Jaume Masia picked up from where he left off prior to the summer hiatus as he set the pace during Friday's two Practice sessions for the British Moto3 at Silverstone.

The Spaniard went into the six-week break on a high note after clinching his first Moto3 win of the season at Assen, a result that has seen him make significant in-roads into Daniel Holgado's championship lead.

It is form he was able to tap into as Moto3 resumed with two Friday Practice sessions at the fast, flowing Silverstone Circuit with Masia emerging on top in both P1 and the faster P2 session.

Commanding the top spot for much of P2, though he was toppled by Diogo Moreira during the late dash for a fast lap time, Masia returned to the summit moments later with a table topping 2m 11.403secs.

He was followed across both the line and the timesheets by Leopard Racing team-mate Tetsuki Suzuki, the Japanese rider - a race winner in Argentina this year - showing his most encouraging single lap form since his monster crash during Grand Prix of The Americas back in April.

Moreira wound up in third place aboard the MT Helmets - MSI KTM, with Italian pair Stefano Napa and Romano Fenati filling out the top five on their respective Angeluss MTA and Rivacold Snipers machines.

Championship leader Holgado, whose advantage at the head of the 2023 Moto3 standings was slashed to 16 points after failing to finish in the Netherlands, faces an anxious evening after only just scraping into the 14th and final provisional Q2 spot.

Indeed, with rain forecast for Saturday, those sat within Friday's top 14 positions stand a good chance of making direct progress to Q2.

Among them is Scott Ogden, who spent much of his day in and around the top ten as he looks to make an impression on home soil. The VisionTrack Honda rider made gains with his final lap to end the day in 11th, while team-mate Josh Whatley enjoyed a home boost with one of his stronger Friday showings on the sister bike in 19th.

Those hoping nature doesn't throw them a curve ball and a few buckets of rain, however, include both GasGas riders - David Alonso in 16th and Ryusei Yamanaka in 20th - plus Assen Moto3 pole sitter David Muñoz in 15th.