MotoGP: Crutchlow quickest from Rossi as Marquez crashes twice

Cal Crutchlow had British fans cheering on the opening day of action at Silverstone by storming to the top of the timesheets in this afternoon’s second practice session.

The LCR Honda rider, running a special Castrol livery this weekend, was more than a second under the lap record to hold off a late session charge from Valentino Rossi in near perfect conditions at the British track.

Aleix Espargaro enjoyed an impressive second free practice aboard the Aprilia to set the fourth quickest time ahead of Marc Marquez, who had not one but two crashes during the 45-minute session.

The Repsol Honda rider first crashed at Chapel on his out-lap, before an off later in the session at Village while sitting at the top of the times.

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Jorge Lorenzo was sixth quickest after sitting second this morning ahead of the second Espargaro brother, Pol, who demonstrated just how strong the RC16’s engine is to go P7, some 2.8 seconds quicker than team-mate Bradley Smith who rounded out the session dead last.

Johann Zarco was eighth for Monster Yamaha Tech 3 with Andrea Dovizioso and Scott Redding rounding out the top ten.

Dani Pedrosa continued to struggle at the 3.6-mile circuit, sitting 17^th quickest after the two sessions. 

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