Bagnaia Resists Viñales Charge To Win Silverstone Sizzler
Calum Gill 14:25 07/08/2022
Francesco Bagnaia held off a charging Maverick Viñales to win a thrilling British Grand Prix and deny Viñales his first MotoGP race win with Aprilia.
A less than favourable start dropped pre-race favourite Viñales from second on the grid to sixth place and the Spaniard struggled to make progress from that position in the first section of the race. But he eventually found his form and began a charge that started with a pass on championship leader Fabio Quartararo - fresh from taking his long-lap penalty awarded after crashing into Aleix Espargaró at Assen - into Stowe and ended with an attack on race leader Bagnaia during the final two laps. Viñales sent it down the inside of Bagnaia at Village on the penultimate lap, but he wasn’t able to make the move stick through The Loop as Bagania reassumed the lead. Viñales then went wide at Copse on the final lap and that ended his victory charge. Bagnaia had assumed the lead down the inside of Stowe on lap 11 when he passed Suzuki’s Álex Rins, who had stormed from 11th on the grid to the race lead within the first six laps.
The factory Ducati rider, who has won the last three races he’s finished, was able to pull away from Rins who dropped down the field to seventh place thereafter. Bagnaia’s victory moves him up to third in the riders’ championship and brings him to within 49 points of points leader Quartararo. Viñales was forced to settle for second place, which marks his second successive podium and best result with Aprilia so far. The podium was completed by Ducati factory rider Jack Miller, who lost second to Viñales with three laps to go as he was nursing his fading front soft tyre at the end of the race. Enea Bastianini recovered from opening lap contact to take fourth place on the final lap from his rival for the 2023 factory Ducati ride Jorge Martín, despite carrying significant fairing damage.
KTM’s Miguel Oliveira came from 13th to sixth, leading home Rins and Quartararo - who faded badly at the end of the race. Quartararo was followed by his closest title rival Espargaró who rode battered and bruised following his monster FP4 high-side and even attempted a last-lap lunge on Quartararo at Brooklands, which ultimately failed. The top 10 was rounded out by Marco Bezzecchi, who was caught up in that opening lap clash with Bastianini and Martín. Brad Binder was 11th at the chequered flag ahead of Luca Marini and Takaaki Nakagami in 13th - the highest-placed Honda rider after a miserable weekend for the Japanese manufacturer, in spite of a victory at the prestigious 8 Hours of Suzuka in the Endurance World Championship for the Hamamatsu marque.
Factory Honda rider Pol Espargaró was 14th ahead of Franco Morbidelli, who claimed the final point for the Yamaha factory outfit. Andrea Dovizioso (RNF Yamaha) pipped Álex Márquez (LCR Honda) to 16th place, the latter suffering from an electronic problem during the race. The order at the flag was completed by Remy Gardner (Tech3 KTM), Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda), Darryn Binder (RNF Yamaha), Raúl Fernández (Tech3 KTM) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati). Poleman Johann Zarco extended his wait for a premier class race win when he dropped his Pramac Ducati at the Vale Chicane on lap five, having converted his eighth MotoGP pole into an early race advantage. The 2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir became the latest rider to fall at Stowe this weekend when he crashed out while defending his eighth place from Aleix Espargaró.
