There were times when it felt like we were watching a Moto3 race today at Silverstone – there was drama up and down the grid and 5 riders all in contention for the win when we reached the final lap.
Aleix Espargaro has won the British grand prix at Silverstone in stunning fashion. Despite starting the race in 12th, he quietly made his way up the field, capitalised on others crashing, and then found himself in the leading group of four. There was plenty of tussling and battling but he kept his eyes on race leader Pecco Bagnaia to then make a move on the final lap of the race.
Bagnaia ended the day in 2nd, despite looking pretty untouchable and dominant for much of the race.
The final podium position was taken by Brad Binder, who mastered the tricky weather conditions and used them to his advantage. As others tiptoed round the circuit, making cautious moves, he threw his KTM machine around on his way up to 3rd.
Binder enjoyed a lot of battles with Miguel Oliveira, who is back this weekend after taking some time out due to an injury. He was very close to the final podium spot as well as Maverick Vinales. The pair eventually came home 4th and 5th respectively.
As is becoming so normal now on race day, Jack Miller flew off the start line and was an early leader. However, he began to drop back a little bit and then, on lap 3, Vinales made an aggressive move up the inside as the pair were fighting for 4th. This move pushed Miller out wide and dropped him back to 14th. He eventually finished the day in 8th.
Rain started to fall on lap 13 of 20. Four riders opted to change bike and run the wet tires, including Fabio Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli. However, the gamble didnât pay off and they all finished at the back of the grid.
Joining them at the back as the checkered flag fell was Fabio Quartararo. But his day wasnât as bad as it seemed. The Frenchman started the race from last on the grid and worked hard to get himself up to 8th. Whilst fighting with Luca Marini for 7th, the pair collided and he went down at turn 4. He lost much of the carbon fibre off the front of the bike but was able to keep going. He came in to the pits to change his bike and then ended the day 15th. A disappointing result for the Yamaha rider, but he did show glimpses of the old Fabio today.
There were further DNFs for Alex Marquez who retired with a technical failure on lap 5. It looked as though his gear linkage was broken as he limped his way back to the garage.
His brother, Marc Marquez, also failed to meet the checkered flag. He was battling with Enea Bastianini at Maggotts and Becketts when the two collided and both went down – it seems they were just making moves that were too risky when the track was greasy and wet.
Full Results
1st
Aleix Espargaro
Aprilia
2nd
Pecco Bagnaia
Ducati
3rd
Brad Binder
KTM
4th
Miguel Oliveira
CryptoDATA RNF
5th
Maverick Vinales
Aprilia
6th
Jorge Martin
Prima Pramac
7th
Luca Marini
Mooney VR46
8th
Jack Miller
KTM
9th
Johann Zarco
Prima Pramac
10th
Raul Fernandez
CryptoDATA RNF
11th
Augusto Fernandez
GASGASG Tech3
12th
Pol Espargaro
GASGASG Tech3
13th
Fabio Di Giannantonio
Gresini
14th
Franco Morbidelli
Yamaha
15th
Fabio Quartararo
Yamaha
16th
Takaaki Nakagami
LCR Honda
17th
Icer Lecuona
LCR Honda
DNFs = Joan Mir (Repsol Honda), Alex Marquez (Gresini), Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46), Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), Enea Bastianini (Ducati)
With the long Summer break finally over, all riders have returned fresh and ready for battle. The championship was left with very little space between the top two riders, but what will happen now?
A fantastic historical venue to start the second part of the season: Silverstone – it surely won’t disappoint.
Qualifying:
Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
The news of the weekend was that Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) would have to complete a long-lap penalty (due to irresponsible riding at the Dutch GP, taking Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) with him into the gravel).
Following on from his strong performance in Assen, Espargaro is still on a high and knowing that Fabio has to complete this penalty, could he maximize on this?
It seemed maybe this would be a tall-order to do, as during the qualifying session he had a massive high-side, being thrown from his Aprilia and hurting his ankles. He didn’t let this deter him too much as he then went on to take provisional pole, but it was taken away seconds later by first Jack Miller (Ducati) and then from nowhere Johann Zarco (Ducati). A further surprise saw Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) swoop in to take 2nd.
Zarco made a new all-time lap record â 1:57.767 for his pole position â could this be his moment?Could he finally win a Moto GP race? Vinales lined up beside him and taking the last spot on the front row was Miller.
Race:
Glorious sunshine dowsed the former RAF track for race-day, but it wasn’t just the weather that was heating up. Soon the race would be underway:
Zarco got a great start and kept his lead from Fabio, who instantly took two places. The two factory Ducati’s remained close behind. Vinales didn’t seem to have the same luck and went backwards to 6th. He soon took 5th place back though from Alex Rins (Suzuki).
The second lap – Quartararo was told he must take his penalty – he had 3 laps to complete it by. He pushed hard to try and create space between himself and the following Ducati’s but Miller in 3rd took fastest lap, hampering any advances.
By lap 3 Rins managed to claim 4th place (pretty impressive start considering he started 11th on the grid). Where could the Suzuki-man get to?
Leaving it until his 4th lap, El Diablo decided he must take his long-lap penalty â he does it flawlessly and re-joined the race in-front of Vinales, slotting into 5th.
At the front â Zarco lead Miller and Rins, with the fastest lap going to Rins, he was clearly pushing hard. When suddenly Zarco threw his lead away, slipping into the gravel â the dream win, yet again falling away from him, turn 8, lap 5. Leaving Miller to lead from Rins and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati).
