Unfortunately for both Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing), their Sundays at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix ended prematurely. On Lap 1, the Spaniards crashed unhurt at Turn 9, with eight-time World Champion Marquez later admitting it was his mistake. Below is the photo sequence of the incident:
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
“This win felt great! In Austria I was thinking of the championship when we were switching bikes, but here I thought of nothing. I was feeling great on the bike, and I enjoyed fighting for the victory. It was perfect. I enjoy racing like that, living in the moment. I felt great at the start and stayed calm. I only made a few mistakes, and I felt like I was really good on braking. It was better than expected, and because of that I had kind of a change in strategy during the race. When I had a 3s lead I said, ’Okay, now it‘s time to go slowly and not make any mistakes‘, and then on the last lap I was just enjoying the track, still riding slowly. I‘m so happy about this result. It‘s a really special win. When I won in Assen, I already had some fans there. I don‘t know how many fans there were here today, but it was massive, and it was great to share this moment with them. I want to thank them. For a Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP rider, it‘s always nice to win a Monster Energy Grand Prix, so I basically got it all, it‘s amazing! It‘s a great win for them, and also for my family and the team. I have a mechanic who couldn‘t come here, Daniele Grelli, so this one is for him. I can‘t wait to be with the crew to celebrate.”
“I’m super, super, super happy because we’ve put in a lot of effort and work to get back on the podium. It hasn’t been easy, because even when I’ve had the pace, I’ve had crashes and problems. I was aiming for a Top 5 finish today, but in the end I felt really good and comfortable with the bike so I was able to push. I was fast but without taking risks or having to make aggressive moves. It’s a great feeling to be back on the podium and celebrate with all my team.”
“We’ve come so close. We have almost had it several times and finally we did it! A deserved podium that we’ve worked hard for and I dedicate, first and foremost, to Aprilia. The team has always worked to the utmost during these years. We have overcome difficult times together and now we are reaping the fruits of our labour. On the podium, I thought about Fausto, my family, and all the people who have been close to me. Our growth over the last two years has been extraordinary. We have improved in every aspect, but we needed a podium to lend credence to what we’ve done. I knew we had a chance today. We built our performance throughout all the sessions and I felt good in warm up this morning too. I had a few doubts at the start on tyre choice but in the end, we got it right. I lost a few positions at a certain point but I was able to recover, except on Fabio, who pulled away and created a gap. In the finale, I was struggling a bit with the front, but to compensate, I had good traction and that’s why I didn’t fight Jack in the braking sections, relying instead on crossing the trajectory and exploiting my acceleration. Now we need to celebrate and then get refocused straight away. There are more races coming up where we can be competitive. One podium can’t be enough to make us happy. We want more.”
“It’d be hard to get much closer to a podium than that – a bit over a tenth of a second after racing for 40-odd minutes – so it’s hard to know how to feel about Silverstone on Sunday. On one hand it was a good bounce-back for me because six laps in, it wasn’t looking too good, but I was biding my time. And I nearly timed it right.
“I was seventh with half the race to go but a load of guys in front of me were running the soft front tyre, and I was on the mediums so the race was always going to come to me. And it did – I passed my teammate Pecco (Bagnaia), (Joan) Mir and then Pol (Espargaro), and all of a sudden Aleix (Espargaro) was in front of me and a podium was there if I could get by him. I had five laps to do it – well, technically I did do it because I was past him for a second there on the last lap – but he got on the box and I didn’t. But, fair play to him, and it was big for Aprilia to get their first podium. It’s good to have so many manufacturers who can fight for podiums and victories these days, it’s awesome for the sport to have six different bikes in the top six like we did today.
“It was always going to come down to the final lap with Aleix, and I could see the right-hand side of his tyre was struggling where mine was good, but the opposite was true too. He had more life on the left side than I did, and the corner at the end of the last straight is a left, so he was always going to have it over me on the last lap. I tried, but didn’t quite make it.
“Where this race did feel good was that I was able to control it a lot more, and I had as good of a pace as anyone in the second half of the race and didn’t fade with tyre wear or something physical, or anything else. I was trying to work my way into the race on that medium tyre, so I executed the race I wanted to, let’s say. The first lap was hectic but I got out of that OK, and then I could see the group at the front and could set my sights on them – well, everyone besides Fabio (Quartararo) anyway because he just cleared off and that was all we saw of him after about seven laps. We were all pretty much racing for second after he pulled the pin.
“Fabio was the man with his race pace here, so we knew all weekend that it would come down to needing to keep tabs on him early and not let him escape, but I made life hard for myself by only qualifying seventh. I won’t lie, I was pretty pissed off after qualifying because I got through practice as the fastest rider and went straight to Q2, so seventh on the grid wasn’t what I had in mind. I had two runs on new tyres in Q2 and just couldn’t find the pace. It was a shame because I’d felt mega all weekend before Q2 but just didn’t feel comfortable in qualifying. It was a strange one – I wasn’t able to go as fast on a new tyre in Q2 as I was on a used tyre in FP3 when I was fastest of everyone – so yeah, she was a bit of a head-scratcher.
“I wondered what sort of condition Silverstone would be in because it had been a while since we were here – it was back in 2019 and they’ve had Formula One race here three times since then, so we all wondered if it would be pretty bumpy. But the track was in pretty good condition which makes this place so much more enjoyable, because it’s a proper old-school Grand Prix track with a lot of different styles of corners, they don’t build places like Silverstone these days. Sure, there were a few bumps but it was better than we thought, which was a good surprise to get. Right from the first lap of Friday I had a smile on my face, it was good to be back.
“The British Grand Prix is one of the ones I look forward to every year. My results here haven’t been that good normally, but it’s definitely one of those historic races that’s extra special to ride in. Right from Friday morning the British fans came out, there were plenty of them all weekend so I was super stoked to see that. Definitely makes it more enjoyable when there’s a lot of fans around. Aragon’s next in a couple of weeks, so I’ll catch you from there.”
“I enjoyed the race a lot, this was the feeling I was looking for after struggling. To be leading the race was something really special. We went with the soft rear because it gave us the best feeling, but it wasn’t enough to fight for the podium and there’s still some more work to do. Anyway, until the middle of the race I was there, fighting and enjoying it so much – even closing the gap to Rins and Aleix when my tyre was still performing well. As the grip dropped, I controlled the gap and finished the weekend well. It has been a great weekend overall, we’ve been able to show what we can do and now we head to Aragon where Honda has been very strong in the past.”
“Today was a solid day, all things considered. I had a tough start to the race and struggled a lot in the first few laps but as the race went on I got stronger and stronger. I’m really happy with the rhythm I managed to keep until the end. I want to say a huge thanks to the team; this weekend has not been easy for us and the guys have worked non-stop. We tried everything and the best bike we had all weekend is the bike we had for the race.”
“I’m really, really happy! Qualifying yesterday was difficult for me. I made some mistakes but I knew the pace was there. In Warm Up this morning, I felt really strong, finishing in P5 and I knew if I can recover some places, I can fight in the front group. The start of the race was ok, although I tried to save the tyre a bit because the conditions were cold. Lap by lap I managed to improve my lap time. On the last lap, I overtook the last rider to finish in P7, which is my second best result in MotoGP and it happened in the dry. I want to say thanks to my team because this weekend was very good and very strong.”
“Sunday at Silverstone and we can be happy and proud at the race we did, especially starting from 17th. It’s pretty difficult but today I did it. Our choice of the soft rear for the race was right for us. It performed as expected and helped with the rear grip which we’re missing, but we did good and the race went well. Now, I’m looking forward to Aragon and to take learnings from this weekend. We’re happy and I’m proud of the team, I’d like to thank them for their hard work during the weekend.”
