Posted on 1st September 2014
The Hertz British Grand Prix saw a great battle between Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo won by Marquez as he made an immediate return to winning ways, whilst Valentino Rossi joined them on the podium.
I was privileged to be granted a media pass for the home races at Silverstone, and joined the fantastic crowd to watch some close and exciting racing throughout the day. Rossi and Marquez fans without doubt the most enthusiastic, but the home based riders also carrying tremendous support.
The 90000 crowd was treated to a thrilling battle up front and down the field the track thankfully dry and bathed in sunshine.
Lorenzo took the initiative to pull out in front in the early stages but Marquez stayed with the front group and took the fight to his Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rival. Marquez had the pace to catch Lorenzo, but made two slight errors, giving Lorenzo the opportunity to retake the lead twice.
The pair battled right to the last lap, even touching at one stage and with Repsol Honda's Marquez eventually crossing the line 0.732s ahead of Lorenzo. The result sees Marquez become the first rider since Valentino Rossi in 2005 to win 11 MotoGPâ„¢ races in a single season and also sees him return to victory after his fourth place at Brno.
Nine-time World Champion Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was chased hard for third by the experienced pair of Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team).
Rossi made it onto the rostrum but was trailed by just 0.175s by Pedrosa and 0.544s by Dovizioso. 'The Doctor' set a new outright record of 246 starts in the premier class of Grand Prix racing in the Silverstone contest.
Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) won a battle for sixth place as his impressive rookie campaign continued. Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), Andrea Iannone (Pramac Racing), Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) and top British finisher Scott Redding (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) completed the top ten.
Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) was down in 12th, whilst Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3) was 22nd after experiencing a rear end problem.
Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) crashed out towards the end of the race, ruining his quest for a top ten finish.
MotoGPâ„¢ Race Classification
1- Marc Marquez SPA Honda 40:51.835
2- Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha +0.732
3- Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha +8.519
1st OPEN
9- Aleix Espargaro SPA Forward Yamaha +24.746
Moto2â„¢: Superb Silverstone victory secured by championship leader Rabat
The Moto2™ race at the Hertz British Grand Prix was won by Tito Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team) on the last lap, with teammate Mika Kallio and Maverick Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) joining him on the podium.
Standings leader Rabat rode brilliantly from fourth on the grid, staying with the front group and making a move on provisional leader Kallio in the final stages, to take maximum points again.
Kallio did his best to hold off his Spanish colleague but was eventually beaten to the line by just 0.063s, whilst Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) showed his talent once again to finish in third place, only 0.14s adrift of Rabat.
Pole man Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing) came home fourth, 2.571s back on the race winner. Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) and Franco Morbidelli (Italtrans Racing Team) picked up good points in fifth and sixth.
Home rider Sam Lowes (Speed Up), Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia), Mattia Pasini (NGM Forward Racing) and Axel Pons (AGR Team) completed the top ten.
An early crash ruined the day for Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert) as he clipped the back wheel of Maverick Viñales (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) and ended up in the gravel. The Swiss rider remounted to finish 21st.
Also struggling early in the race was debutant Dakota Mamola, who was forced to pull into the Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 garage with a technical problem.
Substituting for unwell Spanish rider Nico Terol, Mamola rejoined and gathered experience at the back of the field.
Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) crashed midrace, whilst fighting for top ten points on his birthday.
A mistake by Jonas Folger (AGR Team) at turn 16 on lap 13 saw him slide out and take Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing) with him – causing a DNF for both riders.
On the Taylor Made bike for Brough Superior Racing 50 year-old veteran Jeremy McWilliams rode valiantly, despite a broken nose sustained in a Saturday practice crash and a lap time way off the pace of the rest of the field. He was lapped by the frontrunners with three laps to go but collected crucial data for the team.
Moto2â„¢ Race Classification
1- Tito Rabat SPA Kalex 38:29.795
2- Mika Kallio FIN Kalex +0.063
3- Maverick Viñales SPA Kalex +0.203
Moto3â„¢: Rampant Rins triumphs in exciting lightweight contest
The Moto3â„¢ race at the Hertz British Grand Prix was won by Alex Rins on the final corner, with Alex Marquez and Enea Bastianini also on the podium.
Pole man Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) was pushed right to the limit by his teammate Marquez and by Bastianini, who both provisionally led the race. The winning margin between Rins and Marquez was just 0.011s, with Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3) just 0.061s back on Marquez.
Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing) was unlucky to miss the podium, having run with that front group. He eventually finished fourth and was just 0.051s away from a rostrum result.
A further four and half seconds back Jakub Kornfeil (Calvo Team) won a battle for fifth involving a huge group of riders, whilst Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was just a tenth behind in sixth place.
The top ten was completed by Niccolo Antonelli (Junior Team GO&FUN), Alexis Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold), Danny Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) and Niklas Ajo (Avant Tecno Husqvarna Ajo).
Wild card Joe Irving crashed out in the early stages, with Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG) also going down early on. New Mahindra Racing rider Andrea Migno was another crasher, though fortunately all those riders were uninjured. Scott Deroue (RW Racing GP) was forced to retire with smoke coming from his exhaust late in the race.
Moto3â„¢ Race Classification
1- Alex Rins SPA Honda 38:11.330
2- Alex Marquez SPA Honda +0.011
3- Enea Bastianini ITA KTM +0.072
Photos courtesy of MotoGP
“Silverstone” One of a series of superb laser cut circuits from grahamandleigh.co.uk
