FIM MotoGP World Championship
Silverstone Circuit, England
August 30, 2015
Race Results (wet conditions, all on Bridgestone tires):
1. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 20 laps, Total Race Time 46:15.617
2. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), -3.010 seconds
3. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), -4.117
4. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), -5.726
5. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), -11.132
6. Scott REDDING, UK (HONDA), -25.467
7. Bradley SMITH, UK (YAMAHA), -26.717
8. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), -29.393
9. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), -38.815
10. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), -41.712
11. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), -44.776
12. Nicky HAYDEN, USA (HONDA), -52.489
13. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), -71.211
14. Mike DI MEGLIO, France (DUCATI), -75.292
15. Alex DE ANGELIS, San Marino (ART-APRILIA), -77.863
16. Loris BAZ, France (FORWARD YAMAHA), -79.310
17. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (HONDA), -79.735
18. Claudio CORTI, Italy (FORWARD YAMAHA), -118.086
19. Karel ABRAHAM, Czech Republic (HONDA), -1 lap, crash
20. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), -6 laps, DNF, crash
21. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), -8 laps, DNF, crash
22. Stefan BRADL, Germany (APRILIA), -8 laps, DNF, crash
23. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), -16 laps, DNF, crashed twice
24. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), -18 laps, DNF, crash
25. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), -20 laps, DNF, crash
World Championship Point Standings (after 12 of 18 races):
1. Rossi, 236 points
2. Lorenzo, 224
3. Marquez, 159
4. Iannone, 150
5. Dovizioso, 120
6. Smith, 115
7. Pedrosa, 102
8. Petrucci, 83
9. Pol Espargaro, 81
10. Crutchlow, 74
11. Vinales, 67
12. Aleix Espargaro, 60
13. Redding, 47
14. Hernandez, 41
15. Barbera, 23
16. Bautista, 22
17. Baz, 15
18. TIE, Hayden/Miller, 12
20. Bradl, 11
21. Michele Pirro, 8
22. Laverty, 7
23. Hiroshi Aoyama, 5
24. Di Meglio, 4
25. De Angelis, 2
More, from a press release issued by FIM and Dorna:
FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix
Octo British Grand Prix – Decision of the Race Direction
On 30 August, during the MotoGP Race of the Octo British Grand Prix, Rider #43 Jack Miller collided with another rider, causing both riders to crash.
It is considered to be irresponsible riding causing danger to other competitors and is therefore an infringement of Article 1.21.2 of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Regulations.
Jack Miller was requested to attend a hearing with the Race Direction. He attended the hearing and acknowledged the facts presented.
The decision of the Race Direction is to impose the addition of 1 Penalty Point to the record, of rider #43 Jake Miller according to Article 3.2.1 of the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix Disciplinary and Arbitration Code.
No appeal has been lodged, the decision of Race Direction is final.
More, from a press release issued by Bridgestone:
Rossi reigns in the rain to claim brilliant British Grand Prix victory
Round 12: British MotoGP™ – Race
Silverstone, Sunday August 30 2015
Bridgestone slick options: Front: Extra-soft, Soft & Medium; Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre options: Soft (Main), Hard (Alternative)
Weather: Wet. Ambient 16-16°C; Track 19-20°C (Bridgestone measurement)
A late change in the weather set the scene for a dramatic British Grand Prix and in the first wet race of the MotoGP™ season it was Movistar Yamaha MotoGP’s Valentino Rossi who took a brilliant victory ahead of the Ducati duo of Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso.
The race was red flagged before a single lap was completed as the rain arrived just as the race was scheduled to start, with all riders swapping from slick tyres to wet tyres as the race was restarted. Having finished quickest in the wet Warm Up session earlier in the day, Rossi once again thrived in the wet conditions and after a good start took the race lead on the second lap and despite being challenged by a few riders over the course of the race, held on to take his fourth victory of the season. Finishing three seconds behind Rossi in second place was Octo Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci who produced an impressive display of wet weather riding to secure his first ever MotoGP podium. The final podium place went to Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizoso who made a good recovery after a slow start to take his fourth rostrum finish of the year.
The fine weather that graced Silverstone for the first two days of the race weekend gave way to rain today with both the race and the morning Warm Up session being subjected to wet conditions. The cloud cover also kept track temperatures at a low level, with the peak reading during the race being just 20°C. The cool and wet tarmac made the requirement for good grip and warm-up performance a priority and as a result, all twenty-five riders opted for the soft compound wet tyres front and rear, the hard compound wet tyres remaining unused during the twenty-lap race.
