MotoGP™: Rins wins as Michelin tyres see records tumble at Silverstone

Alex Rins (Team SUZUKI ECSTAR) picked up his second win of the season at the GoPro British Grand Prix, Round 12 of the 2019 MotoGPTM World Championship. The Spaniard squeezed out Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda Team) at the flag by a margin of just 13-thousandths of a second. Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales made it three different bikemakers on the podium, while Michelin rubber contributed to the breaking of several records at recently-resurfaced Silverstone.

For the second race in a row, Márquez had victory snatched from his grasp through the last turn of the race, this time by Rins.

The world champion had started the British GP from the front of the grid after his performance in qualifying had earned him the 60th pole position of his career from 120 MotoGPTM starts. In the process, he posted a new track lap record for Silverstone – 1m59.168s, an improvement of 1.7s over the previous best which dated back to 2017.

As the thermometer soared to more than 30°C in Sunday’s fine sunshine, Márquez defended his advantage at lights-out on hard-compound MICHELIN Power Slicks front and rear, unruffled by the falls of Fabio Quartararo (Petronas SRT) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team).

Racing on the same tyre combination, Rins pounced from fifth on the grid and passed Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) – who was second in qualifying – on the second of the afternoon’s 20 laps to slip in behind Márquez.

The latter failed to pull out any sort of a gap over his fellow-Spaniard who appeared in front briefly during Lap 9. Both riders started lapping in less than two minutes and Márquez eventually clocked the fastest race lap (1m59.936s, an improvement of 1.6s over his time in 2017) around halfway into the British clash.

Rins took the lead a second time on the penultimate lap, but Márquez recovered control shortly afterwards. However the Suzuki rider made one final attempt through the last turn of the final lap. This time, he made it stick and went on to clinch the day’s victory by a margin of 0.013s.

Viñales was the third man on the podium, chased by Rossi, while Franco Morbidelli (Petronas SRT) claimed fifth spot and the best Independent Team Rider prize. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda), Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team), Jack Miller (Pramac Racing), Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Andrea Ianonne (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) rounded out the top 10.

The MICHELIN Power Slick’s outstanding performance at the resurfaced circuit allowed Michelin to break several records. Indeed, the track lap record was bettered on a number of occasions – for the first time during Friday’s Free Practice 2 – and 11 riders ended up improving on the previous benchmark. Rins, meanwhile, completed Sunday’s 20 laps 33 seconds quicker than the 2017 race.

Due to the heat, most riders chose hard-compound tyres front and rear, although some opted for medium rubber instead.

The result has extended Márquez’ lead over Dovizioso in the championship standings to 78 points, with Rins now up to third place (+101 points). 

Next race: Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, Italy (September 13-15).