MotoGP: The championship leader beats Ogura and Bezzecchi on a super Saturday for the Noale factory as Marc Marquez endures a tough Sprint outing.
Flying to a third Tissot Sprint victory of the season at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Great Britain was World Championship leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), as the #89 completes a golden day at Silverstone to extend his championship advantage ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix. Second went to Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), who limits the small damage done in the title race with a fine ride to a silver medal. The heroic Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) earns bronze as Aprilia celebrate a first 1-2-3 in a Sprint.
From pole, Martin got the dream launch to lead into Turn 1 as Ogura held onto P2. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) got his elbows out early doors; the Italian climbed to P3 as Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) went into battle on the opening lap. At the end of it, the reigning World Champion jumped ahead of the Italian for P4, with Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) losing ground on the opening lap – the Spaniard was P6.
Di Giannantonio had a nibble at Ogura on Lap 2 at Turn 3, but the Japanese rider was able to respond to keep possession of the P2 baton. At this stage, early in the Tissot Sprint, it was the title race top two who occupied P1 and P2, with the championship leader holding a 0.5s advantage when the field clocked onto Lap 4 of 10.
While one Trackhouse rider was in the medal positions, another found themselves on the floor at Turn 4. Fernandez lost the front at The Loop as he was sitting right on Bezzecchi’s tailpipes, signalling a blow to the #25’s positive weekend up to now. Fernandez’s tip-off promoted Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) to P6, and last year’s Silverstone Sprint winner immediately set about making Bez’s life as uncomfortable as possible.
However, it was Bezzecchi who made the next big move. Marc Marquez hadn’t made progress ahead, and the Aprilia star pounced on the exit of Copse corner to shove his way into P4. Soon after, coming through the rapid right-hander of Woodcote, Alex Marquez strode past his brother to pick up P5, with the #93 clearly struggling.
While it was Martin vs Ogura for the gold medal, Bezzecchi was reeling in Di Giannantonio for a potential bronze. 1.1s was the margin Bezzecchi chopped off his compatriot, and with four laps to go, at Turn 9 – Copse – Bez struck. Di Giannantonio and Marc Marquez were suffering big time with a lack of rear grip, with the latter one of the slowest riders on circuit. And next in line to have a bite? Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
And sure enough, with one and a half laps to go, Acosta was through. Then, so too was Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol). Marc Marquez was helpless here, and on the last lap, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) shuffled the #93 into P9 – and by 0.027s, Marc Marquez held onto the final point across the line to lose ground on Sprint winner Martin.
The title race leader made it look easy. A lights-to-flag win for Martin sees the #89 gain an extra three points on second place Ogura in the championship ahead of the main event on Sunday afternoon to 17 points. Bezzecchi’s P3 sees him move ahead of Marc Marquez in the championship into third place, and there were understandable tears shed at the end of that one because the returning #72 had to dig incredibly deep in that one after his recent injury woes.
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Alex Marquez led the Ducati charge home in P4 behind Aprilia’s trio, with Di Giannantonio’s lack of late-race pace costing him. It was P5 for ‘Diggia’, P6 for KTM’s Acosta, P7 for HRC’s Mir, and P8 for Morbidelli ahead of ninth place Marc Marquez.
Enjoy that? We certainly did, as we now get ready for a 20-lap Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday. Can anyone stop Martin from completing a British GP hat-trick? Find out at 13:00 local time (UTC +1).
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