Rossi’s fourth Grand Prix victory of the campaign means he re-takes the lead in the MotoGP championship and he sits on 236 points, twelve ahead of his teammate Jorge Lorenzo who finished in fourth place today at Silverstone. Repsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez had a DNF after crashing out of second place, but he holds onto third place in the championshop, 77 points adrift of Rossi.
Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department
“The rain finally arrived today but thankfully the Warm Up session this morning was wet which at least allowed the riders to work on a wet setting for their bike and get some track time on our wet tyres at this circuit. Some riders did consider using the alternative, hard compound wet tyre for the race but due to the cool track temperature and the rain becoming heavier, all riders finally decided on the soft compound wet tyres front and rear. Considering the cold, wet conditions and the bumpy track surface the performance of our wet tyres was quite consistent, with the majority of riders setting their quickest lap in the second half of the race. It was a very challenging race so well done to Valentino and Yamaha as they managed the difficult conditions very well on their way to victory today.”
Valentino Rossi, Movistar Yamaha MotoGP – Race Winner
“When I saw that Marc had crashed I slowed down a little bit but in the end, this is MotoGP and you can’t relax as everyone wants to beat you. I saw Danilo was getting close to me so I had to keep my concentration, especially at the end of the race as it was difficult when the rain became heavier. My bike was working great and I enjoyed this victory very much.”
More, from a press release issued by AB Motoracing:
Abraham finished nineteenth in rainy Silverstone
Karel Abraham finished nineteenth in British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Rain influenced race had been postponed after the warm up lap, the rain also resulted in slower lap times, so riders spend about twenty percent longer time on the track compared to usual duration of the race.
Karel Abraham
“Everything was wrong today. The track was slippery. The rear part of the bike was not stable at all when accelerating and all riders were faster when leaving turns. The bike was “nervous” a lot and the vibration made foot even more painful. The only conclusion is that we made it through the finish line and without a crash. That´s all. I hope everything will be ok in Misano.“
Marco Grana
chief mechanic AB Motoracing
“The warm up was our first wet session in the whole season, so we were not able to make a fast lap. We tried to set the bike as we expect it to act during the race, but in reality the track slips a lot and Karel suffered by lack of grip on the rear. Additionally it is very hard to ride in this condition, if the rider is not in perfect shape. We will analyze a data from the bike to find a solution for future. Let´s hope that we Karel will be ready in Misano to fight among best open bikes.”
More, from a press release issued by Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS Racing:
Redding shines at damp and dismal Silverstone
Silverstone, Great Britain – 30 August 2015: Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS MotoGP rider, Scott Redding, came to Silverstone determined to secure his best result of the season and he leaves this evening having achieved his goal. The 22-year-old mastered tricky wet conditions to finish as the top British rider in sixth position.
Rain on the warm-up lap ahead of today’s race left a chaotic scene in pit lane, with riders diving in to change bikes from slick tyres to wets. With 25 riders set to exit the pits at once to start the British Grand Prix, Race Direction decided to red flag the race and delay the start.
In the early stages of the restarted race Redding avoided the carnage and quietly settled into the conditions while building his confidence on the bike. The Briton started to push harder in the second half of the race and he quickly picked his way through the top ten. In the battle to be top Brit, Redding eventually dispatched Bradley Smith for sixth and claimed a valuable 10 points in the World Championship.
Scott Redding: 6th
“I always said that if I could get my best result here I’d be happy. I know that a lot of people crashed in the race but this is how it is sometimes. I struggled in the beginning; I just didn’t quite have the feeling I needed. Maybe I was a bit stiff and tense but I just couldn’t find the grip and the guys around me were able to drive away from me out of the turns. But after eight or nine laps I finally found a good rhythm and started to take more risks as I got the feeling with the bike back. Then I started to close in on Bradley, Aleix and Pol and when I got past I didn’t feel too bad at all. I wasn’t too comfortable in the rain this morning, but I took a risk in the race and it paid off. Overall, I’m happy with today’s result.”
Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal
“I’m happy. It looks like Silverstone is always a circuit for Scott Redding and Marc VDS to have a good result! Scott was good in qualifying in Austin and at the Sachsenring, but then wasn’t able to capitalise on his grid position in the race. Here he finally confirmed our pace and he leaves with his best result of the season so far, which was his goal this weekend. I hope that now we can carry the same momentum into the next race at Misano in two weeks.”
