Marco Bezzecchi smashed the Silverstone lap record by almost a second to top the second MotoGP practice session of the British Grand Prix weekend.

The Aprilia rider set a 1m56.280s to go quickest, with the previous best time a 1m57.233s set by Fabio Quartararo last year.

It was another strong session for Aprilia, as Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez finished Friday’s running second-fastest, 0.335s behind Bezzecchi.

Returning from injury after his crash in qualifying for the German Grand Prix, Bezzecchi had been second-fastest in first practice before setting the new lap record as the chequered flag waved on the session.

Two more of the Noale factory’s bikes were in the top five, with championship leader Jorge Martin in fourth ahead of Ai Ogura, who also showed strong speed throughout.

Martin had led early on, but was unable to match his team-mate’s pace.

The sole Ducati presence in the top five was Fabio Di Giannantonio, with the VR46 rider in third, just shy of 0.4s off Bezzecchi’s best time.

The Marquez brothers were sixth and seventh, with Marc ahead of Alex. Joan Mir finished in eighth for Honda ahead of Pramac’s Jack Miller, the sole Yamaha representative in Q2.

It was a tough day for KTM, with Pedro Acosta crashing again after also sliding off in this morning’s practice, while team-mate Brad Binder also took a tumble at Turn 7.

Despite the crashes, Acosta snuck inside the top 10 to secure himself a place in Q2.

Pecco Bagnaia was another late faller, crashing in the same place and missing out on a place directly in the second part of qualifying.

Session results

1 Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) 1m56.280s
2 Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.335s
3 Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) +0.398s
4 Jorge Martin (Aprilia) +0.500s
5 Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) +0.530s
6 Marc Marquez (Ducati) +0.733s
7 Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) +0.750s
8 Joan Mir (Honda) +0.831s
9 Jack Miller (Pramac Yamaha) +1.042s
10 Pedro Acosta (KTM) +1.083s

11 Enea Bastianini (Tech3 KTM) +1.312s
12 Luca Marini (Honda) +1.325s
13 Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +1.411s
14 Franco Morbidelli (VR46 Ducati) +1.473s
15 Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) +1.487s
16 Iker Lecuona (Gresini Ducati) +1.494s
17 Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) +1.636s
18 Brad Binder (KTM) +1.640s
19 Alex Rins (Yamaha) +1.718s
20 Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) +1.900s
21 Pol Espargaro (Tech3 KTM) +2.042s
22 Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pramac Yamaha) +2.341s
23 Augusto Fernandez (Yamaha) +2.550s