Rins wasn’t sitting around in 2nd for very long though and the next lap saw him overtake Miller to become the new leader of the race. Making up ten places in just six laps. Slightly further back Jorge Martin (Ducati) passed Vinales for 5th.
Rins seemed to be on top-form and with 14 laps to go had created a buffer (0.794 seconds) between himself and Bagnaia, who had passed his teammate for 2nd place. If Miller wasn’t having a bad enough time with Bagnaia passing him, another fellow Ducati passed him also â Martin, to take 3rd. Miller re-took it though when Martin made a mistake, forcing him to go wide.
Meanwhile the championship leader seemed like he might be in trouble as Vinales looked like he was setting up to pass him. But it was Vinales’ teammate that got overtook first by Joan Mir (Suzuki) just behind. It didn’t take long for Vinales to pass Fabio though and was soon through to take 5th. The Aprilia power proving to much for the Yamaha.
Aiming to pass. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Only ten laps to go and Bagnaia had eaten into Rin’s lead, already down to 0.274 seconds, could the Ducati make it two wins in a row? Who had conserved their tyres better?
Two laps later saw Bagnaia charge past Rins, leaving him to deal with Miller in 3rd. But Bagnaia wasn’t the only Ducati on the move, Enea Bastianini in 10th place took fastest lap. Always a late charger, what could Enea do?
Barely any time separating all top ten riders â Vinales decided to make yet another move forwards, this time claiming fourth from Martin, with seven laps to go.
The tyres played a massive part this late on in the race and it was unfortunately Alex Rins who struggled the most, after doing so well. The Suzuki went wide on a couple of corners, making it an easy pass for not only Miller but Vinales as well.
Meanwhile, Bastianini had moved up to 7th place, passing Espargaro and Mir. Moments later Mir took to the gravel behind him, trying to keep up.
Audiences were on the edge of their seats, as they watched yet another pass by Martin, re-taking 4th place from Vinales. Bastianini and Quartararo also tussled for 6th.
The battle continued between Maverick and Jorge with Maverick coming out on top this time. Eventually Bastianini also won his fight with the current champ, leaving him to deal with Miguel Oliveira (KTM), who was gaining fast.
Fresh from claiming a new place from Martin, Vinales soon took a further position from Rins. Martin also took his opportunity to take yet another position from the Suzuki, forcing him to fifth spot â lap eighteen.
With all this action happening behind him, Bagnaia managed to create a small gap from Miller, Vinales and Martin.
Close racing. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
The racing wasn’t done yet though. With 2 laps until the end, âTop Gunâ passed âThrillerâ to take second place. The Aprilia was working wonderfully around Silverstone. What more could he do?
Falling into the clutches of Bastianini, Rins lost yet another place, as did Quartararo to Oliveira. But it was all eyes at the front as Vinales became the 5th leader of the British Grand Prix. Bagnaia was not going down without a fight though and re-took the lead.
Last lap â Seemingly anything could happen:
The Ducati power of Bagnaia was just enough and it took him to the finish line, but behind him it was Oliveira that passed Rins, Bastianini who passed Martin and Esparagaro took Quartararo (but his maneuver didn’t stick).
Meaning it was back-to-back victories for Bagnaia, with Vinales taking second (his best finish so far for Aprilia) and Miller in third.
Winning. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Top 10 Finishers:
1st
F. Bagnaia
2nd
M. Vinales
3rd
J. Miller
4th
E. Bastianini
5th
J. Martin
6th
M. Oliveira
7th
A. Rins
8th
F. Quartararo
9th
A. Espargaro
10th
M. Bezzechi
All smiles. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
With the top two in the championship collecting less points than thought going into the race, the championship has bubbled up yet again:
Top 4 Championship Standings:
1st
F. Quartararo
180 points
2nd
A. Espargaro
158 points
3rd
F. Bagnaia
131 points
4th
E. Bastianini
118 points
All the action during this superb race meant that it was the second closest ever top-ten finish (all within six seconds of eachother). No wonder fans were screaming and cheering and the atmosphere was electric.
What a great start to the second half of the 2022 season, with action right from the start to the very end. What can we expect from the next round?
The thrill and excitement. The smell of the fuel. The sound of the engines. The anticipation for the race to start. The energy building. The lights going out. The speed of the racers. The elation when the racer you support wins or the deflation when they don’t. We as fans feel it all.
But, how did Silverstone get to where it is today?
Built in 1942 and used up until 1947 as RAF Silverstone, its sole purpose was for Wellington Bombers in WWII to take-off at the airfield that used to occupy the space. At the end of the war it was left abandoned.
RAF Silverstone. Prior to racetrack. Courtesy of: Sportskeeda
In 1948 the Royal Automobile Club were thinking of bringing back motor racing to England and chose the abandoned airfield located in Northamptonshire as the start of their journey. 30th June 1948 a one-year lease had been secured and later that year in October the first international Grand Prix was held. Behind the scenes a lot of effort took place, 620 marshals were hired, 170 tonnes of straw bales were used and 10 miles of signal writing put into place. The event drew in an audience of 100,000 spectators. The RAC Grand Prix victory went to Luigi Villoresi.
We couldn’t speak about Silverstone’s rich history without Formula One. During an F1 race there is an average of 52 laps to complete at Silverstone and the circuit length is: 306.198km/ 190.263miles.
1950 â King George VI and our now Queen (Elizabeth II) visited and watched the racing. This was the one and only time that a reigning Monarch had done so. The race was won by Giuseppe Farina.
