MotoGP: Bastianini's double whammy as Michelin bags more records at Silverstone
After a brief summer break, MotoGPTM World Championship action resumed with the season's tenth round: the Monster Energy British Grand Prix. Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) won both the sprint and main races at Silverstone where the consistency and grip provided by Michelin's MotoGPTM range contributed to new track-lap, race-lap and shortest race-duration records for the venue, one of the calendar's hardest on tires. Read on to find out more about what happened at this year's British GP...
Bastianini kicked off his perfect weekend by qualifying on pole before claiming Saturday's sprint and the next day's grand prix. The factory Ducati rider spent the early part of Sunday's showpiece running fourth, but a sequence of quick laps saw him narrow the gap to the front-runners and ease into the lead with two laps to go. Making maximum use of his medium MICHELIN Power Slicks' consistency, he continued to push to the line and ultimately shaved practically 49 seconds off the previous shortest-duration benchmark for the 20-lap race.
Second place in both races for Prima Pramac Racing's Jorge Martin promoted the Spaniard to the top of the championship's provisional points table.
Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) took the flag in third spot after spending several laps at the front of the field. Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) was fourth, tailed by pole-sitter Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) who established a new MotoGPTM record for Silverstone in qualifying (1m57.309s) before clocking Sunday's best effort (1m58.895s).
The entire MICHELIN Power Slick range – which helped to establish three new records over the three days – was employed during Friday's free practice and four riders went on to better the track's existing record during qualifying. The soft rear was the preferred choice for the sprint race but all three front options were used. The vast majority of the riders then ran the medium front and rear for the grand prix itself, the exceptions being Espargaro and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing) who both went for the hard front.
Martin (241 points) has gone three points clear of Bagnaia at the top of the Riders' classification. Bastianini is third (192).