“Well, honestly, the feeling today was really good and I was able to ride in a nice way and be in the positions that I wanted. I felt confident with my bike and I knew that I could have good race pace. Even if my results this weekend haven’t been really strong, I was feeling very strong in the race. But then I started struggling with the front end, which was completely unexpected, and I lost a lot of time in the last laps. This problem started from the 10th lap, and from then it was a bit of a struggle and I’m disappointed because I was hoping for a better result, even for my first time here.”
“It was a good top 10 result. We managed to hit the target we set yesterday. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of time in overtaking, mainly on the straights, so it was difficult for me to pass other riders. In the end, it was pretty decent. I think we could have been a little bit better. Anyway, it’s a good result. Now I really have a very good feeling on the bike, maybe Aragon will be even better with the KTM for us. We will fight for a good result there as well.”
“It has been a difficult weekend; I struggled a lot. We worked a lot but I was not able to achieve what I had hoped. Now this chapter ends and we are concentrating on doing well at Aragon.”
“I’m happy because I knew it wouldn’t be an easy race for me after the two heavy crashes we had, as I wasn’t 100%. I had a bad start, so I tried to be conservative at the beginning. In the middle of the race, I started to have a good pace, which allowed me to recover some positions. Overall I’m happy and we’ll go for more in Aragón.”
“So from P15 on the grid, I had a good start and was able to get up to P10 by the first or second lap. From the beginning I felt quite comfortable and had good pace on the bike and I thought I had an opportunity to have a good race today. But in the second half of the race I had a big drop in the rear tyre and it was really, really difficult to stay on the bike. Towards the end of the race, I dropped positions and lap time and ended up in P13 which is not the best, but I gave my all and I’m looking forward to the next one in Aragon.”
“Unfortunately, after a perfect weekend where I felt really strong, today in the race, something didn’t work. Now we’re going to analyse all the data and understand why I didn’t have any rear grip from the first few laps. I am very disappointed because I was sure I could have a really good race after being fast all weekend. Now let’s move on and try to come back stronger at Aragón”.
“Obviously I can’t be happy with today’s position, I had a great pace and could have challenged for the top-10. I managed the rear well and I was hoping to have a bit more in the last few laps. I struggle to overtake on the straight, I can’t get close enough to the guys in front to overtake under braking and I often have to go long. This is an area we need to work on at Aragón and Misano to be strong under braking, because when you start from the middle of the grid it is difficult to defend yourself in the first few laps. In the end I fought with Bagnaia and I preferred not to attack because it’s important to help with the other Ducati riders for the championship and at this moment a point for him can make the difference.”
“It was not the race we were looking for, at least the result. It felt like I didn’t have a lot of grip from the beginning. Nothing really clicked for me this weekend. Hopefully we can keep working with a positive attitude and get things going in our way again in Aragon.”
“I did enjoy the race. Obviously, I’m disappointed about where I finished, but overall I was pleased with my performance and pleased with the lap times I was doing. We came here to do a good job, and I feel we did that. During this weekend we worked in a great way with the Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team, but I just started too far back. It was as simple as that, because I felt that I had a bit of a better pace to run with the guys nearer the front. In the mid-race I was quite pleased with my pace. It was probably a little bit faster than the pace I was doing over the weekend, so I stayed consistent. We saw a lot of guys dropping with the tyres, which we knew would happen. I was in the exact same boat with the rear tyre, but I was able to manage it well, which was quite pleasing. Overall, to be racing here in Silverstone in front of the home fans, I got great support. I’m glad they got to see three great races today. We can go away from here proud about our weekend.”
“It’s a great shame because I felt good with the bike all weekend and I was quite fast. I had a good start and good first laps; I was in a place where I could fight. However, after six laps I had problems with the rear grip, which made me slow. This sometimes happens to us and we tried a lot of things, but in the end we couldn’t fix it. I think if the temperature was a little higher than I could have used the hard tyre and we are normally better on that, but I was cold so we had to use the medium. It’s sad because I wanted to have a decent race here at Silverstone, as there is a big crowd. I want to thank them all for their support. It has been a great pleasure to ride here with so many people here all weekend and thank you everyone for your love over the years.”
“I felt good all weekend and felt really strong today, especially in morning Warm Up. The pace I had, I felt like I could stay with the guys in the back group. In the race I didn’t have the same feeling and the grip was different. It’s a bit frustrating. It was a great experience, although I wanted more from the race. The team did a great job and we made improvements during the weekend, but the race was out of our hands. I feel like I’ve done a good job; I was two seconds off the top guys in Qualifying after only a small number of laps. I can’t thank the British crowd enough, the cheers were fantastic every lap and it was such a nice feeling. It was so nice to see a packed out crowd at Silverstone and the atmosphere was sensational. It was an incredible feeling.”
“First of all I want to say sorry to Jorge Martin, already I went to him and his team to say sorry after the race. It was my mistake; I was too optimistic with that overtake. Races are sometimes like this and today it was me who made the mistake. Overall the weekend has been quite good as we have been fast in a lot of sessions, even after a big crash on Friday. It’s a shame to make this mistake in the race because we had the pace to do something interesting here today.”
“These unfortunate moments are also a part of racing. It’s a shame because I felt like I could have had a great race. Marc has come to apologize, now the only thing to do is to completely reset everything and focus on the next race.”
“What a great win by Fabio! He looked in control throughout the entire race. We prepared for today’s race in a perfect way. All sessions, including Warm Up, were crucial, and we’re delighted that it led to Fabio winning the Monster Energy British Grand Prix. Still, we didn‘t expect him to pull away that easily. His 2’00.098s lap was the fastest of the race. He set it at the perfect time, and it was the nail in the coffin for the other riders. After that they didn’t stand a chance. Fabio really was on another level and managed the gap perfectly even without pushing 100%. We couldn‘t be more elated for him, our title sponsor Monster Energy, and for all the team and Yamaha staff to be able to celebrate such a dominating win. Cal had a more difficult race. He wanted to get into the points, but in the end he didn‘t quite manage that. He lost a bit of time at the start of the race battling with other riders, and towards the end he was one of the many who noticed a drop in the rear tyre, which we know happens here quite easily. Still, he managed it well and rode a quite steady race, so overall he ended the weekend with a positive feeling.”
“Today was a mixed day for us. We’re very happy for Alex, finally he got a podium and he did a good job. This is his first podium of the year, so it’s very nice for all of us. It was a pity for Joan because he was in really good shape and he learned the track well, but then he had some issues with the feeling on the front end. We need to investigate what happened because it cost him quite a few positions. But he is still second in the championship, which is a great thing. We know that qualifying is our biggest issue at the moment, so we’ll continue to work and fight.”
“First I want to say congratulations to Alex, we’ve all waited a long time to see him on the podium again and it’s been a strong comeback. I hope he can continue in this way. Joan’s performance wasn’t bad, but he struggled with the feeling and in the end we couldn’t get the result we’d hoped for. But the season isn’t finished yet, we will continue to fight and let’s see what happens.”
“In general we’re quite pleased with the result. It was tricky for us to find the right set-up for this circuit from Friday. Silverstone is one of the tracks where we haven’t done quite so many laps with our race package. In five years MotoGP missed two races here but Brad and Iker did a great job today and overtook a lot of riders. Danilo also made a lot of forward progress. We tried to help Miguel for set-up but he was struggling with rear grip. We’ll go to Aragon hoping to start in a better way.”
“What a race! Finally, we could see our two riders, Iker and Danilo in the fight for top positions. By far, this is the best race of the season. We knew there was something to do, but honestly, this race overcame our expectations. I am speechless, as this year hasn’t been easy, it was always difficult to receive Iker and Danilo back in the garage when the race hasn’t been going the way they wanted and we wanted. But today we had a great fight!”
