How do you even begin to report on the incredible day’s racing at Silverstone? Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP all produced some of the best racing we’ve seen all year, and it’s not been a bad year of racing so far.
It was just one of those days that left you with a smile on your face, all the wider for being five long weeks since the last one. If we had to wait, then it was worth it and it wasn’t even as if we had to make excuses for finding it so exciting: it genuinely was.
If the championship is still Quartararo’s to lose, then at least Bagnaia’s victory closed things up a little and Aleix Espargaro minimised the damage to his points score by finishing right behind Quartararo in ninth, a heroic ride considering the pain he must have been in with what was later diagnosed as a fractured heel after a nasty high-side in practice.
For a few laps, it looked as if Johann Zarco might finally win his first race, after converting pole position into the lead. Quartararo slotted into second and Miller third, Bagnaia fourth and Rins, something of a Silverstone specialist, fifth.
It was going to be one of those races where the order was never the same on consecutive laps. Rins started to look quick and got by Bagnaia, while Quartararo took his long-lap penalty and slotted back in fifth.
Then Zarco yet again threw away his best chance of victory in many races as he slid out leaving Miller leading, with Rins in second, which he would convert to first place on the same lap. Meanwhile, Jorge Martin passed Quartararo for fourth, who in turn, had Viñales breathing down his neck.
No one was managing to get away from the rider behind and one second covered the top five runners. Bagnaia disposed of Miller and then got past Rins who would continue to sink down the order as the race went on with tyre troubles. Then Viñales started to make his move as he passed Martin for fourth, which would become third soon after as Rins slowed, followed by second when he passed Miller.
The result was in doubt right up to the last lap. Maverick Viñales showed that he too is starting to gel with the Aprilia as he hounded Bagnaia in the closing stages and was even ahead for a brief moment on the penultimate lap before settling for second – his second podium in a row. It was, by any standards, a brilliant race by a clearly rejuvenated Viñales.
Much had been made of the brevity of the long-lap penalty that Quartararo had to take, his many practice efforts showing that he lost around 0.8 seconds off his lap time. In the race, however, it was enough to drop him to fifth, from where he simply could not make up any ground to those ahead of him. We all assumed that it was a return of the front tyre temperature issue the Yamaha suffers from when following other riders but, in actual fact, it was his rear tyre that was giving him the problems, running far too hot.
Bagnaia’s victory was all the more unexpected as he had given no warning of his potential during practice and qualifying, as he had done in Assen. Even at the beginning of the race, he was overshadowed by Zarco and Miller’s Ducatis but, as the race went on, he just got stronger and stronger and was able to repulse Viñales’ attack.
Bastianini had a great race to fourth, including passing his rival for the second factory Ducati seat, Martin, in the closing stages, Martin, for his part, had a high-profile race, including holding the fastest lap for a while. Oliveira on the KTM also shone, while his teammate Brad Binder was left to rue the wrong choice of the rear tyre.
It didn’t matter where you looked, there was some great racing going on. Was this really the race track that had to cancel all the races in 2018 on race day as the track simply wouldn’t drain away the torrential rain properly after being re-surfaced? Having said that, this is Silverstone that saw the epic battle between Rins and Marquez in 2019, Rins taking the victory by mere centimetres at the line.
It’s a brilliant track, at once fast and flowing but with some technical bits: if your bike works well at Silverstone, it should work well anywhere and that has to be a worry for Quartararo, as the Ducati has now shone at two tracks that are supposedly not great Ducati tracks: Assen and Silverstone. If Miller and Bagnaia – and Martin and Bastianini – can continue this form into the next few races, the championship certainly isn’t over by a long shot. Add into the equation Quartararo’s new-found calm approach to relentlessly rack up the points even when a win isn’t on the cards and we are in for a hum-dinger of a race to the championship and what a way Silverstone was to kick-start that race.
