Enea scorches Silverstone MotoGP

It was a retro-themed 20-lap British Grand Prix on Sunday, August 4, and it was vintage Enea Bastianini (Lenovo Ducati) that stamped his dominance over the round, the Italian not only taking his first-ever Sprint victory but backing it up with race honours in the full-length GP.

The first half of the race looked as if reigning world champ Pecco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati) might become the first Ducati rider to win five consecutive grands prix, but tyre trouble forced the newly married rider wide on lap 14, allowing title rival Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Ducati) through.

It was Bagnaia from Bastianini for the opening two laps, with Martin, pole sitter Aleix Espargaro (Team Aprilia Racing) and Marc Marquez (Gresini Ducati) in the leading group. Martin relegated Bastianini to third on lap two, before Espargaro dropped him to fourth the next time around and quickly put half a second between himself and the factory Ducati man – moves for which Bastianini blamed himself after the race.

And as the top five settled into their rhythm, aside from a lap-eight stoush between Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) – who swapped places half-a-dozen times and lost their hopes of a podium fight in the process – it was ‘as you were’ at the front of the race, with the top five all separated by just a couple of tenths.

Espargaro appeared to be the first to hit trouble, and while it looked as if Martin had upped his pace to make a half-distance attack on Bagnaia, we’d discover later it was compounded by front-tyre troubles from the race leader, which meant Bastianini could take the Aprilia man for third and Martin could snatch the lead on laps 11 and 12 respectively.

Bagnaia held off his teammate for as long as he could, desperate to bank the extra points, but he ran wide with seven to go. This allowed Bastianini through, and all Pecco could do was hope the Sprint winner could chase Martin down and pick five points out of his title rival’s pocket.

Nine tenths of a second separated the leading duo with seven laps to go, a gap that was reduced to 0.45sec two laps later, as Marc Marquez eventually found his way through on Espargaro for fourth.

By now, Bagnaia was in a relatively comfortable third place, his teammate more than 1.3sec up the road and Marquez more than 2.2sec behind, but there were more than three tenths separating the two leaders as they crossed the line to start lap 18 of 20.

Martin used all of his speed and talent to respond, increasing the gap slightly with three to go, but the late pace, the self-belief, and the relentless pressure from the 2020 Moto2 World Champion eventually forced an error from the Spanish star on the penultimate lap, allowing Bastianini through to take the lead at Turn 3.

And when they crossed the line to start the final lap, Bastianini had 0.819sec in hand as Martin took solace in the fact that he was finishing ahead of Bagnaia, increasing the championship lead that he regained in the Saturday Sprint after Bagnaia crashed out of the 10-lapper the day prior.

And while three Ducati GP24s locked out the podium, it’s Enea Bastianini’s name which will be spoken about when this historic 75th Anniversary round will be remembered, a result which surely moves the Italian rider firmly into championship contention.

“The last four or five laps, Jorge pushed a lot, and I thought it was too difficult,” said Bastianini in parc ferme. “But at the end, in the last two or three laps I always have something more and today was the same. It’s incredible to be back at the top in the real GP.”

Bagnaia hung on to complete the podium ahead of Marquez, while Di Giannantonio won the battle with the younger Marquez, adding Espargaro to the hit list for good measure to finish fifth. That left Marco Bezzecchi (VR46 Ducati), Pedro Acosta (GasGas Tech 3) and Franco Morbidelli (Prima Pramac Ducati) to round out the top 10, the latter serving a double long-lap penalty for taking out Bezzecchi in the Sprint.

Aussie Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) finished 12th as he so far remains unemployed for 2025, while Remy Gardner (Yamaha Test Team) finished 18th in his second wildcard appearance for the factory Yamaha squad.

The British Grand Prix results put Jorge Martin back on top of the ladder with 241 points, just three points clear of Pecco Bagnaia’s 238. Enea Bastianini (192 points) came into the round 67 points behind the leader, a gap he’s reduced to just 49, while Marc Marquez (179) and Team Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Vinales (130) round out the top 10. Miller sits in 16th with just 42 points to his name.

The series now moves to Spielberg for the Austrian GP on August 18.