“We could see both, Iker and Danilo showing an incredible fighting spirit. They did some great passes, aggressive, but clean as you expect from a rider. I am very proud of Iker and Danilo. To have both of them in the top 10 with nearly no crash in front means it was a real top 10 result. Even though KTM didn’t get too much data on that circuit, I think we turned the situation around in a positive way with the three KTM’s in the top 10.”
“Clearly, I’m very happy for Danilo to have shown he still is a fast MotoGP rider and he had some fun today riding and passing guys. I’m really proud of Iker, who at 21 years old is showing that he is growing and becoming a better MotoGP rider every day. I hope this performance will help him to find a MotoGP ride next year. All in all, we are happy. It was a great weekend, we worked really hard. We didn’t have any rain and this is a tough track to understand, but together with the team and the KTM engineers we learned a lot. That has been a very important and crucial GP. So, congrats Iker, congrats Danilo, congrats to the whole crew! As I usually say, it’s just a few days off before we hit the track again.”
“It has been a very mixed weekend for us. It was a very difficult MotoGP race with rear grip issues for Valentino, which saw him drop from sixth to outside of the points. It was a baptism of fire for Jake, but I’m sure it was a nice experience to be riding in the MotoGP class for the first time at his home Grand Prix.”
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | 40m20.579 |
| 2 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | +2.663 |
| 3 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia | +4.105 |
| 4 | Jack MILLER | Ducati | +4.254 |
| 5 | Pol ESPARGARO | Honda | +8.462 |
| 6 | Brad BINDER | KTM | +12.189 |
| 7 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | +13.56 |
| 8 | Alex MARQUEZ | Honda | +14.044 |
| 9 | Joan MIR | Suzuki | +16.226 |
| 10 | Danilo PETRUCCI | KTM | +16.287 |
| 11 | Johann ZARCO | Ducati | +16.339 |
| 12 | Enea BASTIANINI | Ducati | +17.696 |
| 13 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | +18.285 |
| 14 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Ducati | +20.913 |
| 15 | Luca MARINI | Ducati | +21.018 |
| 16 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | +22.022 |
| 17 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Yamaha | +23.232 |
| 18 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +29.758 |
| 19 | Jake DIXON | Yamaha | +50.845 |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | Jorge MARTIN | Ducati | 19 Laps |
| Not Finished 1st Lap | |||
| DNF | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | 0 Lap |
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
| 1 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | FRA | 206 |
| 2 | Joan MIR | Suzuki | SPA | 141 |
| 3 | Johann ZARCO | Ducati | FRA | 137 |
| 4 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Ducati | ITA | 136 |
| 5 | Jack MILLER | Ducati | AUS | 118 |
| 6 | Brad BINDER | KTM | RSA | 108 |
| 7 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | SPA | 95 |
| 8 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | POR | 85 |
| 9 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia | SPA | 83 |
| 10 | Jorge MARTIN | Ducati | SPA | 64 |
| 11 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | SPA | 64 |
| 12 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | SPA | 59 |
| 13 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | JPN | 58 |
| 14 | Pol ESPARGARO | Honda | SPA | 52 |
| 15 | Alex MARQUEZ | Honda | SPA | 49 |
| 16 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Yamaha | ITA | 40 |
| 17 | Danilo PETRUCCI | KTM | ITA | 36 |
| 18 | Enea BASTIANINI | Ducati | ITA | 35 |
| 19 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | SPA | 33 |
| 20 | Luca MARINI | Ducati | ITA | 28 |
| 21 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | ITA | 28 |
| 22 | Stefan BRADL | Honda | GER | 11 |
| 23 | Dani PEDROSA | KTM | SPA | 6 |
| 24 | Lorenzo SAVADORI | Aprilia | ITA | 4 |
| 25 | Michele PIRRO | Ducati | ITA | 3 |
| 26 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | SPA | 1 |
| 27 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Yamaha | GBR | 0 |
| 28 | Garrett GERLOFF | Yamaha | USA | 0 |
| 29 | Jake DIXON | Yamaha | GBR | 0 |
(Subject to change)
| Round | Date | Location |
| Round 13 | Sep-12 | Aragon, Motorland Aragon |
| Round 14 | Sep-19 | San Marino, Misano |
| Round 15 | Oct-03 | Americas, Circuit of the Americas |
| Round 16 | Oct-24 | Malaysia, Sepang |
| Round 17 | Nov-7 | Portugal, Algarve |
| Round 18 | Nov-14 | Valencia, Circuit Ricardo Tormo |
| Round 19 | PPD | Termas de Río Hondo, Argentina |
Source: MCNews.com.au
Father’s Day is September 5 and Honda is offering some great gift ideas, whether you’re thinking a cap to keep the sun off and show off a bit of Honda pride, or a HRC T-Shirt for the racing fanatic. There’s the Expanda pack too, big enough to carry a full-face helmet, or the Honda Cooler Pack for keeping drinks cool at the track, in the garage or for any other occasion. Or if it’s keeping dad warm, check out the HRC hoodie!
There’s a huge range of Honda genuine gear, casual wear and accessories available via your local Honda dealer, so if you can, head in store and check it out, or visit the Honda Motorcycles Australia website.
The Honda Expanda pack is the perfect option for adding extra storage, being small enough to fit into a pocket or in the palm of your hand, but expanding to 30L – enough to fit a full face helmet – with a 190T nylon construction with high tensile stitching. It also comes with a lightweight compact storage bag and is available for $19.95 RRP and is part # L08BP000B.
The lightweight Honda Cooler Pack is an ideal gift that’s more than just an insulated drink bag that’ll keep dad’s beverages chilled, it’ll also double as a fold-out stool, giving him a place to sit as well. It’s easily carried with shoulder straps and velcro straps hold the frame together when collapsed for easy transport.
The bag itself features plenty of pockets, and is washable and has a durable waterproof coating on the fabric, expanding out to 36 x 29 x 41 cm in red for $44.95 – part # L08CB020R.
The Honda Icon Cap is of a six-panel design, with 100% polyester drill and 3D embroidery. Plus there’s a snapback closure and curved peak. The Honda Icon Cap comes in Camo for $19.95 RRP, part #L08CP019CS.
Help dad show his loyalty to Honda on the track with this HRC T-Shirt, which is 100% combed cotton, with crew neck and a regular fit. It’s also pre-shrunk to minimise shrinkage with washing, runs printed logos and comes in red or black, with neck ribbing, side seams, shoulder to shoulder tape and double needle hems. The HRC T-Shirt is available for $49.95 RRP in sizes Small through 3XL, part #L08TS020HB (black), L08TS020HR (red).
Keep dad warm in the casual HRC Hoodie, which features an 80% cotton 20% polyester anti-pill fleece, with pull-over hood, raglan sleeves and kangaroo pocket. The regular fit hoodie is a mid-weight 290 GSM material, with sleeve cuff ribbing, printed logos and comes in two colours – red or black – in sizes Small through 3XL for $89.95 RRP. Part #L08HD020HB (black), L08HD020HR (red).
It’s also been pre-shrunk to avoid shrinkage in the wash, and the hood is lined, with tonal drawcords also featured.
Honda Genuine Merchandise is available via your local Honda Dealer. To locate your nearest Honda Dealer visit www.honda.com.au.
Source: MCNews.com.au
Fabio Quartararo steadily scythed his way to the front of the field via a series of safe and calculated overtaking manoeuvres but once he hit the front on lap five he put his head down and pulled away with ease.
Quartararo was smooth and consistent, setting the fastest lap of the race on the sixth lap, a 2m00.098s, then immediately backed them up with a 2m00.179s, 2m00.289s, 2m00.460s, 2m00.472s to break way from the rest of the field.
