MotoGP: Bagnaia resists Vinales’ late charge to win British GP
Francesco Bagnaia resisted late pressure from Maverick Vinales to win MotoGP British GP as Jack Miller ended up third.
It was a clean start from MotoGP pole-sitter Johann Zarco in British GP at Silverstone on his Pramac Ducati as Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo slotted in second from Ducati pair of Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales in fifth.
He dropped places at start with teammate Aleix Espargaro in seventh behind Suzuki’s Alex Rins, as Pramac’s Jorge Martin was eighth from Suzuki’s Joan Mir and KTM’s Miguel Oliveira in the Top 10 with Gresini Ducati’s Enea Bastianini in 11th.
As Zarco led the way, Quartararo had to serve his Long Gap Penalty from Assen where he dropped from second to fifth behind Bagnaia. Amid this, Rins was the MotoGP rider on the charge as he moved up to fourth to slot behind the leading trio.
But things changed when Zarco crashed out from lead in the left-hander. He got going but was forced to retire eventually. Miller took the lead from Rins and Bagnaia, with Quartararo just behind him as Vinales started to get into pressure from Martin.
Miller and Rins went fighting where the Spaniard eventually got him to take the MotoGP British GP lead as the Australian dropped behind Bagnaia in third. For once, Quartararo looked to retake the podium but Martin had other ideas behind him.
He not only passed Vinales but also cleared Quartararo to be fourth. The Frenchman dropped behind the Spaniard in sixth as Mir brought himself into seventh. Espargaro was eighth from Oliveira and KTM’s Brad Binder, who gained five places since the start.
However, Bastianini got him for 10th, with VR46 Ducati pair of Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini in 12th and 13th. The Top 15 points position midway in the race saw Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli in 14th and Tech 3 KTM’s Remy Gardner in 15th.
At the front, Bagnaia started to close in on Rins and eventually went past him to take the MotoGP British GP lead, as Miller stood third from Vinales who cleared Martin for fourth. Quartararo was sixth from Mir, Bastianini, Espargaro and Oliveira in the Top 10.
Amid this, Miller made it Ducati 1-2 after passing Rins for second, as behind them Martin and Vinales started their duel for fourth. The former retook fourth but the latter came back on him to retake the place, while Mir crashed out of the the race.
Bastianini started to gain after passing Quartararo for sixth, as Oliveira passed Espargaro for eighth. At the front, Rins started to lose places as both Vinales and Martin passed him for third and fourth, with Bastianini looking to get through him as well.
The podium places started to shuffle when Vinales passed Miller for second with two laps to go. The Spaniard pressed on to pass Bagnaia for the lead and did so, but the Italian came back to retake it and kept it to win the MotoGP British GP race
Vinales had to settle for second after some wide moments on the final lap, as Miller rounded out the podium from Bastianini who passed Martin on the final lap. Oliveira came through to sixth after passing both Rins and Quartararo late in the race.
The Frenchman almost lost eighth to Espargaro, but managed to held onto it, with Bezzecchi rounding the Top 10 after passing Binder. Marini ended up 12th from LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami, Honda’s Pol Espargaro and Morbidelli in Top 15.
Missing out on points was RNF Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso in 16th with LCR’s Alex Marquez behind him from Gardner, Honda’s Stefan Bradl, RNF’s Darryn Binder, Tech 3’s Raul Fernandez and Gresini’s Fabio di Giannantonio to round out 22 finishers.