1960 â Graham Hill was cruising to victory ahead of Jack Brabham but with only 5 laps till the chequered flag, Hill spun off, leaving Brabham to take the win.
1971 – Jackie Stewart won that years race and along with it a new lap record.
1983 â Alain Prost hailed victorious, claiming his first win at Silverstone.
1998 â Michael Schumacher oddly won that years race whilst being stationary in the pits.
2008 â Local-boy Sir Lewis Hamilton took victory (and would go on to win 8 times).
Hamilton wins at Silverstone. Courtesy of: BT
2022 â F1 will return to Silverstone 1st – 3rd July.
1964 âTrying to improve safety for the competitors and their mechanics, a new pit lane separate to the main track was put in place.
1975 â Brand new pit garages were erected and a chicane was added at Woodcote.
1987 â The s-bend was removed and replaced with a sharp left â right bend on approach and larger pit garages were also added.
1990’s – A massive renovation took place to the circuit, which remains today – extra seating was erected and changes were made to the layout of the track eg. run-off at Copse was increased and Stowe became tighter. Further alterations have since followed.
2000’s â A new pit and paddock complex was built between Copse and Abbey and a new âarenaâ complex was ready for the 2010 season.
2018/19 – In 2018 the track was resurfaced but drainage issues forced the Moto GP race to be cancelled. Ahead of the 2019 race, the track was resurfaced yet again.
It has become the home of iconic British Racing, with it’s incredible history stretching back all the way to those days in 1948. It is instantly recognisable and is one of the fastest tracks on the racing calendar.
But, it wasn’t all about cars. Britain had a taste for Motorbike racing also. During a motorbike race there is an average of 20 laps to complete at Silverstone and the circuit length is: 5.89km. With 8 left-hand corners, 10 right-hands and a 770m long straight.
Moto GP circuit is slightly different from F1 course. Courtesy of: Silverstone website
On the weekend of 13th August 1977 the British Motorcycle Grand Prix debuted. It was to be legend Giacomo Agostini’s final race, he finished a respectful 9th and American Pat Hennon on the Texaco Heron Team Suzuki took victory.
Notable Moto GP moments:
1978 â Another American won, this time it was Kenny Roberts (Yamaha) who took the win, in-front of two Brits â Steve Manship and Barry Sheene.
1979 â 1981 â Americans dominated the podium: Kenny Roberts took a second victory (1979) and a third (1980). Kenny Roberts and Randy Mamola took 2nd and 3rd behind Jack Middleburg (Suzuki) (1981).
1986 â Australian Wayne Gardner (Honda) took the top-spot. Some may recognise the name â 2021 Moto 2 Champion Remy Gardner’s Father.
Wayne and Remi Gardner. Courtesy of Herald Sun
1987 â Eddie Lawson won from Wayne Gardner and Randy Mamola. The racing then left Silverstone in favour of another British track: Donington. But returned in 2010 with modern-day Moto GP.
2010 â Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) took the flag from Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) and Ben Spies (Yamaha).
2011 â Another Australian lifted the trophy this time it was Casey Stoner’s (Honda) turn. With Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) and Colin Edwards (Yamaha) third.
2013 â All Spanish podium consisted of: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), Marc Marquez (Honda) and Dani Pedrosa (Honda).
2015 â All Italian podium: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati).
2016 â Maverick Vinales (Suzuki) took the win ahead of British-man Cal Crutchlow (Honda). The first time a Brit in Moto GP had stepped onto the podium since 1984. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) was third.
2018 â The race was cancelled due to torrential rain and the circuit having drainage issues.
2020 â Cancelled again this time due to Global Pandemic â Covid-19.
2021 â Current Moto GP Champion Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) took victory from Alex Rins (Suzuki) and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia).
2022 – Moto GP will return to Silverstone 5th – 7th August.
Silverstone also hosted for a brief while the World Superbikes Championship, from 2002 â 2007 and then again 2010 â 2013.
Notable World Superbike moments:
2002 â First time at Silverstone and American Colin Edwards (Honda) won race one with Australian Troy Bayliss (Ducati) winning race two.
2003 â Neil Hodgson was victorious for both race one and two.
2006 â Troy Bayliss won both race one and two.
2007 â Once again Troy Bayliss won race one but race two was cancelled. WSBK didn’t return again until 2010.
2010 â Celebrations were in order as Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) triumphantly won both races.
Winning looks good. Courtesy of CircuitProDigital
2011 â Carlos Checa (Ducati) decided to check-out and won both races that weekend.
2013 â Jonathan Rea (Honda) took first in race one and Loris Baz (Kawasaki) claimed the win for race two.
Donington became the new home for WSBK afterwards.
Silverstone Race Circuit also has hosted the British Superbike Championship from 1998 â present.
Notable British Superbike moments:
1998 â James Haydon (Suzuki) wins the first BSB race at Silverstone with familiar name Troy Bayliss (GSE Racing bike) winning the second race.
1999 â Troy Bayliss (Ducati) won both races for the weekend.
2000 â Two Brits dominated this time round â Neil Hodgson (Ducati) won the first race and Chris Walker (Samsung Crescent bike) won the second race.
2006 â 2007 â Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) spectacularly won all four races.
2012 â Alex Lowes (Honda) claimed both race victories.
2019 â Tarran Mackenzie (Yamaha) took to the podium and took his maiden victory in the second race. Whilst Josh Elliott (OMG Racing UK.com) took the first race win.
