#BritishGP – MOTOGP, SPRINT & RACE – Marco Bezzecchi on the podium
MOTOGP – SPRINT: Martin soars to Silverstone Saturday gold as Aprilia clinch first Sprint 1-2-3
Flying to a third Tissot Sprint victory of the season at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Great Britain was World Championship leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), as the #89 completes a golden day at Silverstone to extend his championship advantage ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix. Second went to Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team), who limits the small damage done in the title race with a fine ride to a silver medal, and with the heroic Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) earning bronze, Aprilia celebrate a first 1-2-3 in a Sprint.
From pole, Martin got the dream launch to lead into Turn 1 as Ogura held onto P2. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) got his elbows out early doors; the Italian climbed to P3 as Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) went into battle on the opening lap. At the end of it, the reigning World Champion jumped ahead of the Italian for P4, with Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) losing ground on the opening lap – the Spaniard was P6.
Di Giannantonio had a nibble at Ogura on Lap 2 at Turn 3, but the Japanese rider was able to respond to keep possession of the P2 baton. At this stage, early in the Tissot Sprint, it was the title race top two who occupied P1 and P2, with the championship leader holding a 0.5s advantage when the field clocked onto Lap 4 of 10.
While one Trackhouse rider was in the medal positions, another found themselves on the floor at Turn 4. Fernandez lost the front at The Loop as he was sitting right on Bezzecchi’s tailpipes, signalling a blow to the #25’s positive weekend up to now. Fernandez’s tip-off promoted Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) to P6, and last year’s Silverstone Sprint winner immediately set about making Bez’s life as uncomfortable as possible.
However, it was Bezzecchi who made the next big move. Marc Marquez hadn’t made progress ahead, and the Aprilia star pounced on the exit of Copse corner to shove his way into P4. Soon after, coming through the rapid right-hander of Woodcote, Alex Marquez strode past his brother to pick up P5, with the #93 clearly struggling.
While it was Martin vs Ogura for the gold medal, Bezzecchi was reeling in Di Giannantonio for a potential bronze. 1.1s was the margin Bezzecchi chopped off his compatriot, and with four laps to go, at Turn 9 – Copse – Bez struck. Di Giannantonio and Marc Marquez were suffering big time with a lack of rear grip, with the latter one of the slowest riders on circuit. And next in line to have a bite? Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing).
And sure enough, with one and a half laps to go, Acosta was through. Then, so too was Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol). Marc Marquez was helpless here, and on the last lap, Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) shuffled the #93 into P9 – and by 0.027s, Marc Marquez held onto the final point across the line to lose ground on Sprint winner Martin.
The title race leader made it look easy. A lights-to-flag win for Martin sees the #89 gain an extra three points on second place Ogura in the championship ahead of the main event on Sunday afternoon to 17 points. Bezzecchi’s P3 sees him move ahead of Marc Marquez in the championship into third place, and there were understandable tears shed at the end of that one because the returning #72 had to dig incredibly deep in that one after his recent injury woes.
Alex Marquez led the Ducati charge home in P4 behind Aprilia’s trio, with Di Giannantonio’s lack of late-race pace costing him. It was P5 for ‘Diggia’, P6 for KTM’s Acosta, P7 for HRC’s Mir, and P8 for Morbidelli ahead of ninth place Marc Marquez.
MOTOGP – RACE: Flawless Fernandez flies to victory at Silverstone
Lights to flag and not looking back, a dominant display from Raul Fernandez (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) saw the #25 bag a second Grand Prix victory and a first of 2026 at Silverstone. Grabbing the lead from Turn 1 and leading unchallenged, the Spaniard made up for his Saturday blunder with victory ahead of Aprilia Racing dup Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi, the #89 extending his Championship lead over Bezzecchi in the standings.
