MotoGP World Championship leader Marc Marquez brushed off his FP2 crash, almost laughing about the incident, saying that the three months since his last crash ‘was almost too long’, as the Spaniard finished second behind Fabio Quartararo at Silverstone.

Topping the morning session, Marquez was settled in the afternoon, before a slow crash saw him lost the front end of his RC213V into turn eight, crashing for the first time since Le Mans. Marquez was totally unharmed, finding the funny side of a crash, like only he could.

“I probably braked a little early, touched the white line and lost the front,” said the 26-year-old.

“But I hadn’t crashed for three months which was perhaps too long! I’m pushing hard to crashes are part of the game.”

After breaking the lap record, Marquez thought that he had topped the opening day of free practice, however Quartararo’s cancelled lap time was re-instated after the session, demoting him to second place. Whilst not too bothered about the end result, Marquez does think that both Yamaha riders have more pace than him.

“I worked well today and that’s good because I’ve always suffered here in the past,” he said.

“I know the Yamaha riders are quick, but I feel I’m on the right path for a great weekend. Today’s times are positive, though I think Quartararo and particularly Vinales have more in terms of pace.”

There was a lot of attention about the much talked about Silverstone surface, and after going under the outright lap record, the results of the recent resurfacing looked positive. Marquez praised Silverstone bosses after the much improved track.

“We should congratulate the organisers because last year we spoke harshly about the asphalt here, but today we can confirm they’ve done an incredible job,” said Marquez.

“Right from this morning, the bike felt really good. There are bumps, but nothing out of the ordinary, not like last year when it was more like a MX track.

“The tyres work well here now and there’s no graining. I used the hard tyre for my best lap and it was also a nice surprise to be quick with the extra hard, as I’d only put that in to see how it worked, only to find I improved lap after lap. It could be a solution for the race.”