It was an amazing performance but one that was almost expected if you had examined his long run pace over the practice sessions. Still, it was a cool, calm and collected display of dominance that underlined just how powerful the combination of the 22-year-old and the Monster Energy Yamaha YZR-M1 is.
This dominance is obviously not just coming from the machine, but Quartararo’s skill to adapt his riding style to suit the bike at each circuit and get the best out of it at every opportunity. There were four Yamaha MotoGP machines on the grid at Silverstone, while Quartararo dominated, the remaining three bikes filled the last three places on the results sheet. Cal Crutchlow 17th, Valentino Rossi 18th and debutante Jake Dixon in 19th.
Yamaha’s tally of points in the Constructor’s World Championship is almost entirely the doing of Quartararo. Vinales scored 25-points at the Qatar season opener but from then-on Quartararo has almost single handedly built Yamaha’s tally of 234-points.
With the failure of the rest of the current crop of Yamaha riders to fire, Yamaha’s hopes for wrapping up the Constructors Cup will be bolstered when Andrea Dovizioso joins Valentino Rossi in the Petronas SRT squad from Misano. But of course there is no guarantee that the Italian will find competitive speed right from the off after a long time away from the heat of MotoGP competition. Franco Morbidelli will slot into the Monster Energy Yamaha seat vacated by Maverick Vinales when he returns from injury.
Ducati are second in the Constructor’s World Championship but four riders have been scoring good points on the Desmosedici as Ducati most definitely have strength in numbers. Jack Miller has taken two victories for Ducati and Jorge Martin one, but even when those two haven’t won Francesco Bagnaia or Johann Zarco have still bagged good points to help build Ducati’s tally of 225.
Quartararo will take a 65-point lead over defending champion Joan Mir into Round 13 at Aragon in a fortnight. There are seven rounds left on the official calendar but of course there is no guarantee that all of those will be able to be held. Unless Quartararo falls apart or succumbs to injury he is now certainly expected to take the title. The importance of that victory overnight was not lost on Fabio, his elation is always stratospheric, that boy loves to win, but with his closest challengers in the championship only taking a handul of points from the British GP, this was big. You can’t fail to be impressed with his performance this season and he will make a worthy champion indeed.
Alex Rins has had a difficult season but found his feet at Silverstone to take a hard fought second place while Aleix Espargaro took Aprilia’s first ever podium in the MotoGP era.
The squirt off the turn from the Aprilia, and the ability to put that down to the ground and translate that into immediate forward motion, was really quite amazing at Silverstone. Even when Aleix was in close consort with a Desmosedici while fighting for position, the Aprilia put the power down off the turn in a way that the Ducati, generally the yardstick in this area, could not match.
This was quite eye-opening and will be making Maverick Vinales want to race that RS-GP sooner rather than later. The Spaniard will test the bike this week and the results from that will decide when we see him on a MotoGP grid astride an Aprilia.
Jack Miller was the top finishing Ducati at the British GP with fourth, and showed strong enough pace towards the end that suggested he might have been able to claim second if the race was much longer. After some recent mistakes it was a big relief to see Jack bag good points and strengthen his fifth position in the championship.
Pol Espargaro had taken pole for Honda and kept it together to take fifth position while Brad Binder was sixth for KTM, making it six different manufacturers in the top six positions.
Iker Lecuona strengthened his chances of having a job in 2021 after working his way forward to an impressive seventh place finish, only just over a second behind Binder. Likewise Alex Marquez rode well to finish eighth while Joan Mir faded back to ninth after racing strongly early on. Danilo Petrucci rounded out the top ten ahead of Johann Zarco.
Francesco Bagnaia found he had no rear grip right from the start. Team-mate Jack Miller had complained of two dud tyres in Q2 but it was Bagnaia’s turn to score a dud come race day. This apparent random variation in tyre performance must be a serious cause for concern in the paddock.
The only non-finishers overnight were Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin. Marquez effectively skittled Martin out of the race late on the opening lap while trying to put a pass on the Ducati. Marquez apologised on social media after the race and accepted blame for the incident.
Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) took the holeshot from pole, with Quartararo initially up into second. But Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was on the move, past Aleix Espargaro into third and then attacking El Diablo.
Drama struck just off that fight too as Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) came together once with Martin up the inside, and then the eight-time World Champion tried to take it back. With Martin reacting to those ahead to have opened a small gap, the number 93 made it just ahead but then collected the rookie. He apologised and it was deemed a racing incident.
That early race action was still led by Pol Espargaro, with Bagnaia in second and Aleix Espargaro shadowing. The Aprilia then went for the lead but headed wide, and not long after that Quartararo started to make his moves. By 16 to go the Yamaha had worked his way to the front, and from there the hammer went down.
The battle behind raged on, with Pol and Aleix Espargaro ahead of Bagnaia and reigning Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar). Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) was in the mix too, but the rider starting to make serious progress was Rins.
With 13 laps to go, Rins was into third with Quartararo gone out front and Aleix Espargaro holding strong in second. Pol Espargaro was starting to fade slightly, but the big change was Bagnaia as the number 63 sunk to the back of the group, struggling to stay with them.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), meanwhile, was doing the opposite. The South African was on an absolute Sunday charge once again, and was past Mir and homing in on Pol Espargaro. Bagnaia had dropped well back and Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) had moved well forward, as a change up ahead then ultimately decided the podium. Aleix Espargaro headed wide, and Rins needed no second invitation as he moved into second.
Quartararo was gone, and by the final lap the key battle was focused on Aprilia, on the verge of making history. Rins was just out of reach although still tantalisingly close, but Miller was on the march. The Australian struck to momentarily break a thousand Noale hearts, but Aleix Espargaro hit straight back and made it stick. A few apexes were all that remained between the number 41 and history, and he kept ahead for that mythical first podium.
Quartararo made the masterclass look easy but far from it, Rins got back on the box after a tougher 2021 so far, and Aleix Espargaro ended a long, long wait for a podium – for man and machine. Not since 2014 has he been on the box, and Aprilia never have in the MotoGP era.
Miller was denied but came home top Ducati, with Pol Espargaro taking fifth and a great result from pole. And sixth went to Binder, the South African raising more eyebrows on race day and adding the final piece in a history-making race: Yamaha, Suzuki, Aprilia, Ducati, Honda and KTM in the top six makes it the first time since 1972 six factories have been in the top six.
Iker Lecuona (Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing) also put in a Sunday stunner to take seventh, not so far from Binder either as the Spaniard leapfrogged compatriot Alex Marquez, who took eighth. In the latter stages Mir faded to ninth, and he was only just ahead of another charging KTM as Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing’s Danilo Petrucci completed the top ten. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) was close behind too in P11, before a slightly bigger gap back to Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) and then Bagnaia, who took P14 in the end. Luca Marini (Avintia VR46) picked up the final point.
After a monster weekend for Quartararo that sees him now sit 65 points clear of Mir in the Championship, the Frenchman seems to be holding most of the cards in 2021. But next up it’s Aragon and good hunting ground for his rivals. Can they fight back next time out? We’ll find out in two weeks!
“It feels so good because it has been a tough qualifying. Yesterday I lost confidence, but we knew in FP4 our pace was strong with the medium, I felt great. I will be short, I want to thank the fans, it’s the first time we have them, a lot I mean. Also, it’s the Monster Energy GP it is great to win for all of them and my family and team. Also, my mechanic, who couldn’t come, Daniele, so that one was for him, and I can’t wait to be with the crew and celebrate!”
