Espargaro scorches Silverstone

In what was the most unpredictable race of the 2023 MotoGP season so far, the British Grand Prix had it all. Fast and flowing, the 5.9km-long Silverstone circuit allows for plenty of overtakes, and that’s exactly what spectators got as they watched eventual winner Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) fight his way through to victory from 12th on the grid.

And it wasn’t just Espargaro fighting his way through the pack, either – Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) climbed onto the last podium step from 10th on the grid after defending advances from Miguel Oliveira (RNF Aprilia), who started the 20-lap race from way down in 16th place.

Perhaps the most predictable outcome of the day was Pecco Bagnaia’s (Lenovo Ducati) near-perfect performance that saw him extend what was a 27-point advantage over Marco Bezzechi (Mooney VR46 Ducati) at the start of the race, to 41 points clear of Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) at the end.

“A great result” was how Pecco described his second-place finish, and despite not winning after leading for 19 of the 20 laps, he was a picture of concentration throughout the entire contest, especially once the rain began falling on lap 13.

He snatched the lead from the fast-starting Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM) on lap two as Bezzechi – his closest title rival after the satellite rider finished second in Saturday’s Sprint with Bagnaia out of the points in 14th – followed him through and looked menacing on the rear wheel of his factory Ducati.

Behind them, Sprint winner Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) and fast-starting Espargaro were keen not to let the two Ducati riders get away and put a tough move on Miller, pitching the Aussie wide and down to 14th place. The fastest man on track, Espargaro, eased past Marquez for third, finding himself one second behind Bezzechi with 15 laps to go.

Bezzechi’s relentless pressure on Bagnaia would only last until lap six, as the Mooney VR46 rider lost the front and slid out of the race. This elevated Espargaro into second, who was now 1.4 seconds ahead of Binder after Marquez retired with gearbox issues.

But Espargaro wasn’t the only Aprilia man on the charge, as teammate Maverick Vinales pounced on Binder for third place on lap 11, with nothing separating the top four who were some four seconds clear of Oliveira in fifth as the rain began to fall.

Espargaro later admitted he had the pace to pass and break away from Bagnaia, but said he opted to let the Ducati man lead in the tricky conditions as he was forced to contend with passes from his teammate behind as the quartet waited to see what the weather would do.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) hit the back of Enea Bastianini’s factory Ducati with the Honda rider falling first and the Ducati rider shortly after, joining Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) and Bezzechi on the crasher’s list.

With nothing to lose, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati), Franco Morbidelli (Monster Yamaha), Iker Lecuona (LCR Honda) and Taka Nakagami (Idemitsu LCR Rond) all pitted to swap bikes, but the lap times didn’t change enough for it to make any difference.

With the leading four testing the conditions, Oliveira was by far the fastest man on circuit in fifth, and what went from a four-second gap on lap 12 saw the Portuguese rider pass both Vinales and Binder, feeling his way to third place with three laps left to run.

Binder would retake third on the penultimate lap, while Espargaro played the patience game, waiting until the final circuit to make his move on Bagnaia and going on to score just his second premier-class victory in his long 310-race MotoGP career.

Bagnaia’s “great result” made the most of Martin’s and Bezzechi’s bad days, with the former finishing an eventual sixth place for 10 points behind Vinales. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Ducati) finished seventh, Miller recovered to eighth ahead of Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati) and Raul Fernandez (RNF Aprilia).

The Tech3 GasGas pairing of Augusto Fernandez and Pol Espargaro were 11th and 12th ahead of Di Giannantonio, while the four remaining Japanese bikes of Morbidelli, Monster Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo (who started last, crashed, remounted, pitted, and swapped bikes), Nakagami and Lecuono took the last four spots in the placings.

The title lead is still very much Bagnaia’s to lose; on 214 points, he is now 41 points clear of Martin (173) and 47 clear of Bezzechi (167). Binder (131) moves up one spot to fourth ahead of Zarco (122). Miller remains in eighth on 90 points.

In Moto2, Spain’s Fermín Aldeguer (CAG Speed Up) was victorious ahead of countrymen Aron Canet (Pons Wegow Los40) and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo), while in Moto3 it was Colombia’s David Alonso (GASGAS Aspar Team) on top of the podium, securing the victory ahead of Japan’s Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Spain’s Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3).

Round 10 will see the MotoGP Championship head to Austria for the CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, to be held from August 18 to 20 at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg.