until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League

MotoGP

Bagnaia fights off Vinales to win Silverstone MotoGP thriller

by Josh Suttill
4 min read

until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League

Francesco Bagnaia held off a charging Maverick Vinales to win a thrilling British Grand Prix and deny Vinales his first MotoGP race win with Aprilia.

A tardy start dropped pre-race favourite Vinales from second on the grid to sixth place and the Spaniard struggled to make progress from that position in the first section of the race.

But he eventually found his form and began a charge that started with a pass on championship leader Fabio Quartararo – fresh from taking his long-lap penalty – into Stowe and ended with an attack on race leader Bagnaia during the final two laps.

Vinales sent it down the inside of Bagnaia at Village on the penultimate lap, but he wasn’t able to make the move stick through The Loop as Bagania reassumed the lead.

Vinales then went wide at Copse on the final lap and that ended his victory charge.

Bagnaia had assumed the lead down the inside of Stowe on lap 11 when he passed Suzuki’s Alex Rins, who had stormed from 11th on the grid to the race lead within the first six laps.

The factory Ducati rider, who has won the last three races he’s finished, was able to pull away from Rins who dropped down the field to seventh place thereafter.

Bagnaia’s victory moves him up to third in the riders’ championship and brings him to within 49 points of points leader Quartararo.

Vinales was forced to settle for second place, which marks his second successive podium and best result with Aprilia so far.

The podium was completed by Ducati factory rider Jack Miller, who lost second to Vinales with three laps to go as he was nursing his fading front soft tyre at the end of the race.

Enea Bastianini recovered from opening lap contact to take fourth place on the final lap from his rival for the 2023 factory Ducati ride Jorge Martin, despite carrying significant fairing damage.

KTM’s Miguel Oliveira came from 13th to sixth, leading home Rins and Quartararo – who faded badly at the end of the race.

Quartararo was followed by his closest title rival Aleix Espargaro who rode battered and bruised following his monster FP4 high-side and even attempted a last-lap move on Quartararo, which ultimately failed.

The top 10 was rounded out by Marco Bezzecchi, who was caught up in that opening lap clash with Bastianini and Martin.

Brad Binder was 11th at the chequered flag ahead of Luca Marini and Taka Nakagami in 13th – the highest-placed Honda rider after a miserable weekend for the Japanese manufacturer.

Factory Honda rider Pol Espargaro was 14th ahead of Franco Morbidelli, who claimed the final point for Yamaha.

Poleman Johann Zarco extended his wait for a premier class race win when he dropped his Pramac Ducati at the Vale Chicane on lap five, having converted his eighth MotoGP pole into an early race advantage.

The 2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir became the latest rider to fall at Stowe this weekend when he crashed out while defending his eighth place from Espargaro.

Race Results

Pos Name Team Bike Laps Laps Led Total Time Fastest Lap Pitstops Pts
1 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 20 9 40m10.26s 1m59.956s 0 25
2 Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing Aprilia 20 0 +-40m0-31s 1m59.674s 0 20
3 Jack Miller Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 20 1 +-40m0-31s 1m59.656s 0 16
4 Enea Bastianini Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 20 0 +-40m0-31s 1m59.878s 0 13
5 Jorge Martin Pramac Racing Ducati 20 0 +-40m0-31s 1m59.498s 0 11
6 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 20 0 +-40m0-31s 1m59.956s 0 10
7 Alex Rins Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 20 6 +-40m0-31s 1m59.346s 0 9
8 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 20 0 +-40m0-31s 1m59.593s 0 8
9 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia Racing Aprilia 20 0 +-40m0-31s 1m59.857s 0 7
10 Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 20 0 +-40m0-31s 1m59.744s 0 6
11 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 20 0 +-40m0-31s 1m59.867s 0 5
12 Luca Marini Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 20 0 +-40m0-31s 2m0.237s 0 4
13 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda 20 0 +-40m0-31s 2m0.436s 0 3
14 Pol Espargaró Repsol Honda Team Honda 20 0 +-40m0-31s 2m0.335s 0 2
15 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 20 0 +-40m0-31s 2m0.382s 0 1
16 Andrea Dovizioso WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha 20 0 +-40m0-31s 2m0.826s 0 0
17 Alex Marquez LCR Honda Castrol Honda 20 0 +-40m0-31s 2m0.693s 0 0
18 Remy Gardner Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM 20 0 +-40m0-31s 1m59.953s 0 0
19 Stefan Bradl Repsol Honda Team Honda 20 0 +-40m0-31s 2m0.434s 0 0
20 Darryn Binder WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha 20 0 +-40m0-31s 2m0.582s 0 0
21 Raul Fernandez Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM 20 0 +-40m0-31s 2m01.067s 0 0
22 Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 20 0 +-40m0-31s 2m01.296s 0 0
Joan Mir Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 14 0 DNF 1m59.781s 0 0
Johann Zarco Pramac Racing Ducati 8 4 DNF 1m59.53s 0 0
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