More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:
ALVARO BAUTISTA IS TENTH AT SILVERSTONE
BRADL CRASHES WHILE BATTLING FOR A FINISH IN THE POINTS
Silverstone (UK), 30 August 2015 – Alvaro Bautista rode his Aprilia RS-GP to a tenth place finish in the rain at the English GP and matched his best performance of the season after the identical placement at Barcelona. Hard luck for Stefan Bradl who, in his third race with the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, took a slide in the thirteenth lap while he was in a solid position to battle for a points finish after showing that he could be fast on a wet track in warm up, staying in the respectable zone of the standings for a long time.
For the Italian team this concludes a weekend of great improvement with a nice result, also characterized by good performance on Saturday during qualifying when Bradl, with the 14th best time, earned the best placement on the starting grid so far this season. These are positive signs of improvement in view of the next round at Misano.
ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“Alvaro rode a great and very intelligent race with excellent consistency, bringing home another tenth place finish which is a great result and battling with the centre group which, at the moment, is our best objective. It was a shame that Bradl crashed, although he was riding our bike on a wet track for the first time. In the morning he rode an extraordinary warm up session in these conditions. Overall we’re leaving here after a decidedly positive weekend because of the progress we made over these three days, both in terms of pure performance, speaking of Bradl’s qualifying session, and in terms of race pace as far as what Bautista demonstrated on Saturday. We are improving and I hope that we’ll be able to confirm this progress already in the next round at Misano.”
FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“It was a good race, one of the best of the season for us so far. It also proved to be important since we verified our good level of competitiveness in the wet, as this is the first time for us. We collected some information which will be very useful for us. Bautista finished in the top ten and actually not far behind the riders ahead of him. It’s too bad about Bradl’s crash because Stefan was also riding a great race and was close to Alvaro. That is just further proof of the good work we did this weekend. MotoGP is not an easy championship, but we are handling it with determination and taking steps forward. For this I would like to thank the Aprilia mechanics and the entire team for the great job they are doing.”
ALVARO BAUTISTA
“First of all I’d like to compliment whoever stopped the start. That was an excellent decision that prevented any problems. I’m disappointed not to have been able to race on a dry track as yesterday I had found a good feeling with the bike and I could have collected a lot of information. At the beginning I didn’t have a great feeling in the wet but I saw straight away that my times were quite good. It was difficult to gauge tyre performance, especially the rear, so I tried to set my pace and ride smoothly. That way I was also able to come back a bit, battling with various rivals, especially in the second part of the race that seemed to last a long time. In the end I even came close to ninth place, but this result is fine. I’d like to thank the entire team for the great job they did this weekend.”
STEFAN BRADL
“At the beginning of the race the tyres were very cold and I wasn’t able to maintain a good pace. Then finally after 4 or 5 laps I was able to start pushing harder. I got close to Alvaro and followed him for a few laps and then at a certain point going into turn 16 I suddenly lost grip at the front while braking and crashed. I’m very disappointed because we could have brought home a really good result, but throughout the weekend we didn’t really have a lot of time to work on the setup for this bike in these conditions, so I’m satisfied with the work done up to the crash. This time we were unlucky but we’re anxious to make up for it at Misano.”
More, from a press released issued by LCR Honda:
DISAPPOINTMENT FOR MILLER AFTER EARLY PROMISE AT SILVERSTONE
The British Grand Prix ended in disappointing style for Jack Miller as he crashed out after making a superb start to the race at Silverstone. Having departed the grid in 16th position, the LCR Honda rider stormed through the field to be sitting in fourth spot on lap three.
However, after attempting a late braking manoeuvre heading into a corner, the flying Australian succeeded only in taking out his own team-mate Cal Crutchlow leading both riders to slide out. Miller was unable to rejoin meaning a frustrating end to what had been a promising weekend’s work, although he remained keen to take the positives.
Jack Miller #43 (DNF)
“I’m happy with the weekend, but of course not happy with the result of the race. I want to say a big sorry to Cal for taking him out, but we were both pushing hard. I didn’t actually mean to overtake him, I was just trying to hold Espargaro off on the brakes and accidently went too deep and touched him. It was an accident, but all in all it was a good weekend as we found some settings with the bike we became more comfortable with and I’m looking forward to Misano.
