Raul Fernandez won at Silverstone to make it 12 different riders in 12 years to win at the most historic British track.
Aprilia locked out the front row on Saturday in qualifying, with Jorge Martin snatching pole in the dying seconds of the Q2 session from Fernandez and Ai Ogura.
It would be a better start for Fernandez off the line as he took the lead by turn one. Down in the midfield, Joan Mir and Alex Rins made contact into Luffield corner (turn seven), and seven-time world champion Marc Marquez made a beautiful double pass on his Ogura and Martin when they were both fighting for third place.
The biggest shock of the weekend was seeing Ogura crash in turns 16 & 17; the last time he failed to finish a race was Texas back in March. Other crashes came for Enea Bastianini and Iker Lecuona later in the race.
Another crash to highlight was Francesco Bagnaia’s. The factory Ducati rider did not enjoy the weekend in general. It was reported to be uncomfortable on the bike, compared to his teammate Marc Marquez, who finished 7th, a weekend to forget for Ducati.
A crash also came for British rider Cal Crutchlow in the race to top off a poor home race weekend for the man from Coventry, with him also crashing in the sprint race on the Saturday.
Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio saved their tyres for the end. Marquez was battling for a podium with Marco Bezzechi, with Di Giannantonio battling for fifth with KTM rider Pedro Acosta.
A big shoutout must go out to Bezzechi, who was riding all weekend with a metal plate in his collarbone after a huge highside crash at the Sachsenring.
The podium was an Aprilia top three, with Martin and Bezzechi finishing behind Fernandez. Alex Marquez finished fourth ahead of Acosta, Di Giannantonio, Marc Marquez, Brad Binder, Luca Marini, and Diogo Moreira, rounding off the top ten.
Rounding off the points-paying positions were Franky Morbidelli, Fabio Quartararo, Jack Miller, Pol Espargaro and Toprak Razgatlioglu. The only rider to finish outside the points was Augusto Fernandez.
Main Image: Michael Jolley
