MotoGP British GP: Marco Bezzecchi takes surprise win for Aprilia

Marco Bezzecchi produced a masterclass in tyre management to win the MotoGP British Grand Prix for Aprilia, after Fabio Quartararo suffered mechanical heartbreak while leading.

The Italian executed his soft-tyre gamble to perfection to claim victory by four seconds over fellow gambler Johann Zarco (Honda) and Marc Marquez (Ducati), who extended his points lead over Alex Marquez, who finished in fifth, to 24 points.

The win provided a timely boost for Aprilia, which had not won a grand prix for more than year and is currently embroiled in controversy around the future of its other factory rider, Jorge Martin.

Quartararo had looked set to romp to victory after following the same tyre strategy as Bezzecchi, but his Yamaha hit technical trouble when he had a comfortable lead on lap 12.

The latest dramatic British GP began immediately after the start, when Alex Marquez crashed out of the lead as he began to tip his GP25 into the gentle first corner.

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

This unusual incident appeared to confirm fears that riders would struggle to get their tyres up to temperature in the cold temperatures at Silverstone – particularly the medium front that Alex Marquez had chosen along with most others.

The accident left Marc Marquez (also on the medium front) in the lead over Quartararo – until Marc Marquez sensationally lost the front end at Maggots on the second lap.

But the Catalan brothers were to get a reprieve. Moments after Marc Marquez’s accident, the red flags flew at Silverstone – due to a slippery substance having been discovered on the track at Vale. That had been the scene of another accident, involving Franco Morbidelli (VR46) and Aleix Espargaro (Honda), at the end of the first lap.

The stoppage allowed both Marquez brothers time to return to the pits and grab their spare bikes for the restart. The tyre choices across the grid, however, remained much the same.

Riders who opted for soft front rubber, which would be easier to get up to temperature but was unproven over a race distance, were inevitably those with little to lose. This included poleman Quartararo, who knew he could not compete over a race distance without a strategic advantage.

Other notables on the soft front were Jack Miller (lining up sixth), Zarco (starting ninth) and Bezzecchi, who had only qualified 10th.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Quartararo duly claimed the lead over a cautious Alex and Marc Marquez shortly after the lights turned green for the second time. And it wasn’t long before the soft-shod racers began to work their way into his wake.

While Bezzecchi appeared to take a relatively cautious approach to the opening laps, perhaps with tyre life in mind, Miller and Zarco were up into second and third by lap four. The question at this point was whether they would be able to make their rubber last for the revised race distance of 19 laps.

Indeed, Miller began a slow fade through the field as early as lap six – though it was Bezzecchi who relieved him of second place. Shortly after, Zarco followed him past the Pramac Yamaha. It was still a 1-2-3 for the soft front tyre riders, but Bezzecchi was now in the reckoning.

That said, Quartararo was five seconds in the lead at the start of lap eight and looked a reasonable bet to manage both that advantage and his tyres until the chequered flag.

Alas, his Yamaha had other ideas, and he was left disconsolate at the side of the track after having to park it with seven laps still to go.

That promoted Bezzecchi and Zarco into first and second respectively – at which point Bezzecchi put the hammer down and pulled out a gap over the man who had won last time out in France. These two held station until the end, despite visible tyre wear in the case of Zarco.

Marc Marquez battled through a busy afternoon in the pack, in which different riders were fast at different times depending on their rubber choice and wear. He ultimately grabbed third place despite Morbidelli’s every effort to relieve him of it in a pulsating battle throughout the final lap.

Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Alex Marquez came home a close fifth behind Morbidelli, ensuring the damage to his championship hopes was far less than he would have feared when he fell at the first start. He’ll go into the next race weekend 24 points behind Marc, in second place.

Pedro Acosta (KTM), also running the soft front, got around Miller late in the race to take sixth, with Luca Marini (Honda), Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati) and Fabio di Giannantonio (VR46) rounding out the top 10.

Bagnaia’s second start went well, and he led Marc in the early stages, but their speed and comfort started to diverge dramatically after both ran wide at Copse on lap four, dropping them to the back of the top 10.

While Marc Marquez set about his recovery ride, Bagnaia went backwards from there and fell on the next lap. He remains third in the championship, but is now a yawning 72 points behind team-mate Marc Marquez.

Following the race, 16-second time penalties for low tyre pressures were issued to Marini, Enea Bastianini (Tech 3 KTM), Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) and Somkiat Chantra (Honda).

In addition, KTM’s Brad Binder earned a ‘change of one position' for exceeding track limits on the final lap.

Of these riders, only Marini and Binder finished in the points and following the revisions, Binder was classified 14th and Marini 15th. Joan Mir benefited from his team-mate’s misfortune to complete the top 10 once the classification was revised.

MotoGP British GP - Race results

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Retirement	Points
1	M. Bezzecchi Aprilia Racing Team	72	Aprilia	19	-				25
2	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	19	+4.088 4.088	4.088			20
3	M. Marquez Ducati Team	93	Ducati	19	+5.929 5.929	1.841			16
4	F. Morbidelli Team VR46	21	Ducati	19	+5.946 5.946	0.017			13
5	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	19	+6.024 6.024	0.078			11
6	P. Acosta Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	37	KTM	19	+7.109 7.109	1.085			10
7	J. Miller Pramac Racing	43	Yamaha	19	+7.398 7.398	0.289			9
8	L. Marini Honda HRC	10	Honda	19	+7.729 7.729	0.331			8
9	F. Aldeguer Gresini Racing	54	Ducati	19	+8.584 8.584	0.855			7
10	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	19	+9.764 9.764	1.180			6
11	J. Mir Honda HRC	36	Honda	19	+10.320 10.320	0.556			5
12	M. Viñales Tech 3	12	KTM	19	+11.318 11.318	0.998			4
13	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	19	+16.175 16.175	4.857			3
14	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	19	+16.312 16.312	0.137			2
15	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	19	+16.262 16.262				1
16	M. Oliveira Pramac Racing	88	Yamaha	19	+31.641 31.641	15.379
17	E. Bastianini Tech 3	23	KTM	19	+38.225 38.225	6.584
18	L. Savadori Aprilia Racing Team	32	Aprilia	19	+40.488 40.488	2.263
19	S. Chantra Team LCR	35	Honda	19	+48.884 48.884	8.396
dnf	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	12	7 laps			Retirement
dnf	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	63	Ducati	3	16 laps			Accident
dnf	A. Espargaro Honda HRC Test Team	41	Honda	3	16 laps			Retirement
View full results