Winning maiden victory for Tarran. Courtesy of: Eurosport 2
2022 â BSB will return to Silverstone 15th – 17th April.
As we immerse ourselves in the racing, witnessing wheel-to-wheel fighting and cheering on the competitors, we say the names given to parts of the circuit but never think twice about where these names originated from.
The story behind the name:
Abbey and Luffield â Luffield Abbey remains were discovered 200 metres from Stowe corner.
Becketts and Chapel Curve â Ruins of the chapel of Thomas Beckett are close to the circuit.
Stowe Corner â Named after the school which resides not too far away.
Maggotts â Maggotts Moor Field is also close to the track.
Copse â A small wood used to be adjacent to the corner.
Club Corner â In honour of the RAC Club.
Woodcote â Named for the Country Club, located in Woodcote Park in Surrey.
Hangar Straight â Two aircraft hangers originally lined the circuit where the straight sits.
Hamilton Straight â Named in 2010 in honour of the achievements of British racing driver Sir Lewis Hamilton.
Village â Commemorating Silverstone Village.
Ireland â Named for Innes Ireland (GP driver and President of the British Racing Drivers Club).
Wellington Straight â Vickes Wellington Bombers were based at RAF Silverstone.
Brooklands â Named for the world’s first purpose-built circuit at Weybridge, Surrey.
The Loop â Simply the shape of the corner.
The names may change over time and the circuit may yet again see change and growth. But one thing is for sure, racing unites fans and brings them together to enjoy the absolute ecstasy of the event. We all have our personal memories of a certain race at this legendary track, whether we were there in person soaking in the atmosphere or watching on TV – sitting on the edge of our seats. The magic of Silverstone will always live on.
Featured image: 2019 race win. Courtesy of: Ultimate Motorcycling MagazineÂ
The 12th round of the 2021 Moto2 season took us to Silverstone, on a cloudy and cool Bank Holiday weekend.
It didnât look like it was going to be Remy Gardnerâs day. The Australian started from the second row of the grid in fourth place, behind SKY Racing Team VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi on pole who had smashed the outright lap record in qualifying. Jorge Navarro was in second and local favourite Sam Lowes in third. Joining Gardner on the second row were teammates Raul Fernandez in fifth place and Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 rider, Fabio DiGiannantonio in sixth.
Remy racing. Courtesy of: RemyGardner.com
In the end Gardner emerged victorious after a hard-fought win over Bezzecchi, who nevertheless managed to hold on to the outright lap record. The fastest race lap changed hands multiple times over the course of the 18 laps â Gardner, then Navarro, then Lowes and Gardner again before being ultimately claimed by Navarro on lap 17.
Bezzecchi was the only one to go with the softer rear tyre option, which had served him well in qualifying, but would it be enough to dominate in the race?
Ai Ogura, the rookie Honda Team Asia rider, who had been impressive in the last two rounds, was back on the 5th row in 14th place after a disappointing qualifying. And before the race even started Marcel Schrotter, starting in 15th, incurred a long lap penalty for ignoring the mechanical failure flag in practice.
Bezzecchi got the best start off the line as Lowes moved up into 2nd on the first bend, and by turn 2 Lowes nipped past Bezzecchi to take the lead as Gardner moved up into 3rd. But after a couple of moments on the opening lap, Gardner was passed by his teammate and dropped down to 5th.
On lap 2, Bezzecchi regained the lead, pushing Lowes back down into 2nd and on lap 4 Lowes was passed by Gardner making up for lost time.
The top 5 started to break away â Bezzecchi, Gardner, Lowes, Navarro and DiGiannantonio stretched out a 1.5 second gap ahead of 6th place Raul Fernandez, whilst Gardner hunted down Bezzecchi to briefly take the lead but was unable to make it stick. Bezzecchi then had a moment in the middle of turn 15, causing Gardner to take evasive action to avoid contact.
The fight on track. Courtesy of: RemyGardner. com
DiGiannantonio moved up into 4th place past Navarro as Lowes held onto 3rd, meanwhile Raul and Augusto Fernandez battled it out for 6th.
For the next few laps, Gardner and Bezzecchi swapped back and forth, with Gardner setting a new race lap record on lap 8. Navarro moved back up into 4th, and Lowes and Navarro closed in on the leading pair.
On lap 12, Gardner retook the lead, with Bezzecchi pushing hard every step of the way. On lap 15 Bezzecchi ran slightly wide, which allowed Gardner a little space to hold onto the front spot and he crossed the line almost half a second ahead of Bezzecchi.
Meanwhile, on lap 14 Navarro edged past Lowes into 3rd place, and Raul Fernandez crashed out at Farm – uninjured but his bike remained on the edge of the track – fortunately not causing a red flag incident.
Augusto Fernandez, who Raul had been battling with, managed to pass DiGiannantonio at the last minute, finishing 5th behind Lowes.
A combination of Gardnerâs win and the DNF from Raul Fernandez now stretches out Gardnerâs lead at the top of the championship â on 231 points he is 44 ahead of his teammate, with Bezzecchi in 3rd on 179 and Lowes 4th with 127.
But with the next race in Spain, in two weeks time, will we see Raul return to form on his home turf? And after such a hard-fought battle for the lead, can Bezzecchi regain the top step of the podium?