“Misano is a good track for me, I like it a lot. It will be a new surface this year so I look forward to seeing what the grip level is like as last year was quite low, but it should be interesting.”
More, from a press release Movistar Yamaha:
Rossi Secures Superb Victory At Soaking Silverstone
Silverstone (UK), 30th August 2015
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi mastered the MotoGP field under difficult conditions, taking his first victory at Silverstone to continue his streak of consecutive podiums finishes this season, making it twelve. Jorge Lorenzo encountered some difficulties but fought bravely at the British Grand Prix to claim a solid fourth place.
Tension built as rain picked up just as the race was about to start. The race was declared dry, so all riders had to make the agonising choice whether they would start from pit lane on a wet setting or on slicks from the grid. However, after the warm up lap all riders decided to come into pit lane to swop bikes, making race direction decide to delay the start and reduce the race to 20 laps.
Twenty-five minutes later the MotoGP field lined up on the grid for a second attempt, this time prepared for a wet race. Rossi was the fastest man in similar conditions in the morning warm up and quickly fought his way up the order from his fourth place grid position. The Doctor moved into third position to hunt down Marc Marquez, passing him with a brilliant move at the start of the second lap.
The nine-time World Champion then set his sights on his teammate and increased his pace. He made the audience cheer when he took over the lead, posting a 2‘21.807, the fastest lap of the race thus far. Under pressure from Marquez, he continued to pick up the pace and used his experience to keep his rival at bay until the Spaniard crashed out with eight laps to go, but the race wasn‘t won yet.
Rossi kept pushing on as Danilo Petrucci started closing in, towing Andrea Dovizioso. Aware of the threat the Doctor managed a gap of more than 1.5s perfectly. With two laps remaining Rossi raised the bar and expanded his margin by nearly one and a half second to take a faultless victory by 3.010s.
Teammate Lorenzo also had a strong start from second on the grid. He shot off the line to take the holeshot into first turn and kept the lead when he crossed the line for the first time. He was passed by Rossi and Marquez on the second lap, moving him down to third. Lorenzo did well to remain seated on his bike when he bashed fairings with Pol Espagrarò two laps later, but lost valuable time and was unable to make up the gap that was created between him and the top two.
The Majorcan continued to have a challenging outing as his visor fogged up. Continuing the race with impaired vision, he got involved in a scrap with Petrucci, Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa for third place. Lorenzo fell back to sixth, but kept his fighting spirit and with seven laps left he got a second wind. With Marquez crashed out he found himself back in fifth place and fought his way back to fourth position, which he held over the line, 5.726 s off his teammate.
Rossi’s first place earns him 25 points, while Lorenzo’s fourth fourth place of the year adds 13 points to his score. These results put the Doctor back in the lead of the championship with 236 points, 12 points ahead of Lorenzo in second place with a 224 points total.
VALENTINO ROSSI
I‘m very happy and proud of this victory, it‘s a great feeling! I think that the last race on the wet that I won was ten years ago. This morning I woke up feeling good, but my team also did a great job and my bike was fantastic already from the first lap of the warm up. I felt great and got more feeling and positive things from the bike, so I knew I could be competitive in the race. I fought a lot with Marc, which was very difficult. I kept trying to break away but he stayed with me. I saw that Marc crashed on the mega screen and I didn‘t hear noise of his bike, so I already thought that maybe something had happened. After he crashed I slowed down, because I thought I had enough of an advantage but in reality Danilo wasn‘t so far, so I had to recover my concentration and start to push, because if I didn‘t he would catch me. This is my fourth victory of the season, so I‘m very happy and it‘s important for the championship. Today I was very fast, I had great confidence with the bike and it‘s a fantastic victory at Silverstone, where I never won before, this is the first time!”
JORGE LORENZO
At the first start with the slicks the situation was very dangerous, so I was happy when it started raining more so we could start with the rain tyre. The feeling in the first three or four laps was good and I was riding well, but the other riders started going faster than me. Valentino and Marquez passed me and I was in third position losing time every lap. They had a better pace than me early on in the race and I couldn‘t do anything to follow them. Suddenly, when entering the chicane, I almost had a big crash with Espargarò who made a incomprehensible move and it was a miracle I stayed on the bike. I was upset, but luckily I remained on the track and I tried to stay in third position, but Petrucci, Dovizioso and Pedrosa passed me. I was able to move faster and was getting better and passed Dani. In the last laps I arrived at Dovizioso, who made some mistakes, but it started to get colder and raining more. I completely lost my vision, because the visor was foggy and had to slow down and lost a chance at the third place, which was a pity. In the rain I didn‘t have the same pace as Valentino and Marquez.”
