(Reuters) – Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco obliterated the all-time lap record at the Silverstone circuit on Saturday to take pole position at the British Grand Prix, while Aleix Espargaro overcame a massive highside crash earlier in the day to finish sixth.
Zarco set the fastest time of 1:57.767 seconds to pip Maverick Vinales of Aprilia by 0.098 seconds and claim his second pole of the season, while Ducati’s Jack Miller finished third.
Vinales’ team mate Espargaro was stretchered away from the track after crashing in the final practice session earlier on Saturday and taken for medical checks.
Espargaro was soon declared fit to ride despite suffering some bruising to his right foot and returned for Q2, producing the first new lap record of the day with 1:57.966 to take provisional pole.
He found himself shuffled back to sixth, however, as title rival and Yamaha’s reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo briefly went pole before Miller snatched it away, with Zarco eventually steering clear after a late surge from Vinales.
Quartararo was pushed back to the second row and will start in fourth place, with Miller’s Ducati team mate Francesco Bagnaia in fifth.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
