Fabio Quartararo achieves 'hat trick' of poles at Silverstone

On Saturday morning, the Silverstone circuit awoke to a more typically British climate than Friday, when the sun and good weather prevailed. There was a lot of wind and cold, and some patches of water remained from the rain that fell overnight. However, as the smaller category bikes took to the track, it began to dry, and in the MotoGP free practice, all bikes were out on slick tyres. Despite this, the crashes of Álex Márquez and Pedro Acosta, both unscathed, only reaffirmed the track's tricky conditions ahead of the timed sessions. There was one absentee this morning, Japanese rookie Ai Ogura, who crashed on Friday and suffered a small fracture in his right tibia, ruling him out for the rest of the British GP.

The qualifying sessions at Silverstone started five minutes late due to a red flag following the crash of the younger Márquez. In the Q1 repechage, times were set in the final moments, suggesting the track was improving as laps were completed. Only the two best times advanced to the decisive Q2, claimed by the Hondas of Luca Marini and the only Ducati not to secure a spot with Friday's times, Franco Morbidelli.

Joan Mir narrowly missed out on Q2 by just 23 thousandths and will start the fifth row of the MotoGP grid from 13th position. Beside him will be Pedro Acosta, who went wide on his final attempt but wasn't improving his times anyway. The KTMs struggled all weekend, with no representatives in Q2. The fifth row is completed by Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira. Meanwhile, starting from the sixth row will be Madrid's Raúl Fernández, Italian Enea Bastianini, and Maverick Viñales, who couldn't finish Q1 due to a technical issue with his KTM.

The final fifteen minutes of MotoGP began with Marc Márquez showing great speed from the start. On his first flying lap, he set a remarkable time (1:57.914), the only one under 1:58 with the first set of tyres, but he knew it wouldn't be enough as the track continued to improve.

All riders went through the pits to fit the final soft compound of the day, which would be decisive, and the battle for top positions began. First, Pecco Bagnaia improved Marc's time with 1:58.8, then Álex Márquez took another bite out of the clock, setting a time of 1:57.5, which was already impressive. But it was Fabio Quartararo who delivered a near-perfect lap, stopping the clock at 1:57.233. A new track record, improving Álex Márquez's Friday time by 62 thousandths, despite fifteen degrees less track temperature. That lap by the Frenchman was truly commendable.

"It was a great time because the conditions were worse than yesterday, and we managed a fantastic lap," Quartararo commented in parc fermé. Silverstone marks the Frenchman's third consecutive pole, having been the fastest in Jerez and Le Mans, showcasing Yamaha's significant improvement over a single lap, although they still don't see themselves matching Ducati's race pace. "It's going to be tough to challenge them because when the tyre drops, it's harder for us."

Quartararo will face the threat of Álex Márquez, whom everyone points to as the rival to beat, and whose crash in the morning's FP2 affected his Q2 performance. "I'm very angry about that crash. We had more pole options, and it made me lose confidence," admitted the Cervera rider. "It's a mistake we can't make because it can cost you a pole or worse, an injury. So I'm angry about that part, but I feel good for the sprint."

Pecco Bagnaia will complete the front row, as Marc Márquez couldn't improve his time with the second set of tyres. In his final attempt, the Spanish rider was on track to beat Quartararo's time but made a mistake in the third sector, which knocked him off the front row for the first time, and he will start fourth, ahead of rookie Fermín Aldeguer and Jack Miller with the second Yamaha. The third row will feature Italians Di Giannantonio, Marini, and Frenchman Johann Zarco, winner of the last race at Le Mans, while the fourth row will have Morbidelli, Bezzecchi, and Catalan Álex Rins in 12th place.