MASSIMO MEREGALLI
TEAM DIRECTOR
We couldn’t be happier for Valentino after this amazing result. He rode a perfect race in very difficult conditions, keeping cool under pressure from his rivals to take a well-deserved victory. Despite having issues that compromised his race, Jorge really showed his class to keep focus and bring it home in fourth. We have to thank the whole team who also showed their professionalism under pressure, working hard to make the last minute changes required to prepare the bikes for the changing weather conditions. We add another great Grand Prix victory to our tally for the year and head to Misano in two weeks time confident that we can fight for more.
More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:
Pedrosa takes fifth but Marquez crashes out of dramatic wet Silverstone race
Reigning World Champion, Marc Marquez, crashed out of today’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone whilst fighting for the lead in the rain in an accident-filled race, with teammate Dani Pedrosa managing to bring the bike home and finish fifth.
After a delayed start caused by the onset of rain, Marc broke away at the front with Valentino Rossi after an initial flurry of overtaking. Over 6 seconds ahead of the third placed rider by Lap 13, the Repsol Honda rider crashed at Turn 1 and was unable to continue the race. Dani, who suffered early in the race, dropped as low as seventh but made the most of several crashes ahead of him to take fifth.
With this result, Marc lies third in the overall standings with 159 points and Dani, seventh with 102. The MotoGP World Championship now heads to San Marino, to begin the last quarter of the 2015 season in a fortnight’s time.
Dani Pedrosa
5TH CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING: 7TH – 102 POINTS
“To be honest, it was not a good day. I had a strange feeling with the bike in the rain; we did not have much grip and it was very delicate to ride. I made a mistake at the start because I didn’t get off the line well, and after that I never found a good pace either. I tried to do my best but the feeling was not good; I’m quite unhappy with the last few results. We will try to push harder at the next race at Misano to see if we can catch up, and be higher up the order than in recent races.”
Marc Marquez
DNF CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING: 3RD – 159 POINTS
“The World Championship situation was already complicated before this Grand Prix, and now it is even more difficult, but it is also true that this was a race where we had to take a risk. I felt I had the race under control and I crashed out. It means zero points, but the fact that we were back up at the front again was the positive side of today.”
More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:
Barbera and Avintia Racing increase their Open Class lead at Silverstone
30/08/15 Avintia Racing MotoGP – British Grand Prix – RACE
After the first two days of the British Grand Prix with perfect conditions, the famous British weather appeared today at Silverstone just before the warm up lap for the MotoGP race, and with all riders on the grid on dry settings and tyres, the Race Direction red-flagged and delayed the race start.
Hector Barbera made a good start, but his bike was hit by some debris when Hernandez crashed in the first corner. Barbera ran wide, lost some time and crossed the line in last position after the first lap. But he kept focussed and despite losing a part of the windscreen of his bike, the Avintia Racing rider started to recover places to cross the line 13th and get three valuable points to increase his Open Class lead over Loris Baz.
His teammate Mike Di Meglio also made a great start. During the first laps, he was battling with the eventual Open Class winner, Nicky Hayden. But then he had some vision problems when his helmet visor fogged up and he was not able to keep his strong pace from the opening laps of the race. He still managed to secure 14th place just behhind Barbera, adding two more points in the championship standings.
The MotoGP World Championship will continue in two weeks time at Misano for the San Marino Grand Prix.
HECTOR BARBERA #8 / 13th (P2 Open) @HectorBarbera
Today was difficult, because when we first started, it was impossible to ride in these conditions and the race was red-flagged to start again in wet conditions. You go to the grid thinking at one race and suddenly everything changes. I made a really good start from the outside, but Yonny crashed out and one piece of his faring hit my windscreen. I dropped back to the last position and again I had to make a recovery race… Finally we were 13th and although we didn’t win the Open Class, we arrived at Silverstone with five points advantage over the second in the standings and we leave with eight. Three points in this class are a lot, so I’m happy. You have to be there in the hard races and today we did it. I want to thank my team their hard work, because here I was not at my best, but they helped me to make the things easier.