LIGHTS OUT: Fernandez flawless from the start
Out the traps, a perfect start from Fernandez from P2 to snatch the holeshot ahead of Bezzecchi whilst polesitter Jorge Martin and Ai Ogura (SuperFile Trackhouse MotoGP Team) started battling through Turns 1 and 2. Needing no second invitation, Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) pounced up to third on the exit of Turn 4. Martin soon retaliated but at the front, Fernandez bolted and by Lap 3, set a new race lap record and pulled out a gap of 2s.
CRASHERS: battles behind and riders fall
Elsewhere, Ogura had been beaten up and dropped to P7, paying the price for his early battles. Moving up the order, Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) got up to fifth ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and now had his brother in his sights. Across Laps 6 and 7, a flurry of incidents as Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) fell at Turn 17, Iker Lecuona (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) crashed at Turn 12 and Cal Crutchlow (CASTROL Honda LCR) tumbled at Turn 6. On Lap 8, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) also fell at Turn 7, the same place as last year.
OGURA OUT: P2 in the standings goes begging
On Lap 9, plenty of talking points as Martin got ahead of teammate Bezzecchi whereas Alex Marquez moved up to third. Behind, disaster for Ogura as the Japanese star fell at Turn 16, his Grand Prix ending in the gravel. Then, in contrary to his progress, a Turn 1 mistake from Alex Marquez left the #73 dropping down to fifth place. He got back up to fourth, re-passing Acosta but behind, Marc Marquez was still in contention.
CLOSING STAGES: Di Giannantonio’s late charge as Marc Marquez drops back
Out front as the final five laps honed into view, Fernandez was in a class of his own; over four seconds ahead of the opposition, lead by Martin and then Bezzecchi. With four to go, the gap between Fernandez and Martin was down to 3.4s and a lap later 3.1s but with three to go, it wasn’t looking likely. At Turn 3 on Lap 18, old sparring partners Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Marc Marquez renewed their rivalry with the Italian getting the better of the reigning World Champion and now setting off after Acosta.
CHEQUERED FLAG! Fernandez the 12th different Silverstone winner in a row
Nobody was catching Fernandez though, who was outstanding to take a first Grand Prix victory of the season and became the 12th different winner at Silverstone in the last 12 British Grands Prix. With a gap 2.5s at the flag, he held off Championship leader Martin who now sports a 31-point lead over teammate Bezzecchi who clinched third. Alex Marquez was the first Ducati home behind an all-Aprilia podium in fourth, ahead of Acosta and Di Giannantonio.
Marc Marquez was forced to settle for P7 and is 40 points behind Martin the title race, whilst Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) who took his first back-to-back top tens of the year in eighth. Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol) was top Honda in P9 withDiogo Moreira (Pro Honda LCR) completing the top ten.
STATE OF PLAY: 10 to go, Martin in command
The second half of the season has started and the Championship complexion takes another twist with Martin extending over his rivals, Ogura dropping big points with a first crash in race-trim of the season and Marc Marquez needing redemption at Aragon. Another memorable British GP done with three Aprilias in the top three of the Championship; 10 rounds to go, MotoGP remains as unpredictable as ever.
This weekend, we’ve struggled quite a bit. This track has been demanding for us, so we’ve tried to learn as much as possible, avoid mistakes, and do the best job possible. Yesterday, I said that a top 10 was the goal, and we did it! The important thing is that we’ve scored some more points and gathered some important information. Diogo Moreira – P10
Augusto Fernandez – P16
I tried to overtake Lecuona but lost the front in the change of direction at Turn 17. After that I crashed. It was too early as I just did five laps. I tried to make some passes earlier in the race to get into the top ten, but I was too aggressive at the start. To be honest, it would’ve been better to wait and stay patient like I did yesterday. The track was quite slippery today, and the left side felt different to warm-up – like it was difficult to put temperature into the tyre. In the race I was suffering with movement from the front like yesterday. It’s difficult to ride like this so we need to find a solution to this problem at Aragon.
Enea Bastianini – NC
Click the button below to find out all the images of the #KytCrew during the weekend in Silverstone.