning I tried to follow other riders, because it is difficult to ride alone at this track, but I couldn’t latch onto anyone. In addition, the wind was quite strong today and we had to make some changes to the setup of the bike because the front was sliding out a lot.”
Jorge Navarro
4th, 2:14.895 sec, 29 laps, 171 km.
“Last year we struggled a lot at Silverstone, but this year things are different. Today was a good day and we worked well from the first free practice. The feeling improved with every stint and that allowed us to work on the setup to find improvements. In the last run tried some things out with the front and I improved my feeling. Tomorrow the aim will be to work as we did today, using both new and worn tyres in order to prepare as well as possible for the race.”
María Herrera
28th, 2:17.084 sec, 29 laps, 171 km.
“I had never ridden at Silverstone before and I like the circuit; I felt comfortable right from the first moment. We are setting up the bike and we still have a little way to go, but I think we are on track to improve a lot and lower the times we achieved today. On my last run I encountered some other riders who got in my way a little. That, and the fact that the times improved a lot at the end, left us a little behind, but we will improve tomorrow.”
