Marco Bezzecchi tamed the sodden conditions in qualifying at Silverstone to secure his second successive pole of 2023, while Fabio Quartararo will start last for both races.
The VR46 rider picked up from where he left off after showing top five speed during the equally-wet FP2 session just prior to qualifying, showing strong speed in the slippy conditions to fire towards the top of the times in the early reckoning of the pole shootout – though it was Jack Miller who led the way early on with a 2:15.629s.
Improvements remained possible despite the rain continuously falling on the Silverstone venue, with Bezzecchi soon after lowering the pole benchmark to 2:15.359s.
Several riders posted improvements in sectors though were ultimately curtailed by a late string of crashes as the grip deteriorated further, with the sister VR46 entry of Luca Marini losing the rear and high-siding at Turn 1 before Bezzecchi himself lost the front on entry to Turn 16.
The late yellows therefore meant Bezzecchi held onto pole ahead of KTM’s Miller, while Alex Marquez completed the top three for Gresini Ducati despite a crash of his own at Turn 1 – the bend proving a hotspot for spills across qualifying.
Francesco Bagnaia held onto fourth despite the factory Ducati pilot going down at Turn 6 mid-way through the test, while Augusto Fernandez starred for GasGas to secure fifth ahead of Marini.
Jorge Martin was sixth ahead of Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales, while Johann Zarco and the other KTM of Brad Binder rounded off the top ten.
The 12 Q2 runners were completed by Q1 pace-setter Franco Morbidelli’s Yamaha and Friday leader Aleix Espargaro.
Quartararo meanwhile struggled to find the same level of speed as his team-mate in the opening segment of qualifying, the Frenchman’s efforts not being helped after he nearly high-sided at Turn 16 before stalling.
His trials and tribulations meant he could ultimately do no better than 12th in Q1 – meaning he will start 22nd and last for both the sprint race and Sunday’s full-length British Grand Prix.
Enea Bastianini narrowly missed out on progressing to Q2 by just 0.087s having been pipped to the post by Fernandez, the factory Ducati rider just edging Honda’s Marc Marquez and GasGas’ Pol Espargaro.
Iker Lecuona did well to out-qualify fellow Honda riders Joan Mir and Takaaki Nakagami in only his third premier class appearance of the season to claim 17th, while Fabio Di Gianantonio missed out on a chance to repeat his pace-setting FP2 performance after crashing at Turn 1 – leaving him unable to get back out and post a better time in the latter stages of Q1 and leaving him 18th overall.
Keyword: Bezzecchi wades to Silverstone pole despite crash, Quartararo last