MIKE DI MEGLIO #63 / 14th (P3 Open) @Mikejpp63
During the first ten laps the race was beautiful, because I started well and I was in a good group. I felt strong compared with the other riders, but when Bautista opened a gap, I passed Bradl and tried to catch him, but my helmet visor fogged up and I couldn’t see anything. After some laps trying to open it, I solved the problem, but then it was too late and I already lost all my chances. I think that without this problem today it would have been possible to fight for the win in the Open Class, because during the first laps I was with Hayden and we had a similar pace. The good thing is is that we got two more points and every race we are closer to the fastest guys.
More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:
SOLID DEBUT IN THE WET FOR TEAM SUZUKI ECSTAR
Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Viñales put-in strong performances to finish ninth and 11th respectively at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone during their first time in full-wet conditions this season.
The 12th round of the MotoGP series was heavily affected by the weather from the very beginning today, with the starting procedure having to be repeated due to the light showers that arrived during the sighting lap. In these tricky conditions both Team SUZUKI ECSTAR riders did a good job, considering this was all-new territory for them aboard their 2015 Suzuki GSX-RRs.
The morning warm-up gave the riders first experience of a damp track, with both Espargaro and Viñales trying to find as much information as possible to prepare for the race as the weather forecast was still uncertain if the race would be held in dry or wet conditions. Finally rain started to pour as the riders were on the grid, increasing in intensity just before the start. This forced Race Direction to stop the procedure and start again, declaring the race as fully wet.
The rain and also the first corner heavily influenced the race for the riders; Espargaro being hit by another rider and Viñales being forced to go wide to avoid a crahed bike in front of him. This lost both a lot of time and they had to recover many positions. However, both young Spaniards’ lap-times were consistently-fast enough throughout the race for them to get well into the points; and importantly new important data and information aquired for the team.
Satoru Terada – Project Leader:
“Finally we have had our first race under rain conditions and I believe this experience was positive. We have absolutely zero experience racing in wet conditions with this new GSX-RR machine, so it was crucial for us to get some information. Now we have much data to analyse and use so we are ready in case we will find ourselves in these conditions again. Besides this I think the race ended with a positive result for us; Aleix ended in the top-10 showing good pace during the race, but most important was that during the practice in dry conditions he found some feeling-back that he was missing in previous rounds. Maverick as well had a positive race, he had to fight hard to recover after the incident he had in the first corner, where he had to avoid another bike that was crashing in front of him. His pace in the race was very good, so good that he recovered from last to 11th place. Now we have plenty of information to analyse. In the meantime we start to think about next race in Misano where we will try to exploit the information we have collected.”
Aleix Espargaro:
“After today’s race I can’t say I’m happy but I am satisfied. This morning during the warm-up we found a good solution in set-up, which gave me some confidence, and we were pretty ready for the rain. Unfortunately I was hit by another rider in the very first corner, this made me lose some time and positions and I had to recover. I felt some strange noises coming from the back of my machine but its overall performance was not bad, so I could recover some positions and be consistent with lap-times for nearly two-thirds of the race. Unfortunately the back tyre started to suffer a drop in performance and I had to give-up pushing hard. I had a pretty-good advantage on the rider behind and I decided that it was more important to finish the race and collect information. We have never raced in the rain so every single piece of data is crucial for us. It was not bad as a wet-race debut, we can work a lot on it; but overall I’m happy.”
Maverick Viñales:
“Unfortunately the first corner affected my whole race. I saw another rider fall in front of me after having hit Aleix and I had to brake very hard not to crash into his bike and go wide in the turn, leaving me in last position. I tried to push hard to recover and I could make fast and consistent laps: Probably if I could have kept my starting position from the very beginning I could be very competitive and closer to the top-six. The important thing is that we had our first race in the wet and my feelings were very positive; for sure we have a lot of things we can improve, which is understandable.”
More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
Dovizioso finishes on the podium with third place, Iannone eighth in a rainy British GP at Silverstone
Andrea Dovizioso produced a great race for the Ducati Team in the British GP today at Silverstone to claim the final podium place in third. The Italian rider had a terrific scrap with his compatriot Danilo Petrucci, who finished runner-up in second with the Pramac Racing Team’s Desmosedici GP. His teammate Andrea Iannone found things a bit more difficult in the wet conditions and could only finish eighth.
The twelfth round of the season took place in heavy rain, which began to fall a few minutes before the start, forcing the Race Direction to begin a second starting procedure.
