MotoGP: Ducati’s Bastianini wins British Grand Prix, Martin finishes second to lead championship

Martin had looked on course to victory but made a costly mistake in the final moments of the race, with Bastianini capitalising after qualifying third on the grid.

Ducati Lenovo Team’s Enea Bastianini celebrates on the podium after winning the British Grand Prix. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Enea Bastianini of Ducati won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday to complete a weekend double, taking the chequered flag ahead of new world championship leader Jorge Martin and twice MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia.

Having qualified second on the grid, Bagnaia had taken the lead over pole-sitter Aleix Espargaro on the opening lap but found himself in the battle for third in the second part of the race after Martin overtook him with eight laps to go.

Martin, who had shown promising pace throughout the weekend, then looked on course to victory but made a costly mistake in the final moments, with Bastianini capitalising after qualifying third.

“It has been a very difficult race because I made some mistakes in the start and was in the fourth place, but after I was confident...,” said Bastianini, who also won the sprint on Saturday.

“I closed the gap to Aleix and to Pecco (Bagnaia). The last four-five laps Jorge pushed a lot and it was too difficult to close the gap to him.”

Six-time MotoGP champion Marc Marquez had started seventh but rode his Gresini Racing bike with purpose to finish fourth.

Aprilia’s Espargaro, who smashed the lap record in the final moments of the second qualifying to clinch his second pole position of the season on Saturday, came in sixth behind Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Martin now leads the championship by three points, with reigning champion Bagnaia dropping to second place and Bastianini maintaining his hold on third. Marquez sits fourth in the standings.

“I knew Enea was a bit stronger at the end of the race,” Martin said. “The pace was outstanding as always, I think we are reaching a level that is crazy and we are always on the limit.

“And as soon as I saw Enea was catching, I tried to keep it constant and to manage a bit for the end, but he was much stronger today. Congrats to Ducati and Enea because he was on another level.

“We take back the (championship) lead, so I’m really happy with this and we move on to Austria.”