Race results:
1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Remy Gardner (AUS) – Red Bull KTM Ajo â 25 points
2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 20
3Â Â Â Â Â Â Jorge Navarro (SPA) – Lightech Speed Up – 16
4Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Sam Lowes (GBR) – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 13
5Â Â Â Â Â Â Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA) – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 11
6Â Â Â Â Â Â Augusto Fernandez (SPA) – Elf Marc VDS Racing Team – 10
7Â Â Â Â Â Â Aron Canet (SPA) – Aspar Team Moto2 – 9
8Â Â Â Â Â Â Xavi Vierge (SPA) – Petronas Sprinta Racing – 8
9Â Â Â Â Â Â Ai Ogura (JPN) – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – 7
10     Joe Roberts (USA) – Italtrans Racing Team – 6
11Â Â Â Â Â Thomas Luthi (SWI) â Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team – 5
12Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Celestino Vietti (ITA) – SKY Racing Team VR46 – 4
13Â Â Â Â Â Marcel Schrotter (GER) – Liqui Moly Intact GP – 3
14         Nicolò Bulega (ITA) – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – 2
15Â Â Â Â Â Bo Bendsneyer (NED) – Pertamina SAG – 1
Conditions were cold and cloudy at Silverstone during qualifying, which didn’t help with tyres. One man though seemed to revel in the weather and made pole for the first time in his Moto GP career â Pol Espargaro (Honda)!
It looked like it was going to be Jorge Martin (Ducati) who was going to ruin the celebrations as he put in the fastest lap with few seconds to spare, but the lap was removed as he exceeded track limits – he qualified 4th on the grid.
Pol lead Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) on the front row.
Pole felt like a win – P. Espargaro. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Race:
The cloudy conditions remained in place for Sunday, with highest temperatures of just 22 degrees.
There was a sell-out crowd for round 12 at Silverstone, with many of the fans gathering to witness Valentino Rossi’s (Yamaha) final race at the iconic British track. They also cheered for Cal Crutchlow, who again came back from retirement to race at his home-track, this time on the factory Yamaha alongside Fabio. Team-mate to Rossi on the Petronas Yamaha, Jake Dixon made his debut at Silverstone.
Due to Covid restrictions last year, Moto GP did not attend Silverstone so audiences were hyped up to witness something special. In the last six years there had been six different winners, could there be a seventh in seven?
Tyres seemed to be an issue at the track and whilst waiting for the warm-up lap the top three riders in the championship all changed their tyre combination to a mixture of soft and medium.
Pol Espargaro got a great start from pole and was soon leading the race from Quartararo and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia). Bagnaia quickly made it through to second place but it was taken back by Aleix.
A shocking move from Marc Marquez (Honda) on lap one meant that he took out Austria’s (race one) winner Jorge Martin (Ducati). Neither one of the riders were able to get their bikes properly started to rejoin the race.
But disappointment for two riders went to elation for two others. Both Espargaro brothers were first and second from Bagnaia in third.
Weighing up his options, Aleix tried to pass Pol for first on lap three, but to no avail.
With 18 laps to go, Fabio took 3rd place from Pecco and soon had his eyes set on the two brothers ahead. Fabio had the fastest lap and quickly took second place from Aleix. Pecco seized an opportunity to also gain a place from Aleix but the Aprilia rider was having none of it and regained 3rd back within quick succession.
Lap 5 of 20 saw Quartararo take the lead and the gap just slowly kept getting larger and larger. There was nothing the rest of the pack could do to catch him. With 15 laps until the end, the gap was already 1.007 seconds.
Fabio leads the way. Courtesy of Moto GP website.
But what could Austria’s second race winner â Brad Binder (KTM) pull out of the bag this weekend? He was in 13th place with 14 laps to go.
Quartararo was in his element, finding his groove and setting better and better lap times. He soon was 2.031 seconds ahead of P. Espargaro, A. Espargaro, the two Suzuki riders in 4th and 5th and the factory Ducati’s in 6th and 7th.
Tyres became a factor for many of the riders during the race and two names that felt this the most were Valentino Rossi and Francesco Bagnaia. By lap 8, Rossi had been overtaken by Alex Marquez (Honda) in 8th place and Bagnaia had gone into 7th position, having been overtaken by Jack Miller (Ducati). P. Espargaro had also been caught and overtaken by Alex Rins (Suzuki), for 3rd.
Extending his lead, Fabio was 2.617 seconds ahead of A. Espargaro, Rins, P. Espargaro and current Moto GP Champion â Joan Mir (Suzuki).
The British crowds roared loudly for their fellow riders â Cal Crutchlow and Jake Dixon, but for all their efforts they were unfortunately in 17th and 19th place. This didn’t dampen the fans though because they were both riding well.
We could get used to this sight – Dixon on Petronas Yamaha. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
Meanwhile Rins, who had propelled himself from 10th on the grid had taken 2nd place from A. Espargaro, who made a small mistake and went wide, with 9 laps to go until the chequered flag.
Lap 13 saw A. Marquez take 7th place from Bagnaia, who passed him with relative ease, as the Ducati’s tyres had worn out.
The race leader however, was managing his tyres extremely well and had extended his lead even further to 3.458 seconds. Rins was trying everything to get the gap down between himself and the Frenchman, but he just couldn’t break away from Aleix.
Unlike, Miller who was quickly closing the gap down between himself and Pol. Pol made an unfortunate mistake on lap 15, which meant Miller breezed past him to take 4th.
