Ajo Motorsport rider completes first day of British GP in sixth, having tackled two wet Free Practice sessions.

The Moto2 riders experienced misfortune with the weather conditions on the opening day of the British GP, the twelfth round of the season. Rain at Silverstone affected both of the intermediate class Free Practice sessions –the only ones undertaken in the wet. Johann Zarco attempted to make the most of a handful of dry laps, taking the sixth fastest time of the day.

Zarco was only able to complete five laps with slicks in FP1, before rain began to fall on Silverstone. Before encountering these conditions, the Ajo Motorsport rider had managed to take the sixth fastest time: 2:10.131. He would the remaining half an hour remaining to test his feeling in the wet.

It was again only 5 laps that the reigning World Champion was able to put in during FP2, before a further downpour. The Ajo Motorsport rider this time elected not to go back out in the wet, but had improved his lap time previously to place sixth –with a time of 2:08.428.

Moto2 qualifying for the British GP takes place tomorrow at 3:05pm local time. Johann Zarco will seek to take his second pole position at Silverstone, after doing so before in 2014. Last year he achieved a front row start that allowed him to take victory.

Results (Combined practice time FP1-FP2)
1. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 2:08.428
2. Takaaki Nakagami (Kalex) 2:08.595 +0.167
3. Jonas Folger (Kalex) 2:08.853 +0.423
4. Alex Marquez (Kalex) 2:08.907 +0.479
5. Thomas Luthi (Kalex) 2:08.928 +0.500
6. Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) 2:09.068 +0.640

5 JOHANN ZARCO

“We couldn’t put in many laps today. I’m not in the top three, but I’m getting better with every lap. I couldn’t use my normal riding style, but gradually I understood better how to improve. It’s a situation I’ve already experienced this year at other circuits, when I have needed some time to adjust to new conditions, but I always end up feeling comfortable. Everything is under control. The weather conditions have also made the day tricky; the rain has not let us do too much, but it’s part of the game and has affected us all equally, so we must accept it. We’ve even done some laps in the wet. We’ll see tomorrow; I want to remain focused and find ways to go faster as soon as possible.”