Silverstone, Great Britain – 28 August 2015: Cool and windy conditions on the opening day of practice for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone didn’t stop Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Tito Rabat and Alex Marquez from posting fast and competitive lap times.

The Spanish duo finished fourth and fifth, with Rabat holding the upper hand over his fast improving teammate Marquez by just 0.015s.

A lap of 2.08.232 from 2014 Silverstone winner Rabat was just 0.228s off the fastest pace.

But the quickest lap of the day was still almost a second of the 26-year-old’s 2013 lap record, with chilly ambient and track temperatures not helping the field break the 2.08 barrier.

Boosted by a brilliant season best fourth place finish last time out in Brno, Marquez showed great potential and speed on the fast and technically challenging Silverstone layout, which at 3.666 miles is the longest on the 18-round World Championship schedule.

Marquez was particularly impressive in this afternoon’s FP2, the 19-year-old knocking off a massive 1.3s compared to his best pace this morning.

The strong start from Rabat and Marquez bodes well for a double podium challenge from the pair for the second round in succession in Sunday morning’s 18-lap race.

Tito Rabat: 4th – 2’08.232
“It was not an easy day because the conditions are so cool that it means I have no stability from the rear when I open the throttle. I have a lot of sliding but we checked both rear tyre options and the performance wasn’t so bad. The gap to the front is not so big but we have to find some improvements tomorrow. The key once again will be the weather because it can he hard to predict.”

Alex Marquez: 5th – 2’.08.247
“I am really happy to make a start like today because Silverstone is a track I really love. I think this is easily the best Friday I have done this season and I am really happy to continue the good way we found in Brno. The team worked so well today on improving the bike and I have a good pace, even if the conditions were not ideal. I think we can improve to find a more constant rhythm and we will need to improve because we know everybody will make a step forward.”