Alex Marquez claimed his first MotoGP victory in the Sprint race at Silverstone after holding his nerve on a damp but drying track at the British Grand Prix.
The Gresini Ducati rider came under pressure from Marco Bezzecchi on the final lap, who cut Marquez’s advantage to four tenths as he rapidly closed in on the race leader.
However, with spots of rain beginning to fall again, Marquez kept his cool to bring the satellite Desmosedici home for a maiden premier class success by 0.366s.
Aprilia Racing’s Maverick Viñales filled out the podium in third, 3.3s down on the winner.
Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia was outside the points in 14th on the Lenovo Ducati, with runner-up Bezzecchi closing the deficit at the top of the standings to 27 points going into Sunday’s main race.
An unhappy Bagnaia finished behind team-mate Enea Bastianini, who was 13th.
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Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez crossed the line in a lowly 18th place with his team-mate, Joan Mir – returning from injury at Silverstone – finishing ahead of the six-time MotoGP world champion in 17th.
In a miserable race for Fabio Quartararo, the Monster Energy Yamaha rider was 21st after starting from last place on the grid.
Pole man Bezzecchi moved into the lead off the line, but Jack Miller took over at the front with a pass at Turn 3.
Marquez, who started from third on the front row, quickly climbed to second place past Bezzecchi on the lap two to take up the chase behind Aussie Miller, with Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) fourth ahead of Aprilia pair Viñales and Aleix Espargaro.
Miller found himself demoted to third by the end of the lap as Marquez and Bezzecchi both passed the KTM man.
Reigning champion Bagnaia was down in 12th position with Repsol Honda’s Marquez in 13th. Bagnaia lost ground after going wide when he was almost hit by Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati).
A fastest lap by Gresini’s Marquez gave him a lead of three tenths over Bezzecchi on lap three, with Miller and Martin beginning to lose ground.
Marquez was able to increase his advantage to around one second at the front, while Bezzecchi was beginning to pull clear of Miller and the improving Viñales, who were battling for third at the half-way point of the 10-lap race.
In an unusually tame Sprint race, Marquez was able to maintain a cushion over Bezzecchi at the front, while Viñales was holding a safe third ahead after dispatching Miller, who also fell into the clutches of Aleix Espargaro and Zarco.
Going into the final lap, Marquez led by 0.960s but Bezzecchi was on a charge on the VR46 Ducati. The Italian was visibly slashing Marquez’s lead but ultimately ran out of time and eventually had to settle for a close second place.
Viñales was on his own in third but team-mate Espargaro lost fourth to Zarco at the end, with Martin rounding out the top six.
Miller was seventh, just holding off Augusto Fernandez (GASGAS Tech3 KTM), while Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) and Miguel Oliveira (RNF Aprilia) were the top 10.
Bezzecchi’s VR46 Ducati team-mate Luca Marini was 11th ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Ducati)
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