Enea Bastianini, left, and Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia celebrate on the podium after the MotoGP British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Enea Bastianini, left, and Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia celebrate on the podium after the MotoGP British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Picture: Benjamin Cremel / AFP
South Africa’s Brad Binder’s British Grand Prix ended before it even started after a technical issue saw him pull out of the MotoGP race which was won by Italian rider Enea Bastianini.
The Red Bull KTM rider started in sixth on the grid, but an apparent clutch issue saw him withdraw after he hardly got off the start line.
Meanwhile, Bastianini completed the British MotoGP double for Ducati, while Jorge Martin of Spain reclaimed the championship lead.
Bastianini added to his sprint win on Saturday by racing past Martin inside the last two laps to claim victory, while the Spaniard finished second to move back above third-placed Francesco Bagnaia in the overall riders' championship.
Ducati-Pramac's Martin arrived at Silverstone 10 points behind Bagnaia, who won the last four grand prix, but second-placed finishes in the sprint and grand prix meant he leapfrogged the Italian back into the lead.
"We took back the lead so I am really happy with this," said Martin.
The difference between the two was just one point by the time Sunday's main race rolled round and following Martin's second-place finish, he now leads the Ducati rider by three points.
Martin took the race lead on Sunday with nine laps remaining but was unable to hold off the surge of the irresistible Bastianini.
"As soon as I saw Enea was catching, I tried to keep it constant, to try to manage a bit for the end but he was much stronger today," said the 26-year-old from Madrid.
"Congrats to Enea because he was on another level."
It was a weekend to forget for Bagnaia after he crashed out of the sprint and then ceded the lead early in the grand prix race.
But his compatriot Bastianini will have fond memories of Silverstone 2024 after producing a stunning late run to sprint to the double.
Starting on the front row, Bagnaia sprang into the lead from the flag but was eventually reeled in just after the halfway mark by Martin, who had started on the second row.
Bastianini soon caught up with the two pacesetters and, after going past Bagnaia on lap 14, he made his move on turn three of the 19th lap to fly ahead of Martin and sprint towards the chequered flag.
"It was a very difficult race," said Bastianini.
"The last four or five laps, Jorge pushed a lot and it was difficult to close the gap to him but at the end, the last two, three laps, always I have something more and today was the same
"It's arrived this second victory consecutive and I'm really satisfied."
Six-time world champion Marc Marquez of Ducati-Gresini finished fourth, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio of Ducati-VR46 in fifth.
AFP
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