MotoGP

MotoGP points leader change as Bastianini wins British GP

by Megan White
3 min read

Enea Bastianini completed the MotoGP double at Silverstone on Sunday, taking his second win of the weekend after a stunning ride from third on the grid.

The factory Ducati rider was running as low as fourth in the early stages before a heroic comeback with his characteristic late-race pace saw him pass both team-mate Pecco Bagnaia and championship leader Jorge Martin.

Despite Martin’s best efforts, he was unable to match Bastianini’s late burst, and finished second ahead of his title rival Bagnaia.

Having also won Saturday’s sprint race, Bastianini is now fewer than 50 points behind Martin, who leads by three points from Bagnaia after the reigning champion had crashed out of the sprint.

Bagnaia led Sunday’s race off the line, passing poleman Aleix Espargaro into Turn 1, Abbey, as Bastianini followed him through into second. Martin then forced his way through on close friend Espargaro for third.

A mistake for Bastianini at Brooklands on lap two saw him drop behind Martin before Espargaro made his way past at Village next time round, with Marc Marquez close behind in fifth and almost trying a big move on both riders at The Loop.

The top five had pulled away from the rest of the pack by lap six, with a gap building between the Marquez brothers running fifth and sixth on their Gresini Ducatis.

A tussle between Alex Marquez and seventh-place runner Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46) - from which the Italian emerged in front - saw the gap grow further, with Pedro Acosta briefly closing in on that pair.

Martin was bearing down on Bagnaia by the halfway mark, while a mistake from Espargaro at Village dropped him closer to Bastianini, who took third at Stowe on lap 11.

Next time round, Martin took his chance to snatch the lead at Village. He ran wide a lap later, though, allowing both Bagnaia and Bastianini to close back in.

Bagnaia had begun to lose touch by lap 14, and Bastianini’s better pace coupled with a mistake from the reigning champion at Luffield saw the sprint winner take second place.

Bastianini then set about cutting the 0.9s gap to Martin, which was down to 0.6s by lap 16.

An incredibly strong lap 17 from Bastianini brought him as close as he had been to Martin, and mistakes from the leader at Abbey and Village saw Bastianini pounce for the lead, which he held until the chequered flag.

Martin’s second-place finish sees him regain the championship lead from Bagnaia, who finished third ahead of Marc Marquez - who had overtaken Espargaro.

Di Giannantonio finished fifth after himself passing Espargaro on the final lap, with Alex Marquez seventh ahead of Di Giannantonio's team-mate Marco Bezzecchi.

Acosta was ninth for Tech3 Gas Gas ahead of Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli, who served his double long lap penalty after a collision with Bezzecchi in Saturday’s sprint.

Fabio Quartararo was 11th for the factory Yamaha team after starting 18th. Like the penalised Morbidelli, he had worked his way past KTM rider Jack Miller and Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales.

Johann Zarco was the leading Honda in 14th ahead of factory rider Luca Marini - who then received a post-race penalty for a tyre pressure breach, promoting LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami into the points instead.

The Trackhouse duo were both out on the first lap after Miguel Oliveira ran wide into Brooklands before an also-wide Raul Fernandez tucked the front and slid off, taking out his team-mate.

Brad Binder was also a first-lap retirement after a clutch failure off the line, while Joan Mir parked his Honda on lap 12.

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