Aron Canet led the way on what could prove to be a critical opening day of action for the British Moto2 at Silverstone, while Jake Dixon and Sam Lowes cracked the top ten.

After a bruising start to the 2023 Moto2 season, Canet has used the six-week break to fully recuperate from injuries sustained during the opening eight rounds.

As such, he looked back on form as he sprung to the head of the timesheets in the final five minutes with a 2m 04.357 effort, putting him just under a tenth clear of SpeedUp duo Alonso Lopez and Fermin Aldeguer.

With just over a tenth covering a closely-matched top three, title contender Pedro Acosta made it an all-Spanish top four on the Red Bull KTM Ajo. Better still for the youngster, he enjoyed a moremore competitive day than his rival and championship leader Tony Arbolino, who could only manage 15th on the timesheets.

Indeed, though the Italian has been slow to get his weekend up to speed at other events this year, his chances of getting into one of the 14 automatic Q2 slots FP3 could be dashed by rain that has been forecast for Saturday.

Should rain materialise then those inside the top ten overnight are well placed, among them British pair Jake Dixon and Sam Lowes who were sixth and ninth respectively at the flag.