British MotoGP, Silverstone – Sprint Race Results

Alex Marquez has taken his first MotoGP ‘win’ during a damp Sprint race at the 2023 British Grand Prix.

Starting from the outside of the front row, the Gresini Ducati rider took the lead on lap 2 and kept well out of Marco Bezzecchi’s reach right until the tenth and last lap – when rain began falling again.

Bezzecchi then slashed Marquez’s lead to half a second but couldn’t quite get close enough to launch a victory pass. The Italian moves ahead of Jorge Martin (sixth) for second place in the world championship.

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Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales completed the podium in third, while Pramac’s Johann Zarco made his customary charge on a drying track to reach fourth.

Aleix Espargaro and KTM’s early leader Jack Miller finishes either side of Martin, with rookie Augusto Fernandez running third in the early stages before being shuffled to eighth.

Brad Binder took the final point in ninth.

Some big names struggled badly with the conditions, including Ducati’s reigning champion and title leader Francesco Bagnaia who was left outside the points in 14th (then looked at his rear tyre as he wobbled across the finish line).

Eight-time world champion Marc Marquez made minor early gains from 14th on the grid but was soon looking over his shoulder and faded back to 18th for Repsol Honda.

Starting 22nd and last, Monster Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo couldn’t make an impression, finishing ahead of only LCR Honda stand-in Iker Lecuona.

While the conditions had fortunately improved from this morning’s soaking wet final practice and qualifying, all riders used the (harder option) medium compound rain tyres.

Better weather is expected for Sunday’s grand prix.

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MotoGP returns from its summer break with reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia leading the standings by 35-points over Jorge Martin (Pramac) and Marco Bezzecchi (VR46) one point further back to complete an all-Ducati top three.

A revised practice format from this weekend means only Friday’s second session will be 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) have used the summer break to recover from injuries and return to action this weekend – Espargaro for the first time since the Portimao season opener.

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

There have 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).

Weather forecasts warn of potential showers throughout the weekend, especially on Saturday.