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | 40m20.579 |
| 2 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | +2.663 |
| 3 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia | +4.105 |
| 4 | Jack MILLER | Ducati | +4.254 |
| 5 | Pol ESPARGARO | Honda | +8.462 |
| 6 | Brad BINDER | KTM | +12.189 |
| 7 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | +13.56 |
| 8 | Alex MARQUEZ | Honda | +14.044 |
| 9 | Joan MIR | Suzuki | +16.226 |
| 10 | Danilo PETRUCCI | KTM | +16.287 |
| 11 | Johann ZARCO | Ducati | +16.339 |
| 12 | Enea BASTIANINI | Ducati | +17.696 |
| 13 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | +18.285 |
| 14 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Ducati | +20.913 |
| 15 | Luca MARINI | Ducati | +21.018 |
| 16 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | +22.022 |
| 17 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Yamaha | +23.232 |
| 18 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | +29.758 |
| 19 | Jake DIXON | Yamaha | +50.845 |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | Jorge MARTIN | Ducati | 19 Laps |
| Not Finished 1st Lap | |||
| DNF | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | 0 Lap |
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
| 1 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Yamaha | FRA | 206 |
| 2 | Joan MIR | Suzuki | SPA | 141 |
| 3 | Johann ZARCO | Ducati | FRA | 137 |
| 4 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Ducati | ITA | 136 |
| 5 | Jack MILLER | Ducati | AUS | 118 |
| 6 | Brad BINDER | KTM | RSA | 108 |
| 7 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | SPA | 95 |
| 8 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | POR | 85 |
| 9 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia | SPA | 83 |
| 10 | Jorge MARTIN | Ducati | SPA | 64 |
| 11 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | SPA | 64 |
| 12 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | SPA | 59 |
| 13 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | JPN | 58 |
| 14 | Pol ESPARGARO | Honda | SPA | 52 |
| 15 | Alex MARQUEZ | Honda | SPA | 49 |
| 16 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Yamaha | ITA | 40 |
| 17 | Danilo PETRUCCI | KTM | ITA | 36 |
| 18 | Enea BASTIANINI | Ducati | ITA | 35 |
| 19 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | SPA | 33 |
| 20 | Luca MARINI | Ducati | ITA | 28 |
| 21 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | ITA | 28 |
| 22 | Stefan BRADL | Honda | GER | 11 |
| 23 | Dani PEDROSA | KTM | SPA | 6 |
| 24 | Lorenzo SAVADORI | Aprilia | ITA | 4 |
| 25 | Michele PIRRO | Ducati | ITA | 3 |
| 26 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | SPA | 1 |
| 27 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Yamaha | GBR | 0 |
| 28 | Garrett GERLOFF | Yamaha | USA | 0 |
| 29 | Jake DIXON | Yamaha | GBR | 0 |
Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took what could be a crucial victory in the Monster Energy British Grand Prix, the Australian holding off Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) as the Italian was forced to settle for second. Lightech Speed Up’s Jorge Navarro back on the podium in third position to show some more serious speed at Silverstone.
Bezzecchi took the holeshot initially, but home hero Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) was quick to pounce and lead his home race. Navarro was sitting ahead of Gardner and Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) on the opening lap but soon, the number 87 was up to P3 as Bezzecchi passed Lowes for the lead.
Gardner then found a way past Lowes for second, with the top five – Bezzecchi, Gardner, Lowes, Navarro and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) – split by less than a second. Raul Fernandez was a second back of the group in P6 as teammate Gardner hit the front. Not for long though. Bezzecchi pounced back half a lap later but on the exit of Turn 14, the Italian was out of the seat and it caused Gardner to sit up but handed him the race lead, with the top five still locked together.
Just after Gardner had set the fastest lap of the race, Bezzecchi scooped up some slipstream and made a pass for the lead stick at Stowe. Bezzecchi, Gardner and Lowes had a 0.8s lead over fourth place Navarro with nine laps to go and Gardner, again at Turn 13, dived up the inside of Bezzecchi. The Aussie was back in the lead.
With four laps to go, huge drama in the Championship chase unfolded. Raul Fernandez suffered a huge crash at Turn 12 and was out of the race, thankfully the Spaniard was back up on his feet. But with Gardner leading and Bezzecchi a close second, the rookie sensation’s title hopes took a big dent.
At the front, Gardner and Bezzecchi were locked together with two laps to go, with Navarro was also getting the better of Lowes for P3. It was close as Bezzecchi set his fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap, and Navarro setting the fastest lap of the race overall. Stowe and Vale – two big passing places – passed by for Bezzecchi, and pushing hard, he was slightly wide at Turn 13.
In the end, Gardner held on with a fantastic last lap and a fantastic race in general to take a crucial 25 points, with Bezzecchi 0.4s away from the win after pushing the Australian all the way. Navarro claimed a first podium since the 2019 Valencia GP, the Spaniard beating Lowes by 0.3s to deny the latter a home GP podium.
Di Giannantonio faded slightly and just held off 2019 winner Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) in the duel to complete the top five, with Aron Canet (Kipin Energy Aspar Team) coming home seventh in some clear air. Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) beat rookie Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) to eighth by mere thousandths, with American Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) completing the top ten for a solid haul of points after a weekend further up the field.
“I think it was a good day, we brought home the victory. That was a long race, I got the message on the dashboard that Marco was on the soft, and I could see it so I said I would wait and be patient. We were expecting him to drop off because that’s what we experience with the soft tyre but he was there the whole race. When he got back in front of me the last time, I said ok, I’m going to really put the head down and push, and I just managed to open a little gap and he couldn’t catch me and yeah, I brought home the points and yeah, it couldn’t have been a better day to do it. It’s incredible. Honestly, it’s my first podium or win with fans here so that’s something special. I’m just lost for words.”
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Remy GARDNER | Kalex | 37m31.642 |
| 2 | Marco BEZZECCHI | Kalex | +0.481 |
| 3 | Jorge NAVARRO | Boscoscuro | +1.93 |
| 4 | Sam LOWES | Kalex | +2.284 |
| 5 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Kalex | +6.952 |
| 6 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | Kalex | +7.059 |
| 7 | Aron CANET | Boscoscuro | +10.706 |
| 8 | Xavi VIERGE | Kalex | +12.842 |
| 9 | Ai OGURA | Kalex | +12.877 |
| 10 | Joe ROBERTS | Kalex | +14.344 |
| 11 | Thomas LUTHI | Kalex | +20.112 |
| 12 | Celestino VIETTI | Kalex | +22.371 |
| 13 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Kalex | +22.525 |
| 14 | Nicolò BULEGA | Kalex | +23.672 |
| 15 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | Kalex | +24.116 |
| 16 | Fermín ALDEGUER | Boscoscuro | +26.847 |
| 17 | Somkiat CHANTRA | Kalex | +26.996 |
| 18 | Tony ARBOLINO | Kalex | +27.206 |
| 19 | Albert ARENAS | Boscoscuro | +27.414 |
| 20 | Marcos RAMIREZ | Kalex | +32.368 |
| 21 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | NTS | +38.614 |
| 22 | Simone CORSI | MV Agusta | +39.074 |
| 23 | Barry BALTUS | NTS | +39.117 |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | Raul FERNANDEZ | Kalex | 4 Laps |
| DNF | Cameron BEAUBIER | Kalex | 5 Laps |
| DNF | Adam NORRODIN | Kalex | 6 Laps |
