British MotoGP, Silverstone – Race Results

* Rookie

Aleix Espargaro snatched his and Aprilia’s first victory of the season, from twelfth on the grid, after passing world champion Francesco Bagnaia at the penultimate corner of the British MotoGP at Silverstone.

Brad Binder completed the podium for KTM, just ahead of Miguel Oliveria and Maverick Vinales, in a tense race that saw rain spots fall during the final 8 laps.

Bagnaia’s title rival Marco Bezzecchi ed out behind the race-leading factory Ducati under braking at the end of Hangar straight on lap 6 of 20.

• 2023 British MotoGP: New World Championship standings

Some riders at the tail of the field pitted for rain tyres late on, but the rain failed to intensify enough.

Nonetheless, as the moisture increased, Marc Marquez fell after appearing to clip the back of Enea Bastianini, while Fabio Quartararo was forced to pit after contact with Luca Marini during an attempted pass ripped the fairing from his Yamaha.

Jack Miller was forced wide during an early pass by Vinales, which dropped him outside the top ten.

Jorge Martin retakes second in the championship from Bezzecchi despite being demoted to the back of the field after contact with Binder in the opening turns.

In a change from the usual schedule, the Moto2 race will be the final event of the day.

• British Moto2: Latest Results
• British Moto3: Latest Results

A revised practice format from this weekend meant only Friday’s second session was used to determine the top ten riders receiving direct access to Qualifying 2. Opening practice now becomes a ‘free’ session, like FP3.

After being tested by teams in the opening eight rounds, punishments for breaching MotoGP’s new real-time Tyre Pressure Monitoring System will be implemented from Silverstone.

For now, post-race punishments will only be given if tyre pressure falls below the minimum specified by Michelin for at least 50% of a Sunday race distance and 30% of a Sprint race, and apply as follows:
· 1st offense: Warning
· 2nd offense: 3-second time penalty
· 3rd offense: 6-second time penalty
· 4th offense: 12-second time penalty

Pol Espargaro (GASGAS Tech3), plus Marc Marquez and Joan Mir (Repsol Honda) used the summer break to recover from injuries and returned to action this weekend – Espargaro for the first time since the Portimao season opener.

However, newly announced 2024 Yamaha rider Alex Rins remained absent due to his Mugello leg fractures and was replaced at LCR Honda by WorldSBK rider Iker Lecuona.

There had been eight different winners in the last eight races at Silverstone: Jorge Lorenzo (2013, Yamaha), Marc Marquez (2014, Honda), Valentino Rossi (2015, Yamaha), Maverick Vinales (2016, Yamaha), Andrea Dovizioso (2017, Ducati), Alex Rins (2019, Suzuki), Fabio Quartararo (2021, Yamaha) and Francesco Bagnaia (2022, Ducati).

The Austrian Grand Prix will take place at the Red Bull Ring from August 18-20.