With three laps to go, things went from bad to worse for Bagnaia, who had gone from 9th to 12th place within a few laps and finished the race in 14th, gathering only 2 championship points. Sitting in second in the championship prior to the race, he has plummeted down to 4th.
The last lap was Miller’s last attempt to get onto the podium. He managed to pass A. Espargaro for 3rd but Aleix passed him right back for a last lap battle. It was Aleix’s time to step up onto the podium for the first time in Moto GP and for his Aprilia team.
A. Espargaro and Miller. Courtesy of: Moto GP website,
Fabio’s lead was too great and he took his 5th race win this season with a massive gap of 3.467 seconds ahead of Rins and A. Espargaro.
Despite his mammoth efforts, Binder finished a respectful 6th in the race.
Finally, for his last race on British soil, the eight-time World Champion, Valentino Rossi finished 18th, but still celebrated for the crowd.
Rossi celebrating for the crowd. Courtesy of: Moto GP website.
The pattern continued with a seventh winner at Silverstone in seven races and for the first time ever in Moto GP history, the top six finishers were all different manufacturers.
Top Ten Race Finishers:
1
F. Quartararo (Yamaha)
2
A. Rins (Suzuki)
3
A. Espargaro (Aprilia)
4
J. Miller (Ducati)
5
P. Espargaro (Honda)
6
B. Binder (KTM)
7
I. Lecuona (Ducati)
8
A. Marquez (Honda)
9
J. Mir (Suzuki)
10
D. Petrucci (Ducati)
Championship Results:
1
F. Quartararo
206 points
2
J. Mir
141 points
3
J. Zarco
137 points
4
F. Bagnaia
136 points
The 22 year old Frenchman dominated the field once more and took valuable championship points in the race. But the current champion now sits in second place, could we see a swing in the title-run and see Mir defend his number one spot?
Featured image: Podium finishers. Courtesy of: Moto GP Twitter page.
Valtteri Bottas took pole at Silverstone on Saturday afternoon after beating teammate Hamilton by 0.063 seconds in a extremely close battle as Mercedes locked out the front row after yet another dominant qualifying this season. The Finnish driver would be delighted at this result especially after signing on for one more year with the Silver Arrows. He will definitely be looking forward to starting the race on pole after the disappointment of last weekend.
Nico Hulkenberg put on a stellar display in the final parts of the qualifying to put himself on the second row for the race tomorrow in third, a tenth of a second ahead of Max Verstappen in fourth. The other Racing Point of Lance Stroll couldn’t extract the maximum out of the car and ended up qualifying sixth, which puts him on the third row alongside Daniel Ricciardo. The Renault driver put in a mega performance in Q3 on medium tyres but he couldn’t quite get on the second row which was looking likely after the first run of Q3. His teammate Ocon in the other Renault did not make it out of Q2 and will be starting 11th, pending an investigation after impeding George Russell during Q1.
Nico Hulkenberg, Racing Point RP20
Ferrari’s dismal form continues. Sebastian Vettel failed to make it to Q3 and will be starting 12th on the grid; Leclerc, who managed to make it to the second row last week couldn’t make it past the fourth row this time and will start eighth. The only direction the team seems to be going is backward and there will be a lot of questions asked back at Maranello.
Pierre Gasly in the Alpha Tauri looks to be set for another impressive weekend at Silverstone after managing 7th place today with an impressive lap. Teammate Kvyat, on the other hand, never made it out of Q1 after an error-ridden lap which saw him finish 16th.
Alex Albon and Lando Norris made up the fifth row in 9th and 10th for which both the drivers would not be overly happy.
It was a very average afternoon for McLaren with Norris at 10th and Sainz at 13th and they will be hoping that the fortunes change come race day tomorrow, especially with the midfield very tightly packed.
George Russell maintained his perfect qualifying record against his teammate after an extremely impressive lap which saw him progress to Q2 and put him fifteenth on the grid while his teammate will be starting P18.
Haas will be disappointed with their qualifying after only one car made out of Q1 with Grosjean in P14 and Magnussen in P17 after making a costly error in Q1.
Alfa Romeo started 1st-2nd-3rd-4th for the first ever British GP in 1950 but fast forward 70 years and they will be starting at the back with Giovinazzi at 19th and Kimi at 20th after a poor showing in Q1.
With Mercedes locking out the front row for the 67th time, it looks set to be a straight fight between the Silver Arrows for victory while the long-awaited podium for Hulkenberg might finally happen. With an extremely close midfield starting all the way from 3rd to 13th, it looks set to be a promising race for the 70th Anniverary Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton has taken the 91st pole position of his career ahead of tomorrow’s British Grand Prix, three tenths in front of team-mate Valtteri Bottas and over a second clear of third-placed Max Verstappen. It makes Mercedes the first team in F1’s history to take eight consecutive pole positions at the same circuit.
Hamilton suffered a spin at Luffield on his first run in Q3 but recovered to post two laps good enough for pole, the quickest being a new track record of a 1:24.303.
Charles Leclerc got to within a tenth of Verstappen in what is Ferrari’s first second-row start of the season. McLaren’s Lando Norris will line up a very respectable P5.
Lance Stroll only just made it through to Q3 and qualified P6 ahead of Sainz and the two Renaults of Ricciardo and Ocon.
Having struggled all weekend, Vettel will line up only tenth for tomorrow’s race. What’s more, he will be starting the race on the soft tyres rather than the more favourable mediums.
Alex Albon failed to make it through to Q3 for the second race in a row and only managed P12 behind the Alpha Tauri of Pierre Gasly. He suffered a hefty crash during free practice on Friday and was plagued by an electrical issue on Saturday morning.