| DNF | Stefano MANZI | Kalex | 9 Laps |
| DNF | Hector GARZO | Kalex | 13 Laps |
| DNF | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | MV Agusta | 15 Laps |
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
| 1 | Remy GARDNER | Kalex | AUS | 231 |
| 2 | Raul FERNANDEZ | Kalex | SPA | 187 |
| 3 | Marco BEZZECCHI | Kalex | ITA | 179 |
| 4 | Sam LOWES | Kalex | GBR | 127 |
| 5 | Aron CANET | Boscoscuro | SPA | 92 |
| 6 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | Kalex | SPA | 92 |
| 7 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Kalex | ITA | 91 |
| 8 | Ai OGURA | Kalex | JPN | 87 |
| 9 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Kalex | GER | 75 |
| 10 | Xavi VIERGE | Kalex | SPA | 67 |
| 11 | Jorge NAVARRO | Boscoscuro | SPA | 58 |
| 12 | Joe ROBERTS | Kalex | USA | 56 |
| 13 | Celestino VIETTI | Kalex | ITA | 46 |
| 14 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | Kalex | NED | 40 |
| 15 | Somkiat CHANTRA | Kalex | THA | 35 |
| 16 | Tony ARBOLINO | Kalex | ITA | 33 |
| 17 | Cameron BEAUBIER | Kalex | USA | 26 |
| 18 | Albert ARENAS | Boscoscuro | SPA | 23 |
| 19 | Jake DIXON | Kalex | GBR | 21 |
| 20 | Stefano MANZI | Kalex | ITA | 20 |
| 21 | Marcos RAMIREZ | Kalex | SPA | 16 |
| 22 | Thomas LUTHI | Kalex | SWI | 16 |
| 23 | Hector GARZO | Kalex | SPA | 12 |
| 24 | Nicolò BULEGA | Kalex | ITA | 12 |
| 25 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | Kalex | ITA | 10 |
| 26 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | NTS | MAL | 8 |
| 27 | Simone CORSI | MV Agusta | ITA | 7 |
| 28 | Fermín ALDEGUER | Boscoscuro | SPA | 4 |
| 29 | Alonso LOPEZ | Boscoscuro | SPA | 4 |
| 30 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | MV Agusta | ITA | 3 |
| 31 | Barry BALTUS | NTS | BEL | 2 |
| 32 | Yari MONTELLA | Boscoscuro | ITA | 0 |
| 33 | Tommaso MARCON | MV Agusta | ITA | 0 |
| 34 | Miquel PONS | MV Agusta | SPA | 0 |
| 35 | Fraser ROGERS | NTS | GBR | 0 |
| 36 | Taiga HADA | / | JPN | 0 |
| 36 | Taiga HADA | Kalex | JPN | 0 |
| 37 | Manuel GONZALEZ | MV Agusta | SPA | 0 |
| 38 | Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI | Kalex | POL | 0 |
| 40 | Keminth KUBO | Kalex | THA | 0 |
| 40 | Keminth KUBO | Kalex | THA | 0 |
It seemed hard to look past Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) for victory at Silverstone, and on race day the Italian more than proved why. Leading from lights out and initially shadowed by Niccolo Antonelli (Avintia VR46 Academy), the number 55 was then able to pull away in the final few laps to take that rarest of prizes: a breakaway Moto3™ win. Antonelli, on return from injury and still riding through the pain barrier, held on for a stunning second, however, with Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) just coming out on top in a duel for third against rookie Izan Guevara (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) after a fabulous race from the Spaniard.
At lights out, Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) was just about able to get alongside Fenati, but the Italian held on round the outside and from there, he never looked back. Antonelli moved up into second to begin his charge, with Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) initially in third as the trio made an early break for it.
By 14 to go, Fenati, Antonelli and Migno were still stuck pretty close together, and the gap back to Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) at the head of the fight for fourth was already up to nearly a second and a half. But heartbreak would then hit for Migno as the Italian pulled off the track with an issue – leaving Fenati and Antonelli with even more space back to the chasing pack.
The chasing pack was then one group fighting for third ahead of a bigger gap back to the battle for tenth, which included Championship leader Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and closest challenger Sergio Garcia (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team). After some early progress the two then watched the group ahead escape, making it a handful of points up for grabs in their battle at the top.
Back at the front, the Fenati-Antonelli duo pounded on. Over three seconds clear and pretty well matched on rhythm, there wasn’t much to choose between the two. But as the laps ticked on Antonelli, riding through the pain barrier, started to fade slightly – just as Foggia and Guevara managed to pull away from the group battle behind them.
Over the final two laps, Fenati really hammered home the advantage and crossed the line over a second and a half clear, putting in as close to perfect a Moto3™ race weekend as possible. Antonelli held on to second and although the gap was coming down rapidly on the last couple of laps, Foggia and Guevara had their own duel to focus on.
The rookie was able to strike and take over in third, but Foggia found an answer. And from there, the number 28 stayed glued to the rear tyre of the Leopard machine, but there was no way through. It went down to Woodcote and Guevara tried the inside line on the drag to the line, but it wasn’t quite enough. Foggia takes anther podium, but Guevara’s fourth is his best result so far and rounded out a fabulous race from the rookie.
The battle for fifth behind them was won by Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) as he pipped Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo), with Darryn Binder forced to settle for seventh. There was then another even bigger gap back to the battle for eighth, with Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) winning that ahead of front row starter Riccardo Rossi (BOE Owlride).
Another gap back to a crucial fight behind saw Carlos Tatay (Avintia Esponsorama Moto3) able to gain a bit of breathing space for tenth, with Acosta classified 11th after a one position penalty for John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), the number 17 taking P12 despite some early drama that dropped him back. Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), Filip Salac (CarXpert PrüstelGP) and Rodrigo completed the points, with Garcia losing out late on and taking P16.
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
| 1 | Romano FENATI | Husqvarna | 37m26.974 |
| 2 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | KTM | +1.679 |
| 3 | Dennis FOGGIA | Honda | +2.107 |
| 4 | Izan GUEVARA | GASGAS | +2.154 |
| 5 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | Honda | +7.475 |
| 6 | Jaume MASIA | KTM | +7.541 |
| 7 | Darryn BINDER | Honda | +7.559 |
| 8 | Deniz ÖNCÜ | KTM | +14.523 |
| 9 | Riccardo ROSSI | KTM | +14.541 |
| 10 | Carlos TATAY | KTM | +20.503 |
| 11 | Pedro ACOSTA | KTM | +21.898 |
| 12 | John MCPHEE | Honda | +21.859 |
| 13 | Ayumu SASAKI | KTM | +22.028 |
| 14 | Filip SALAC | KTM | +22.107 |
| 15 | Gabriel RODRIGO | Honda | +22.157 |
| 16 | Sergio GARCIA | GASGAS | +22.444 |
| 17 | Stefano NEPA | KTM | +22.331 |
| 18 | Xavier ARTIGAS | Honda | +22.58 |
| 19 | Adrian FERNANDEZ | Husqvarna | +25.215 |
| 20 | Alberto SURRA | Honda | +27.518 |
| 21 | Jeremy ALCOBA | Honda | +32.821 |
| 22 | Lorenzo FELLON | Honda | +33.015 |
| 23 | Ryusei YAMANAKA | KTM | +33.31 |
| 24 | Yuki KUNII | Honda | +52.82 |
| 25 | Maximilian KOFLER | KTM | +52.858 |
| Not Classified | |||
| DNF | Andrea MIGNO | Honda | 12 Laps |
| DNF | Kaito TOBA | KTM | 14 Laps |
| Pos | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
| 1 | Pedro ACOSTA | KTM | SPA | 201 |
| 2 | Sergio GARCIA | GASGAS | SPA | 155 |
| 3 | Romano FENATI | Husqvarna | ITA | 132 |
| 4 | Dennis FOGGIA | Honda | ITA | 118 |
| 5 | Jaume MASIA | KTM | SPA | 105 |
| 6 | Darryn BINDER | Honda | RSA | 95 |
| 7 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | KTM | ITA | 87 |
| 8 | Ayumu SASAKI | KTM | JPN | 71 |
| 9 | Kaito TOBA | KTM | JPN | 62 |
| 10 | Jeremy ALCOBA | Honda | SPA | 60 |
| 11 | Gabriel RODRIGO | Honda | ARG | 60 |
| 12 | Izan GUEVARA | GASGAS | SPA | 59 |
| 13 | Andrea MIGNO | Honda | ITA | 58 |
