Francesco Bagnaia continues where he left off before the summer break in Assen. At the British Grand Prix, the Ducati rider rode to victory and scooped up important points while championship leader Fabio Quartararo stumbled.
Maverick Vinales made it onto the podium again with Aprilia, missing out on victory by just 0.429 seconds. Bagnaia’s teammate Jack Miller completed the podium.
For the 20 laps of the race, the majority of drivers opted for the medium front tyre. Only six drivers used the soft compound, including Quartararo. On the rear wheel, the field was divided into medium and hard options.
Aleix Espargaro also chose the hard rear tyre. In the fourth free practice session, the Aprilia driver fell with this mixture with a highsider and mainly hit his feet. How he would fare over the full race distance given this handicap remained a question mark before the start.
Zarco wins the start
Even before the race, his Aprilia teammate Vinales was one of the favorites to win. He shared the front row with pole setter Johann Zarco and Miller. Quartararo was lurking in fourth on the grid but had a long lap penalty ahead of him. Bagnaia and Espargaro completed the second row.
Zarco won the start, while Quartararo advanced to second place. The Ducati works duo lined up behind them. Alex Rins moved up to five, Vinales dropped to six after a near-contact with Quartararo.
During the first lap, Quartararo received the message for his long lap penalty, which had to be completed in the next three laps. But first he stayed behind Zarco and tried to get some breathing space on Miller and Bagnaia.
The world champion waited until the fourth round to serve out his penalty. He rejoined in fifth behind Zarco, Miller, Rins and Bagnaia. Vinales held sixth place, teammate Espargaro had to be demolished. He had dropped behind Jorge Martin and was eighth.
Rins intercepts Miller
Just one lap later, the lead changed for the first time. Zarco crashed at Turn 8. Miller took over but was under pressure from Rins who eventually passed. Zarco was able to continue after his mistake, but was in last place.
Once in the lead, Rins immediately opened up a gap. Bagnaia passed his teammate Miller and gave chase. Martin also made up a position. Quartararo was now only fifth and shortly afterwards lost another place to Vinales.
At half-time, Rins’ lead was back to under half a second. The gaps behind were also small: Bagnaia, Miller, Martin and Vinales formed a close group of pursuers. Quartararo had to let something tear off. He was followed by Joan Mir, Espargaro, Miguel Oliveira and Enea Bastianini.
Race director issues track limit warning against Bagnaia
Bagnaia took the lead for the first time on lap twelve. But Rins didn’t let himself be shaken off. And Bagnaia had to be careful because the race director issued a track limit warning.
Bagnaia got help from Miller, who adjusted Rins and took second place. Another Ducati rider caught up a bit further behind: Bastianini drove past Oliveira, Espargaro and Mir to seventh place. The latter crashed a little later in turn 7 and had to retire from the race.
In the final laps, the fight for the podium got exciting again. Although Bagnaia remained in the lead, Vinales was making big strides after Rins, Martin and Miller had passed. On the last lap, however, Vinales made too many small mistakes to pass.
Best Aprilia result for Vinales
Bagnaia withstood the pressure and completed his fourth win of the season. After finishing third at Assen, Vinales achieved his best result so far with Aprilia by finishing second. Three other Ducatis, Miller, Bastianini and Martin, lined up behind him.
In the final phase, Bastianini drove up to fourth place and, with Martin, just behind his competitors for the place in the 2023 Ducati factory team. Oliveira also showed a strong last loop and finished sixth. Rins probably ran out of tires in the end, which is why he only finished seventh.
Quartararo also had to lose feathers in the end and was just able to defend eighth place against World Cup rival Espargaro, who finished ninth. Marco Bezzecchi rounded out the top 10.