Wet conditions played host to a suspenseful Silverstone Sprint as Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) defended a hard-fought victory despite coming under pressure from Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) on the final lap.
It was an important stride in the Italian’s Championship charge as he jumps up into 2nd place in the standings and closes in on the leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), who failed to score a point in P14. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) rounded out the Tissot Sprint top 3 after the Spaniard charged through the field from the third row.
All or nothing in the opening laps…
With the Championship story hotting up between the top 3, tensions were high as Marco Bezzecchi lined up on pole position on a wet Silverstone Circuit with a dry line beginning to appear.
The lights went out and as expected it was a rocket start from Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) from the middle of the front row. Bezzecchi wasn’t letting the Aussie have the holeshot, however, as the Italian held firm into the first corner to hold onto the lead.
Miller quickly made his way back through on the VR46 man to take the lead as Fernandez (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) shot into P3 with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) trying to force his way through on the rookie.
Martin eventually got the better of Fernandez with Alex Marquez quickly following pursuit. Martin then tried his hand at taking the lead but Miller wasn’t letting the Spaniard have it easy as the Aussie had plenty of answers for the Pramac rider’s attacks.
Who dares wins in tricky conditions…
The race began to settle with a seven-bike freight train battling for the victory with the top guys swapping and changing postions corner after corner.
Nine laps to go and Marquez took the lead as he went on to set the fastest lap and begin to stretch out the field.
Marquez, Bezzecchi, Miller, Vinales, and Martin was the order with six laps to go, with a second between Marquez and Bezzecchi, and another half a second back to Miller who had the rest of the front group right in his wheel tracks.
Marquez kept Bezzecchi at arm’s length for the rest of the race but as the rain started to come down once again on the final lap, the Italian began to make up significant ground on the Gresini machine ahead. The Italian didn’t quite have enough in the tank to make a move however as Alex Marquez brought home his and Gresini’s first-ever Sprint victory.
Aprilia always deliver at Silverstone
Despite starting down in 8th place, Maverick Viñales was a man on a mission during Saturday’s Sprint action at Silverstone. The Spaniard was on the move and eventually pushed his way past the Aussie Jack Miller for the final podium spot, holding onto P3 until the line with Miller dropping down to P7.
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) also had his head down as he climbed his way up from 12th on the grid to 4th, before being demoted down to P5 by a late-charging Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing).
If Saturday’s action at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix is anything to go by, you do not want to miss any of the action on Sunday’s billing as the race gets underway at 13:00 local time (GMT +1).
1. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™)
2. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) +0.439
3. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) +3.169
4. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) +5.671
5. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) +6.068
6. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) +7.294
7. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) +9.415
8. Augusto Fernandez (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) +9.850
9. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) +10.435
10. Miguel Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) +11.247