| 14 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | Honda | JPN | 54 |
| 15 | Deniz ÖNCÜ | KTM | TUR | 53 |
| 16 | John MCPHEE | Honda | GBR | 53 |
| 17 | Filip SALAC | KTM | CZE | 46 |
| 18 | Ryusei YAMANAKA | KTM | JPN | 37 |
| 19 | Xavier ARTIGAS | Honda | SPA | 30 |
| 20 | Jason DUPASQUIER | KTM | SWI | 27 |
| 21 | Riccardo ROSSI | KTM | ITA | 23 |
| 22 | Stefano NEPA | KTM | ITA | 22 |
| 23 | Carlos TATAY | KTM | SPA | 20 |
| 24 | Adrian FERNANDEZ | Husqvarna | SPA | 16 |
| 25 | Yuki KUNII | Honda | JPN | 15 |
| 26 | Maximilian KOFLER | KTM | AUT | 10 |
| 27 | Elia BARTOLINI | KTM | ITA | 7 |
| 28 | Andi Farid IZDIHAR | Honda | INA | 3 |
| 29 | Daniel HOLGADO | KTM | SPA | 1 |
| 30 | Lorenzo FELLON | Honda | FRA | 0 |
| 31 | Joel KELSO | KTM | AUS | 0 |
| 32 | Takuma MATSUYAMA | Honda | JPN | 0 |
| 33 | Alberto SURRA | Honda | ITA | 0 |
| 34 | David SALVADOR | Honda | SPA | 0 |
(Subject to change)
| Round | Date | Location |
| Round 13 | Sep-12 | Aragon, Motorland Aragon |
| Round 14 | Sep-19 | San Marino, Misano |
| Round 15 | Oct-03 | Americas, Circuit of the Americas |
| Round 16 | Oct-24 | Malaysia, Sepang |
| Round 17 | Nov-7 | Portugal, Algarve |
| Round 18 | Nov-14 | Valencia, Circuit Ricardo Tormo |
| Round 19 | PPD | Termas de Río Hondo, Argentina |
Source: MCNews.com.au
This time around it was a big group fight initially, with a freight train forming around Silverstone as O’Gorman, Lyons, Garness, Belford and Carter Brown (City Lifting by RS Racing) led the charge. But lap by lap a gap opened up for O’Gorman and Lyons, and bad luck hit for Garness as the number 57 was shuffled back slightly and then suffered a problem, dropping him like a stone out of contention as his laptimes shot up.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
From thereon out, it was war. Clean, aggressive and a real thriller to end the season, the penultimate lap was already a showstopper. Luciano was ahead over the line, Moor attacked at Turn 1, the 81 responded, the 92 found another answer. The last lap started the same, with Luciano ahead, but Moor struck again at Turn 1. But this time the Belgian shoved it up the inside at Turn 3, and after that Moor seemed to hold off.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) fended off title challenger Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) to emerge victorious from a fantastic Moto2™ Monster Energy British Grand Prix, as second in the title race Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) crashed out unhurt. Gardner took the win by just 0.4s, as Jorge Navarro (Lightech Speed Up) claimed a first podium of the season in third.
Bezzecchi was able to get a solid launch from pole position and held the lead into Turn 1, but it was Lowes who was soon in the lead as the British rider made a rapid start on the outside of the front row. Jorge Navarro (Lightech Speed Up) was sitting ahead of Gardner and Raul Fernandez on the opening lap as Gardner carved past teammate Fernandez at Turn 1 on Lap 2. Soon, Gardner was up to P3 past Navarro as Bezzecchi passed Lowes for P1 on Lap 3.
Gardner then found a way past Lowes for P2, with the top five – Bezzecchi, Gardner, Lowes, Navarro and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) – split by less than a second. Raul Fernandez was a second back of the group in P6 for now, as teammate Gardner hit the front. Not for long though. Bezzecchi pounced back half a lap later but on the exit of Turn 14, Bezzecchi was out of the seat and it caused Gardner to sit up. This handed Gardner the race lead baton, with the top five still locked together.
Just after Gardner had set the fastest lap of the race, Bezzecchi scooped up some slipstream and made a pass for the lead stick at Stowe with 10 laps remaining. Bezzecchi, Gardner and Lowes had a 0.8s lead over fourth place Navarro with nine laps to go, the podium fight was pulsating at Silverstone. Gardner, again at Turn 13, dived up the inside of Bezzecchi, and the Aussie was back in the lead.
With four laps to go, huge drama in the Championship chase unfolded. Raul Fernandez suffered a huge crash at Turn 12 and was out of the race, thankfully the Spaniard was back up on his feet. But with Gardner leading and Bezzecchi a close second, Raul Fernandez’ title hopes took a big dent.
At the front, Gardner and Bezzecchi were locked together with two laps to go, with Navarro getting the better of Lowes for P3. Navarro was 1.1s off second place Bezzecchi, Gardner’s lead was just 0.2s. Bezzecchi set his fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap, with Navarro setting the fastest lap of the race. Stowe and Vale – two big passing places – passed by for Bezzecchi, and pushing hard, Bezzecchi was slightly wide at Turn 13.
In the end, Gardner produced a fantastic last lap and a fantastic race in general to take a crucial 25 points, with Bezzecchi 0.4s away from the win after pushing Gardner all the way. Navarro claimed a first podium since the 2019 Valencia GP, the Spaniard beat Lowes by 0.3s to deny the latter a home GP podium.
Di Giannantonio got the better of Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) for P5 and P6, Aron Canet (Kipin Energy Aspar Team) finished a lonely P7 as Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing), Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) completed the top 10 runners at the British GP.
After a disappointing couple of races at the Red Bull Ring, the Championship momentum swings back in favour of Gardner. Next up for the Moto2™ riders: MotorLand Aragon in a couple of weekends time.
Top 10:
1. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.481
3. Jorge Navarro (Lightech Speed Up) + 1.930
4. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) 2.284
5. Fabi Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 6.952
6. Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 7.059
7. Aron Canet (Kipin Energy Aspar Team) + 10.706
8. Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 12.842
9. Ai Ogura (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 12.877
10. Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) + 14.344
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
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Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
For the fifth time in 2021, Sunday belonged to Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) as the Frenchman claimed a comfortable victory at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix, a 25-point haul that sees his lead in the title race extend to 65 points. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) produced a cracking ride to earn his first podium of the year with a second place, as Aleix Espargaro hands Aprilia Racing Team Gresini a dream first MotoGP™ rostrum in third.
Polesitter Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) got the launch he would have been looking for as the number 44 dived into Turn 1 as the race leader, with Quartararo grabbing P2 ahead of Franceso Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). Pol Espargaro nailed the first sector but plenty of movement and drama would unfold behind, as Bagnaia – who had slipped to P4 – got two for the price of one at Stowe corner. There was contact at the same corner between Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) and Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing), as Aleix Espargaro grabbed P2 off Pecco.
Then, drama. Marc Marquez and Martin crashed after more contact at Turn 9, and both riders were out of the race on Lap 1 – riders ok. Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro were busy scrapping for second on the opening lap, before the Aprilia ride made it stick at Brooklands. On Lap 2, Quartararo picked off Pecco for P3 at Turn 13, and on the next lap, Quartararo was past Aleix Esapargaro at Turn 14. Now, Pol Espargaro – the race leader – was being hunted and at the ferociously quick Turn 12, on Lap 5, Quartararo carved his way into the lead.
