MotoGP celebrates it 75th Anniversary this year and celebrations were in full regalia for Monster Energy British Grand Prix weekend at iconic Silverstone Circuit. For the first time in the sport’s 75-year history, every bike and rider on the main MotoGP grid raced with a special, one-off livery, all with a touch of emotion inducing retro style.
The series returned to racing after the summer break in unusual sunshine for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. With the severe lack of advertisement for any of the side entertainment ( one might have attended purely to watch the Kooks and Darkness perform) from the circuit organisers and together with extortionate entry prices that Silverstone mysteriously commands, it was of no surprise that there was a disappointingly low number of fans , with only 42,500 attendees over the course of the weekend, which is a crying shame. Some might say that it’s the sign of the times but with record breaking attendance at the recent British Superbike Round at Thruxton, the thirst for Motorcycle racing is there, one might argue it’s more a sign of the disdain for Silverstone – the unfriendly spectators circuit. Maybe that’s another article all together!
With the temperature dial in the UK turned up, Friday Free practice was pure entertainment with lap records being broken straight out of box. A new Moto2 Silverstone lap record handed Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) top honours with the Spaniard’s 2:03.602 time just under three tenths quicker than Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in second and setting the tone for the day. Home favourite Jake Dixon ended the days sessions P7 with plenty to build on for Saturdays morning practice and qualifying ahead.
Prima Pramac star, Jorge Martin put in a late flyer edging out the 2023 Silverstone Champ, Aleix Espargaro by a mere 0:045 and the current World Championship leader, Francesco Bagnaia landed P3 only 0:119.. tight at the top as always.
Saturday free practice and qualifying saw the weather cool somewhat, we knew it couldn’t last! For the first time since the 2022 Malaysian GP, Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI) would launch a Moto2 race from pole position after the Japanese rider beat pre-session favourite Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) by 0.052s . Ogura’s 2:02.940 smashed out Canets Friday time and became a new Silverstone Moto2 lap record.
Jake Dixon, with the home crowd watching on improved on his Friday positioning and started the race from P5 with aims to repeat his 2022 Silverstone Podium success as his goal.
Having looked strong all weekend throughout practice, another home crowd favourite Moto3 rider Scott Ogden left it too late leaving the box during qualifying and didn’t set a competitive time in Q2 and unfortunately had to start from P17. No doubt disappointed having been well inside the top 10 most of the Friday.
With the Tissot Sprint race the main feature on the Saturday Racing action, it was Enea Bastianini who sprinted to victory and took his first Saturday race victory. Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia completed the podium. The fan marmite, Marc Marquez crashed out of the race bringing his chance to earn some vital championship points to an end as he returned to pitlane.
All eyes moved to Sunday and full points up for grabs and chances of redemption eagerly awaited.
Moto2, Ai Ogura got the perfect start from pole with p3 Vietti nipping to second ahead of Canet off the line. Jake Dixon was full elbows out making his way from P5 to P3, but with Canet soon making up the positions to lead the race. With 12 laps to go, Dixon had reeled in Canet, with Roberts passing Ogura for P3. Roberts then crashed out a lap later at Turn 2. This left Canet and Dixon with a 3.8s buffer to Albert Arenas (QJMOTOR Gresini), with Ogura now P4 and Garcia up to P9.
As the battle for the final podium raged, 7.6s up the road was a fight for BritishGP victory between Canet and Dixon. Heading onto the last lap, Dixon pounced at Turn 1 – and it was a move that stuck. A small error from Canet cost him time and despite his best efforts, Dixon held onto the lead and crossed the line to become the first British rider to win on home soil since 2015 and etched his name into the history books.
Jake, of course, celebrated this win with the British fans with a track side victory walk ala “McGregor” style and a fantastic, full leather helmet spectacle Worm dance!
Scott Ogden’s weekend luck unfortunately didn’t change with him being taken out of the race on lap 2, he was helpless to avoid the bike of his team mate and crashed at the last corner. While disappointing, Scott has made some great progress on the bike and heads to Austria no doubt buoyed by this.
After a dream Saturday, it was a stunning performance on a special Sunday with all the teams racing in their historic livery’s ( though it did make it somewhat challenging to work who was where and what bike) . Enea Bastianini capped off a historic weekend at the BritishGP with a win. He became the 10th different rider to take victory at Silverstone in the last ten events at the track, pushing through late on to put himself third in the title fight and only 49 points off the top. Meanwhile, the top of the standings once again belongs to Jorge Martin, whom led the majority of the race before proving unable to deny Bastianini the ultimate victory with Bagnaia claiming the final spot on the podium. Marc Marquez took forth after a late pass on Pecco which unsettled the rider and shuttled him down to P9. Di Giannantonio climbed from 10th on the grid to fifth at the chequered flag and completed the top 5.
The gap to the top is now the lowest its been after a GP round since the season opener in Qatar as the Championship now heads to the Red Bull Ring, Austria. A track that whereby the Ducati go well, however there is another factory that has taken to the top step – twice. KTM, who will be looking to start rebuilding their form with rookie superstar Pedro Acosta. Brad Binder is also now trailing the rookie through no fault of his own after some bad luck at Silverstone so will want to change that in Austria, whereas teammate Jack Miller took solid points and will want more. For Augusto Fernandez meanwhile, the rumour mill has now started to swirl regarding a test role for next year with another factory, but with nothing confirmed. One thing that is confirmed for Austria, however, is a wildcard for Red Bull KTM test rider Pol Espargaro, so his machinery will be of interest as the factory look to push back towards the front.
Winning your home round GP is something that only a few riders can claim and with Jake Dixon now being one of those, he will be looking to carry that success and hunter mentality to the Red Bull Ring, a circuit that is the opposite of Silverstone’s fast and flowing layout. His Silverstone victory sees him climb to 7th place in the championship, while the title might be out of reach, maintaining momentum could see him top 5 – or better!
So what’s happening at the AustrianGP? The first press conference will be Thursday at 4 local time with championship leader Jorge Martin together with Bagnaia, Bastianini and Marc Marquez with the second being Acosta, Binder and Giannantonio.
The weekend also sees the return of the MotoE championship with race 1 being before the Tissot Sprint race and race 2 just after.
Written by : Kerrie McFadden @ First Turn Media
Socials : Kerrie @ First Turn Media. (@first_turn_media) • Instagram photos and videos
Photography by : Joel Cooper @ Hawk Media Socials : Hawk Media Services (@hawk_media_services) • Instagram photos and videos
