Fabio Quartararo took a dominant win in the BritishGP on Sunday with Aleix Espargaro claiming a maiden MotoGP podium for Aprilia at Silverstone.
Alex Rins completed the rostrum in second but the celebrations were fully in flow for the Noale squad with their best ever result since returning to the premier class. The top-six containing a member from each of the six MotoGP manufacturer on offer for the first time in its history.
The 20-lap race geared up under traditional British summer conditions. With track temperatures registering just 23℃, the entire grid initially opted for medium Michelin front tyres with Johann Zarco taking the hard rear gamble, Enea Bastianini, Takaaki Nakagami and pole-man Pol Espargaro choosing the soft asymmetric rear. Late on-grid changes saw Quartararo, Joan Mir, Pecco Bagnaia, Nakagami and Jake Dixon swap to soft fronts with both Marquez brothers adding the soft rear option. Zarco amending his earlier risk to join the majority on the medium rear.
Espargaro maintained his early dominance to lead his Repsol Honda through the first corner, a storming start for Bagnaia holding second as the Aprilia challenged for position. Disaster saw Marc Marquez down at turn nine alongside Jorge Martin, after the pair repeated contact from turn seven.
It was brothers united at the front by the end of the first lap, Bagnaia slotting into third ahead of Quartararo, with Jack Miller and Valentino Rossi rounding out the heated top-six. The Suzuki’s of Mir and Rins sat neatly behind with Zarco and Nakagami completing the top-10 as the second lap wound up, the Catalan siblings looking to break the pack with impressive pace out front.
The Suzuki’s had the better of Rossi by mid-way through lap four, Alex Marquez leapfrogging his teammate and Zarco in his way to ninth. Quartararo had the lead in his sights as he made his way passed Espargaro, the Aprilia losing a second position as Bagnaia saw the opportunity but it was short-lived and he struck back instantly. The Frenchman had the younger brother in his grips as he made the move stick through Farm, instantly carving a gap as he pushed the pace.
An all-Espargaro battle for second ensued with the elder gaining the advantage, the Suzuki’s continuing to work together as they picked off Miller with Mir now sitting fifth.
Lap six saw the Yamaha flying with a 1.4s advantage at the front. Rins getting the better of his teammate while the pair demoted another Ducati, and Bagnaia was dropped to sixth.
Brad Binder was circulating as best KTM in 11th with 13 laps to go. Zarco splitting him from the Tech3 duo of Iker Lecuona and Danilo Petrucci, Enea Bastianini holding the final point scoring position. The all-Avintia fight saw Luca Marini briefly gain the advantage before Bastianini struck back, Cal Crutchlow running 17th from Miguel Oliveira and Dixon, the Brit holding his own with 2’02 pace.
The pole-sitter lost out on a podium position as the race settled into its rhythm, Rins holding third with Mir fifth as Miller bettered the second Ducati for sixth. The leader building a three-second buffer with questions hovering over the durability of his soft Michelin rubber.
A mistake on lap 11 left Espargaro’s Aprilia wide, Rins capitalising quickly with the Repsol taking a brief look, as Miller too looked to regroup back to fifth.
Rossi’s delight was fading fast as the Petronas dropped to 13th with 8 laps to go, Binder into the top-10 and with Nakagami and Bagnaia next in line.
The final six laps found Miller firmly on a charge, Espargaro making a mistake on the Honda and letting the Ducati slide through, but the Australian’s pace was heating up as quickly as the laps counted down.
Binder and Lecuona were into eighth and ninth with four to go, Bagnaia’s race going from bad to worse as he slipped out of the top-10, his teammate enjoying opposing fortunes as he challenged the Aprilia for the final podium position.
Mir was the next to lose out as he dipped to eighth, Binder capitalising further as his KTM found sixth, Marquez following suit, with Lecuona scalping the reigning champion moments later.
Quartararo held 3.5s in hand as the final lap began, Rins sitting second as Espargaro and Miller continued to battle for the all-important final Parc Ferme celebrations. The pair were side-by-side throughout the second half of the last lap, Espargaro winning out for Aprilia’s debut podium in the modern MotoGP era.
Miller was forced to settle for fourth ahead of the younger Espargaro, with Binder, Lecuona, Marquez, and Mir. Petrucci completed the top-10 from Zarco and Bastianini, Nakagami, Bagnaia and Marini concluding the points finishers. Oliveira and Crutchlow headed the Petronas pairing of Rossi and Dixon, with the Brit finishing his debut MotoGP race 50-seconds shy of his friend and fellow Yamaha winner.