FREE: Marc Marquez and Martin clash and then crash on Lap 1
Immediately, the factory Yamaha star got the hammer down. Half a lap went by and the lead way stretched to 0.6s, as Quartararo set a 2:00.098 to pull out a 1.3s advantage at the beginning of Lap 7. Aleix Espargaro was back up to P2 and briefly dropping to P4, with Pecco making a mistake at Stowe to lose out to a pair of Team Suzuki Ecstar riders. Rins was charging and picked off Pol Espargaro to take P3, with reigning World Champion Joan Mir sitting P5.
At the halfway point, Quartararo was three seconds clear of Aleix Espargaro. The latter had Rins and Pol Espargaro for close company, with Mir a second off the fourth place Repsol Honda in P5. With nine laps to go, there was a change for P2. Aleix Espargaro ran wide at Stowe to allow Rins an easy pass into second place, but further down the road, second in the Championship Bagnaia was struggling. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) got the better of the Italian with eight to go, with Pecco now 8th.
The man to watch in the final seven laps was Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team). The Australian was a good half a second faster than Rins and the Espargaros ahead of him, and Miller took advantage of a Pol Espargaro mistake at Stowe to grab P4 with six laps remaining.
Monster Energy British Grand Prix: MotoGP™ Race
Three to go then, and it was as you were: Quartararo charging towards the 25 points, with Rins leading Aleix Espargaro and Miller. Pol Espargaro was now 1.9s away from the podium fight, with older brother Aleix still holding onto that dream first podium with Aprilia.
Last lap time. Quartararo was 3.4s up the road with Rins, Aleix Espargaro and Miller split by less than a second. Through the opening two sectors, it was as you were. Miller then dived up the inside at Turn 13, but he was slightly wide. Miller had the inside line though for Turn 14 but the tight entry allowed Aleix Espargaro to get the cutback heading onto the Wellington Straight. Going defensive, Aleix Espargaro was able to fend off Miller’s late attack and after Quartararo and Rins had taken the chequered flag, Aleix Espargaro claimed P3 for Aprilia’s first podium.
Quartararo was dominant for his fifth victory of 2021, a huge day for the Frenchman and his title aspirations. Rins produced a wonderful race to earn P2 from P10 on the grid – his first rostrum of the year, with Miller just missing out on a return to the podium by 0.149s. The Australian was by far the quickest Ducati on Sunday afternoon at Silverstone.
Pol Espargaro didn’t quite have the pace to stick with the podium fight in the latter stages of the race but nevertheless, it’s the Spaniard’s best result with Honda. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) made great progress in the second half of the British GP to take P6, making it a magnificent six manufacturers in the top six – the first time ever that’s happened in MotoGP™. After picking up a MotoGP™-best result in Austria last time out, Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) claimed a fantastic P7 to continue his recent good run of form. The Spaniard was able to get the better of compatriot Alex Marquez, the double World Champion finished P8 ahead of Mir in ninth.
It was a difficult day for the number 36, both he and Pecco selected the soft front tyre and it seems like it could have been the wrong decision. Mir is now second in the title race, but the gap to Quartararo is 65 points. Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) bagged a morale boosting top 10, the Italian beat Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) by 0.052s, the Frenchman taking a quiet and disappointing P11 away from Silverstone.
Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) grabbed P12 with under the weather Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) taking P13, 2.6s ahead of Bagnaia. The soft front tyre option selected looks to have ruined Pecco’s Sunday at the British GP, 14th certainly no where near what he and Ducati would have been aiming for. Luca Marini (SKY VR46 Avintia) picked up the final point in P15.
Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – still struggling with his injury from Styria – took P16, a second clear of 17th place and home hero Cal Crutchlow (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Valentino Rossi’s final British GP ended with a P18 finish, The Doctor slipping back down the order after a good start, with Britain’s Jake Dixon (Petronas Yamaha SRT) finishing his first MotoGP™ race in P19.
It’s a significant blow to Quartararo’s title challengers at Silverstone. El Diablo takes a 65-point lead into MotorLand Aragon and is riding the crest of a wave in 2021. Can he be stopped?
Top 10:
1. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP)
2. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 2.663
3. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) + 4.105
4. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 4.254
5. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 8.462
6. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 12.189
7. Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) + 13.560
8. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) + 14.044
9. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 16.226
10. Danilo Petrucci (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) + 16.287
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
If you looked up the word ‘perfection’ in the dictionary, Romano Fenati’s (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) weekend at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix would be the definition. The Italian topped every session at Silverstone and made no mistake on Sunday to claim a classy 13th Grand Prix victory, his 29th podium in the World Championship. Niccolo Antonelli (Avintia VR46 Academy) secured a second rostrum of the season as Dennis Foggia’s (Leopard Racing) P3 handed Italy a podium lockout in the lightweight class.
Polesitter Fenati got away well and kept Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) at bay at Turn 1 to grab the lead. Antonelli got a great getaway from P5 on the grid and latched himself onto the back of compatriot Fenati. Rivacold Snipers Team’s Andrea Migno did the same as we saw an Italian 1-2-3-4 lead the way on the opening couple of laps, Riccardo Rossi (BOE Owlride) occupying P4.
In the title fight, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Sergio Garcia (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) made solid progress from outside the top 20. Both were getting their elbows out – with each other – and were hovering just outside the top 10, but the more they fought, the more time they lost to riders ahead.
The top three – Fenati, Antonelli and Migno – were over two seconds clear of Foggia in P4, before Migno suffered an issue with his Honda bike at the beginning of Lap 6. This left Fenati and Antonelli three seconds clear of a seven-rider scrap for the final podium spot, with the third group – led by Acosta – a further 3.2s down the road.
Heading into the last handful of laps, no one was catching Fenati and Antonelli baring a disaster. The battle for P3 was raging between Foggia, Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing), Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse), Izan Guevara (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) and Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo), with Acosta and Garcia embroiled in a huge battle for 10th.
With two laps to go, Fenati started to strut his stuff and pull the pin. The gap was up to a second and Antonelli was now slipping into the grasps of Foggia and Guevara – the latter duo had broken clear in the battle for the podium. Heading onto the last lap, Fenati was 1.1s clear of Antonelli, with Foggia and Guevara a second behind Antonelli. Guevera struck on Foggia at Stowe corner to grab P3, before Foggia returned the favour a couple of corners later.
Fenati crossed the line to emerge victorious for the first time in 2021, with Antonelli holding onto P2. Foggia pipped reigning Moto3™ Junior World Champion Guevara by 0.047s as the rookie picked up a very commendable P4, his best result of the season.
After being detached from Foggia and Guevara in the closing stages, Suzuki won the fight for P5 and beat Masia and Binder by less than a tenth, as Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Rossi notched up a lonely P8 and P9 respectively.
In the big battle for 10th, Carlos Tatay (Avintia Esponsorama Moto3) came out on top. John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) dropped to last on the opening lap after something went wrong in the opening sector, but the British rider made a good recovery to cross the line in P11. However, after exceeding track limits on the last lap, McPhee was demoted one position, which meant Acosta was promoted to P11. It’s not the podium fight Acosta would have been looking for – it’s his first time finishing outside the top 10 this season – but it’s vital points gained in the title race.
Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Filip Salac (CarXpert PrüstelGP) and Rodrigo completed the points, with Garcia taking P16 after losing out on the last lap in the fight for the points. No points at Silverstone means the Spaniard is now 46 points behind Acosta heading to Aragon.
And in two weeks, that’s exactly where we’ll be: MotorLand Aragon. Acosta extends his advantage in the overall standings, but the British GP belongs to Fenati.
Top 10:
1. Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team)
2. Niccolo Antonelli (Avintia VR46 Academy) + 1.679
3. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) + 2.107
4. Izan Guevara (Valresa GASGAS Aspar) + 2.154
5. Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 7.475
6. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 7.541
7. Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 7.559
8. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 14.523
9. Riccardo Rossi (BOE Owlride) + 14.541
10. Carlos Tatay (Avintia Esponsorama Moto3) + 20.503
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here