Jorge Lorenzo is off to a flying start at the British Grand Prix. Image: MotoGP.com.

Defending MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo has rounded out the opening day of the British Grand Prix at Silverstone at the top of the time sheets.

The weather held out for the majority of the day, affording riders the rare luxury of a full day of dry track time.

Though points leader Marc Marquez was fastest in the opening practice, Jorge Lorenzo hit back in the second, registering a 2m02.734 lap that slotted his Yamaha Factory Racing mount ahead of the Repsol Honda by a 0.224-second margin.

“I started very fast because I improved almost one second and a half in the beginning; I was surprised with the improvement,” said Lorenzo.

“At this track, when the rear tyre starts to drop it’s very difficult to keep the same pace so we have to work hard to make a constant bike that works over long distance.

“I’m satisfied because I think we have the possibility to fight for the victory this time.”

Dani Pedrosa was just under half a second off his teammate’s pace, with Alvaro Bautista continuing his good run on the GO&FUN Gresini Honda in fourth ahead of Valentino Rossi.

Cal Crutchlow (Monster Tech3 Yamaha), Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Factory Racing), Bradley Smith (Monster Tech3 Yamaha), Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Factory Racing) filled positions six through 10, with Aussie Bryan Staring finishing 22nd fastest.

Frenchman Johann Zarco recorded the fastest Moto2 time of the day aboard his Came Iodaracing Project Suter, lapping 0.031 seconds ahead of Italtrans Racing’s Takaaki Nakagami, with Thom Luthi a further tenth of a second shy on the Interwetten Paddock machine.

Fourth was Esteve Rabat on the Tuenti HP 40 entry, followed by the title fighters Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) and Pol Espargaro (Tuenti HP 40) in fifth and sixth.

Jordi Torres, Danny Kent, Dominique Aegerter and Xavier Simeon completed the top 10, just 0.778 seconds off Zarco’s pace.

Jason O’Halloran made a solid start to his debut grand prix, finishing 26th fastest on his JiR Moto2 machine. Fellow Aussie Ant West was 29th.

In the Moto3 class it was Team Calvo’s Maverick Vinales leading the way from Miguel Oliveria and Jonas Folger.

Jack Miller was the quickest Aussie in ninth aboard the Caretta Techology – RTG FTR Honda, with Arthur Sissis two places back on his Red Bull KTM Ajo machine.

2013 MotoGP World Championship
Round 12 – Silverstone, United Kingdom

MotoGP free practice results:
1. Jorge LORENZO 2m02.734
2. Marc MARQUEZ 2m02.958
3. Dani PEDROSA 2m03.192
4. Alvaro BAUTISTA 2m03.463
5. Valentino ROSSI 2m03.480
6. Cal CRUTCHLOW 2m03.505
7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO 2m03.658
8. Bradley SMITH 2m03.750
9. Stefan BRADL 2m03.784
10. Nicky HAYDEN 2m04.089
11. Aleix ESPARGARO 2m04.145
12. Yonny HERNANDEZ 2m04.476
13. Andrea IANNONE 2m05.052
14. Randy DE PUNIET 2m05.069
15. Hector BARBERA 2m05.266
16. Michele PIRRO 2m05.438
17. Colin EDWARDS 2m05.484
18. Claudio CORTI 2m05.506
19. Danilo PETRUCCI 2m05.657
20. Michael LAVERTY 2m05.977
22. Bryan STARING 2m07.854

Moto2 free practice results:
1. Johann ZARCO 2m08.209
2. Takaaki NAKAGAMI 2m08.240
3. Thomas LUTHI 2m08.340
4. Esteve RABAT 2m08.380
5. Scott REDDING 2m08.506
6. Pol ESPARGARO 2m08.517
7. Jordi TORRES 2m08.607
8. Danny KENT 2m08.705
9. Dominique AEGERTER 2m08.776
10. Xavier SIMEON 2m08.987
11. Nicolas TEROL 2m09.058
12. Alex DE ANGELIS 2m09.204
13. Marcel SCHROTTER 2m09.360
14. Mattia PASINI 2m09.403
15. Simone CORSI 2m09.476
16. Gino REA 2m09.488
17. Toni ELIAS 2m09.492
18. Sandro CORTESE 2m09.594
19. Mika KALLIO 2m09.711
20. Julian SIMON 2m09.903
26. Jason O’HALLORAN 2m10.820
29. Anthony WEST 2m11.123

Moto3 free practice results:
1. Maverick VIÑALES 2m14.615
2. Miguel OLIVEIRA 2m14.853
3. Jonas FOLGER 2m14.886
4. Luis SALOM 2m15.002
5. Alex MARQUEZ 2m15.155
6. Alex RINS 2m15.378
7. Alexis MASBOU 2m15.475
8. Niccolò ANTONELLI 2m15.904
9. Jack MILLER 2m16.423
10. Isaac VIÑALE 2m16.581
11. Arthur SISSIS 2m16.589
12. Niklas AJO 2m16.734
13. Romano FENATI 2m16.771
14. Efren VAZQUEZ 2m16.873
15. Eric GRANADO 2m16.899
16. Alessandro TONUCCI 2m16.943
17. John MCPHEE 2m17.168
18. Jakub KORNFEIL 2m17.222
19. Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN 2m17.289
20. Hyuga WATANABE 2m17.303

Click here for detailed results