Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP‘s Fabio Quartararo and Cal Crutchlow started Day 2 at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix event booking good progress in terms of race pace. However, both riders had hoped for more during their respective qualifying sessions. The Frenchman didn‘t quite have the right feeling with the soft rear tyre when pushing, but still ended Q2 in 3rd place. The Briton also saved his best for last in Q1 and ended the session in 19th place.
With the Silverstone Circuit being quite long, Quartararo was keen not to waste a second in qualifying. When the pit lane lights turned green for Q2, he soon set out on his first run and immediately posted a 1‘58.990s to take over at the top of the timesheets with a 0.350s lead. The Yamaha man set the first 1‘58s lap of the weekend, despite the left foot injury he sustained yesterday.
Satisfied with his first attempt but not so much with the feeling he had with the soft rear tyre, Quartararo returned to the pits with seven and a half minutes remaining. Two and a half minutes later he began his second run. At the time he had a 0.270s advantage, but the sting was in the tail of the Q2 session. With the pace picking up in the final stages, El Diablo had to push. On his sixth and last lap he produced a 1‘58.925s for third, finishing 0.036s from pole.
Crutchlow had made good steps in FP3 and FP4, making him all the more curious to see what he could do in the Q1 session. His 2‘03.011s banker lap put him in provisional seventh place. The live timing started flashing various red sectors, and the local hero joined in on the fun. His next 2‘00.440s temporarily moved him up to sixth, though he was in seventh place when he returned to the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP pit box for a change of tyres with six minutes left on the clock.
Following a quick stop and out lap, he had two more chances to improve his time. He was in ninth place and pushing, setting two personal best sectors, but a crash by Enea Bastianini in Sector 3 meant the number-35 rider had to roll off the throttle. It was now or never for the Briton. His final effort, a 2‘00.217s, was a nice improvement on his time. It ultimately kept him 9th in the Q1 standings and put him in 19th place on the grid.
