Alex Marquez shines at soggy Silverstone

MotoGP roared back to life at sodden Silverstone where a new winner was crowned in the form of Alex Marquez.

The younger brother of Marc Marquez finally jumped out of his brother’s shadow to win the British Grand Prix Sprint race.

Alex Marquez put on a strong ride from third to first in the wet conditions ahead of Marco Bezzecchi, who closed in during a tense finale with Maverick Vinales fighting up to a maiden 2023 podium.

Australia’s Jack Miller led early, but dropped to seventh by the end, but the big story was further back in the pack as championship leader Francesco Bagnaia battled all race and could only manage 14th.

Despite the tricky conditions, all riders did a great job to stay on their bikes with no incidents taking place.

After 60 races at the premier class, Alex Marquez finally prevailed with a dominant ride, leading nine of the 10 laps and he was ecstatic.

“I am really happy,” the Ducati Gresini rider said.

“It is really good to start the second half of the season with a Sprint win.

“Thanks to the team because they have repaid me a lot.

“I knew today was the day to win. It was a little bit slippery in the first corner, but after that I could push because I was feeling really good.”

At the start Miller got a good jump but Bezzecchi still beat him into turn one.

However, the KTM found good speed through the following left hander and snatched the lead at the heavy-braking Village.

Another fast starter was Tech3 rookie Augusto Fernandez who wrestled third from Jorge Martin at Woodcote.

By Maggots and Becketts the GasGas rookie had dropped to fifth behind Martin and Alex Marquez, while Bagnaia had a close call with Johann Zarco further back.

The opening lap drama was not over yet as Martin soared from third to first with one bold move at Stowe. Miller fought back as he and Martin traded places across the next four corners.

Alex Marquez was the big mover of the second lap, rising from fourth to the lead by Stowe, while Miller dropped to third.

The race finally started to settle down as the track dried with Aleix Espargaro having a thrilling fight for fifth.

Vinales made a challenge to take third from Miller but the Aussie immediately responded.

But the Spaniard soon prevailed as Alex Marquez enjoyed a 0.8s lead at the halfway mark with second placed Bezzecchi 1.5s up the road from the rest.

Miller started to struggle as Espargaro followed his Aprilia teammate past the KTM to relegate the Australian to fifth.

Zarco was next to get by and got past with a big lunge at Stowe which forced Miller off.

Moves at the front were not made until the final lap when Zarco stole fourth from Espargaro as Bezzecchi started to close on Alex Marquez.

Despite his gap being halved over the final lap, Alex Marquez held on to secure an emotional triumph.

It was a tougher time for his brother Marc, who struggled to 18th.

The entertaining sprint sets the scene for the Grand Prix at 22.00 AEST.

Image: Gold and Goose / Red Bull Content Pool

British Grand Prix Sprint results

Pos	Name	Team	Bike	Gap	Best Time
1	Alex Marquez	Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati		2m10.415s
2	Marco Bezzecchi	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	+0.366s	2m10.453s
3	Maverick Viñales	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	+3.374s	2m10.839s
4	Johann Zarco	Prima Pramac Racing	Ducati	+5.671s	2m10.735s
5	Aleix Espargaró	Aprilia Racing	Aprilia	+6.068s	2m11.208s
6	Jorge Martin	Prima Pramac Racing	Ducati	+7.294s	2m11.142s
7	Jack Miller	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	+9.415s	2m10.986s
8	Augusto Fernandez	GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3	KTM	+9.85s	2m11.555s
9	Brad Binder	Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	KTM	+10.435s	2m11.481s
10	Miguel Oliveira	CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team	Aprilia	+11.247s	2m10.752s
11	Luca Marini	Mooney VR46 Racing Team	Ducati	+17.365s	2m12.107s
12	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Gresini Racing MotoGP	Ducati	+20.063s	2m12.241s
13	Enea Bastianini	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	+24.352s	2m12.656s
14	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati Lenovo Team	Ducati	+25.527s	2m12.607s
15	Franco Morbidelli	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	+27.191s	2m13.127s
16	Pol Espargaró	GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3	KTM	+27.693s	2m13.04s
17	Joan Mir	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	+29.062s	2m13.79s
18	Marc Marquez	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	+29.326s	2m13.147s
19	Raul Fernandez	CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team	Aprilia	+29.627s	2m12.916s
20	Takaaki Nakagami	LCR Honda IDEMITSU	Honda	+29.909s	2m12.966s
21	Fabio Quartararo	Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP	Yamaha	+30.326s	2m12.901s
22	Iker Lecuona	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	+47.674s	2m15.07s

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