Nico Hulkenberg, drafted in at the last possible moment to replace Sergio Perez after Perez tested positive for COVID-19, qualified P13.
Daniil Kvyat will start P14 ahead of George Russell, who made it through to Q2 for the third consecutive time in his Williams. He was, however, investigated for failing to slow for yellow flags after his team-mate span at Luffield in Q1.
Both Alfa Romeo cars failed to make it through to Q2 yet again, as did both Haas cars. Nicholas Latifi will line up P20 after his aforementioned spin.
With news that Sergio Perez had tested positive for COVID-19 breaking on Thursday evening, Racing Point had a decision to make as to who would come in and effectively replace him for at least this weekendâs British Grand Prix and even possibly for the 70th anniversary race weekend the next week. Well, it was all to perfect for a certain German driver whoâs last race came some 243 days ago.
After losing his seat at Renault at the end of last season, Nico Hulkenberg was most likely wondering how he could get himself back in a seat. However, what he probably wasn’t expecting was how it would come about and how much earlier an opportunity for him to return to the grid would arise. With that said, news broke hours before the start of Free Practice 1 that Racing Point had opted to replace Checo with Nico, who had already spent three-quarters of an hour of Friday morning in the Racing Point simulator ahead of his scheduled return.
With 177 Grand Prixâs to his name, it absolutely makes sense for both Nico and the Pink Panthers for him to take the drive, replacing his former Force India teammate and he did not disappoint!
Glen Dunbarr / Racing Point F1 Team
Free Practice 1:
Nicoâs initial lap of the historic Silverstone track was slightly delayed due to the fact we were still awaiting the result of his own COVID test, however, it wasn’t too long of a wait and before you knew it, Nico was taking to the track in the RP20 and was actually the first out.
After a couple of bedding in laps and a could of stops into the pits, Nico went on to complete an impressive 24 laps and subsequently posted a best lap time of 1:28.592 which was good enough to see him end FP1 in 9th just +1.170 behind the fastest man of the session – Max Verstappen (1:27.422).
What was more impressive was the fact that while he was just over one second off Verstappen, Nico was only +0.591 off his teammate Lance Stroll, who ended up finishing the first session third fastest posting a 1:28.004 (+0.582 behind Verstappen).
Post FP1 thoughts had you thinking that given Nico hasnât taken to the track whatsoever this season let alone jumping into a car which has a serious chance of challenging this weekend, he could only get fast. Excitement building for FP2? Absolutely.
FP2 got underway and Nico took his time in the garage before heading out to put an initial lap time of 1:29.906 for 13th with almost 20 minutes of the session gone. The following lap, Nico got himself into the top 10 with a much more improved 1:29.041 (9th), pace was starting to gather for the 32-year-old German.
With just under an hour of practice left, Nico saw teammate Stroll set a session fastest 1:27.274 during a qualifying simulation run. Nicoâs answer? Well, it was 1:27.910 to go 5th fastest and move to within +0.636 of Stroll.
With just three quarters of an hour left in the session though, Red Bullâs Alex Albon went off the track at Stow in a big way after losing the rear end and spinning in barriers. The session was red flagged and all carâs returned to the pits for around 15 minutes.
With restart of the session and around 30 minutes to go, Nico went on to complete a further 25 laps and ultimately ended up in P7 at the checkered flag. As for his teammate Stroll, well.. he ended up being the fastest man of the session with his before mentioned lap of 1:27.274 which was +0.090 fastest than second quickest Alex Albon, who after his crash at Stow, didnât return for the rest of the session.
âThe 24 hours has been a bit special. Crazy and wild. 16:30pm yesterday afternoon I got the call took a plane here and then seat fitted until 2am last night. Then into the simulator at 8am for an hour with a bit of prep work. It was a short night, but all worthwhile.â
Mark Sutton / Racing Point F1 Team
Overall Assessment:
Nicoâs return to the track after 243 days was a very impressive one giving the circumstances. With as much notice as he had, I donât think you could have asked much more from him. Yes, we all know that the car he was in control of could and should have been up with Strollâs timing but letâs be honest, 24 hours on from being told he was coming in, Nico did an excellent job in staying within six hundred tenths of his teammate.
The rest of the weekend will now be an opportunity for Nico to repay Racing Pointâs trust in giving him to replace Checo. You can well imagine that with the data collected from his laps today and the debriefing to follow, Nicoâs confidence will have grown massively and could show not only in tomorrowâs FP3 but also in what is expected to be a much cooler Qualifying.
Itâs fair to say that despite the circumstances that surround his return, itâs great to see the man that they call Hulk back in a Formula One car. Welcome back, Nico!
Following the 2019 Monaco Grand Prix, Charles Leclerc has now competed in four races across two open wheeled series at his home track. His record in Monaco, however, is something that no one wants. He has yet to see the chequered flag at any of his four starts despite having some very good equipment at his disposal, albeit being classified twice due to completing 90% of the race.
We will focus on F1 after his two no scores in his F2 season winning campaign. In his rookie season last year he was close to scoring points, but complained of grip and brake problems throughout the race. Eventually, a brake failure resulted in him plowing into the back of Hartleyâs Toro Rosso at the chicane coming out of the tunnel. He would still be classified, though, as 90% of the race had been completed.
