Brilliant Bastianini blazes to British GP glory

No one could match the late-race pace of Enea Bastianini as he flew from fourth to first to complete a brilliant British Motorcycle Grand Prix.

After smashing the Sprint, the hard-charging Bastinanini could not be denied on Sunday as he reeled in Jorge Martin and took the lead on the penultimate lap.

Despite seeing the win slip again, this time Martin crossed the line second and kept the championship lead as Francesco Bagnaia battled with tyre life and had to settle for third.

Australia’s Jack Miller ran in the top 10 for long periods and just held on for points with 12th.

Rain threatened, but never arrived as the MotoGP field went racing in their retro liveries, in celebration of the 75th anniversary.

There was little in it off the line as Bagnaia, Martin and Bastianini wrestled for track position across the first four corners.

In the end Bagnaia won the battle to lead a Ducati 1-2 as Martin settled for third ahead of Marc Marquez as Espargaro fell to fifth from pole.

But before the lap was run, Espargaro snatched fourth, while Brad binder was an early victim going nowhere off the line.

There was heartbreak for Trackhouse as both riders Miguel Oliveria and Raul Fernandez crashed out.

A mistake at Brooklands proved costly for Bastianini as Martin slipped by before the #23 was knocked off the podium by Espargaro a lap later.

All eyes were then on Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who traded spots for sixth on no less than seven occasions within half a lap.

With the Aprilia now in clear air, it was setting a scorching pace and reeling in the leading Ducatis with the top three pulling away from the rest.

But as the race approached midway, things settled down with the gaps evenly split and by Lap 11 Espargaro lost his pace.

He fell a second behind the leading Ducatis and could not stop Bastianini from snatching third.

The fight for the lead then ignited as Martin launched his first assault at the start on Lap 12 and made it stick.

The following lap Martin bowled a wide at Village and was very lucky to retrain the lead.

By now he had two factory Ducatis on his tail with Bastianini climbing over the back wheel of Bagnaia.

This allowed Martin to pull half a second clear, which created a predicament for Ducati with Bagnaia holding up Bastinaini.

The #1 did not have the grip and went wide at Luffield, which solved the problem, releasing Bastianini.

However, Martin now enjoyed a seven-tenth advantage with seven laps to go.

Espargaro was also dropping back and could not stop Marc Marquez from taking fifth.

Bastianini produced a remarkable Lap 17 to slash the gap to two tenths with fierce commitment through Maggots and Becketts.

On the penultimate lap the pressure became too much for Martin as he ran wide at Village.

Whilst he retained the lead earlier, it was extremely costly on this occasion as it provided Bastianini with the perfect invitation to take P1.

The Pramac rider was not given another sniff with Bastianini blazing up the road and to a special double triumph.

The dominant weekend means the #23 cannot be discounted from the championship fight as the Austrian Grand Prix awaits in a fortnight.

British Motorcycle Grand Prix results

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