We know, too, about the recent mess Ferrari got Leclerc and themselves in after taking a risk and avoiding completing a second run in Q1, resulting in Leclerc being knocked out in the first stage of qualifying. He was the entertainment early on in the race, though, with some ballsy moves, but a collision resulting in a puncture ended his day early causing too much damage to the floor.
He isnât the only one to have a pretty poor showing at his home track – some F1 legends also never did well.
Jacques Villenueve
Jacques Villenueve started off well at Montreal. He tried to emulate his father by winning at his home rack and finished P2 in 1996 behind team-mate Damon Hill, but after that he never saw the podium, and helped to create the Wall of Champions. He crashed into the wall in 1997 and also in that famous race in 1999 along with Hill and Schumacher. He actually only ever finished the race twice more in nine attempts, both outside the points, a spell of five consecutive retirements between the year 2000 and 2004.
Wikimedia Commons
Rubens Barrichello
Rubens Barrichello currently holds the record for most ever starts in F1, having competed between 1993 and 2011 using an array of machinery including the Ferrari in the early 2000s. Despite this, he was only ever on the rostrum in Brazil once, in 2004. From 1995 to 2003 he retired from every single Brazillian GP.
In 2001 he could only manage sixth on the grid, and problems prior to the race meant he had to switch to the spare car. It was over before it began really – Hakkinen stalled on the grid, bringing out the safety car, and at the restart Barrichello went straight into the back of Ralf Schumacher at turn four, ending both of their races early.
2003 looked like it could have been his year – by lap 46 of 71 he was in the lead, but his car crawled to a halt due to a fuel pressure problem.
Leandro Neumann Ciuffo – Wikimedia Commons
Jenson Button
Jenson raced at Silverstone for 17 consecutive seasons. In that time he had some great machinery, but he never managed to stand on the podium in any of those years.
The 2006 and 2011 races demonstrated his poor showings. In 2006, whilst competing for BAR, he was knocked out in Q1 behind both Midland cars. He may have started off well in the race with some great overtakes, but it was all over by lap nine as an oil leak resulted in his Honda engine failing.
2011 was no better. Mixed conditions forced Button to pit thirteen laps from the end – the front right wheel, however, wasn’t attached properly, and he was forced to retire at the pit exit.
Wikimedia Commons
As you can see Leclerc has only raced in two home races but is well on his way to being in this category. It took team-mate Sebastian Vettel until 2013 to win the German Grand Prix despite having the dominant car three seasons prior to this, so things can only get better for Leclerc.
The Silverstone race track is to be resurfaced in June ahead of both the F1 and MotoGP races.
The news comes as bosses of both Silverstone and F1 desperately scrap to come to an agreement to keep the F1 race alive at Silverstone, and try to avoid the British GP moving to a different and perhaps less favourable home.
Situated on the site of what used to be a military airbase converted into a race track in the 1940s, Silverstone has been the sole home of the British Grand Prix since 1987, having alternated with Brands Hatch and Aintree prior to that.
Last year saw a resurfacing job completed on the track ahead of the start of the F1 season. Now, another resurfacing will be completed just a month before the Formula One race towards the end of June, and two months before the MotoGP race in August.
2018 British Grand Prix, Sunday – Wolfgang Wilhelm
So, why the same job twice in as many years? You may remember the MotoGP race that was supposed to take place in August last year, but never did. Race day brought with it typically British weather, and alleged drainage problems meant the rainwater could not be cleared. As such, the race could not be contested or even rescheduled, and travelling fans had to be reimbursed after what turned out to be a disaster of a weekend for them. The track is thus being resurfaced again to avoid the same problems from occurring this year.
The source of the funding for this yearâs job is as yet, according to Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle, uncertain. There is still an ongoing investigation as to whether Aggregate Industries – the company who surfaced the track last year – were at fault for the cancellation of the 2018 MotoGP race, and therefore should have to compensate for this yearâs job, or whether the Silverstone circuit will have to fund it themselves.
If Silverstone has to pay for the job itself, it will be a huge dent in its plans to host the race beyond its current deal which expires this year. Last year’s MotoGP cancellation cost Silverstone a huge amount of money, and having to pay for a job they feel should be paid for by the company whose alleged poor drainage cost them will result in struggles to pay the F1 race hosting fees beyond this year.
The Silverstone management is not the only disgruntled party. Lewis Hamilton described the 2018 resurfacing as ‘the worst job ever,’ so all was not well even before the MotoGP disaster of August.
Ferrari Media
In terms of the racing, the change in surface will mean that the track will not be rubbered in and there will be no racing line, resulting in less grip. Therefore, the lap times over the course of the weekend will take longer to fall as the drivers try to find traction.
There is, however, another potential plot twist. Stuart Pringle was quoted as saying that he ‘hopes’ the job will be complete ahead of the F1 Grand Prix. Missing the race would be another big hit in terms of revenue, and it would mean that F1 would have to search for a new home for the race. British GT will be the last event run before the F1Â race, and several club meetings have already been cancelled to accommodate the job. They will be hoping and praying the track will be ready for F1âs British Grand Prix weekend between the 12-14 July.
The race is an extremely popular one for the fans, drivers, and teams alike. The campsites along with by the ample grassland allow for fans to enjoy barbecues over the course of the weekend. The track is vastly expansive and the Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel complex is truly a sight to behold.
Because of the popularity of the track, it would be nice for F1âs British Grand Prix to stick around in Northamptonshire for a few years yet, but the resurfacing job really is just the surface of the many issues the Silverstone track faces in 2019.