Dovizioso was unable to get good traction off the grid at the start and he finished the opening lap in eleventh place. The man from Forlì then began a splendid recovery through the field and, after passing Smith on lap 4, he latched onto the exhausts of Danilo Petrucci, who was very quick in the wet conditions. The two Ducati riders moved up to third and fourth, and after Marquez crashed out, they began a terrific scrap for the runner-up slot, swapping positions on numerous occasions. On lap 14 of 20 Dovizioso was forced to leave second place to Petrucci and then in the final laps had to keep Lorenzo at bay, so he concluded the British GP with his fifth podium finish of the year.
Thanks to today’s result Dovizioso is now back in fifth position in the overall standings with 120 points, ahead of Smith.
Andrea Iannone did not get off to a good start either and he crossed the line at the end of lap 1 in tenth place. The rider from Abruzzo then tried to impose a regular pace on his race, and after several retirements, he finished the British GP in eighth place. Iannone holds on to fourth overall in the championship standings, cutting the gap to Marquez to just nine points.
Ducati are still third overall in the Constructors’ standings, while the Ducati Team have now moved into second place in the special classification reserved for Teams.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 3rd
“I am really pleased with this third place and I want to say thanks to my team, because we are working so hard to try and get back to being competitive once again. Today was not an easy day for many reasons: we started from the fourth row of the grid and I almost crashed at the start because the rear tyre suddenly lost grip and I found myself at the back of the field. Despite this I succeeded in making a good recovery, even getting up into second place. It was a really tough race, and Petrucci and I had a great battle, so I’m also happy for his excellent result. In the final stages we were taking too many risks when we were passing and repassing each other, and seeing as it was important for us to get back onto the podium, in the end I concentrated on holding onto my third place.”
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 8th
“It was not such a positive weekend from the point of view of the final result, but at least in the standings I was able to get closer to third place. We encountered a bit of difficulty throughout the three days and my bike was not easy to manage due to the bumps on the track, which created a lot of problems for us. In the race I struggled in particular with the rear when turning into the curves and above all at the start I was very slow. Then, as the laps went by, I reduced the amount of engine braking and the situation improved a lot, but I was never able to find the consistency that I would have liked.”
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“In the end we obtained a good result here at Silverstone. Dovizioso finally returned to the podium, Iannone reduced the gap in the standings to Marquez and Petrucci did a really great race. Today we also repeated our best result of the season, with two Ducati riders on the podium, and so for sure we can say that it was a positive weekend. From a technical point of view, I have to say that we had a few too many problems during the qualifying session that I honestly didn’t expect. In dry conditions, we were quite far away from Marquez and Lorenzo, but in my opinion the race pace of our two riders would have allowed us to do quite well even in those conditions. Now we move on to our second ‘home race’ at Misano, which comes after these good results, and where we hope to give some more satisfaction to our fans.”
More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:
Nicky Hayden takes second Open victory of the season
POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider recovers from a difficult weekend to take twelfth place in the rain
The twelfth round of the MotoGP World Championship kicked off at an unusual time today, with a 1pm start on British soil to coincide with the usual 2pm slot on mainland Europe. A drizzly day looked to be easing shortly before the start and the riders were able to take to the warm-up lap on slick tyres, but as the rain intensified it immediately became apparent that they would need to switch to wets. As the riders all came in to change at once a potentially chaotic situation began to develop as they prepared to start en masse from pit-lane, but Race Direction sensibly showed the red flag and the grid was reformed. Jorge Lorenzo made a strong start but his early pace waned, allowing Valentino Rossi and Marc Márquez to escape. When the Spaniard crashed on the thirteenth lap, the Italian was clear to take the victory and despite late pressure from Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso he kept his concentration and his balance to top the first all-Italian podium since round one at Losail.
In racing, as in life, they say that fortune favours the brave and that was certainly the case for Nicky Hayden today. A courageous performance in precarious conditions saw the POWER ELECTRONICS Aspar rider charge from twentieth on the grid after a difficult weekend to fifteenth position after the first lap. After establishing his pace on the wet track the American made up three more positions, clocking the tenth fastest lap of the race in the process, to take twelfth overall and secure his second Open victory of the season. Eugene Laverty did not make the best start to his home race, dropping back to last place on the opening lap and only managing to fight back to seventeenth.
12th Nicky Hayden: “Probably the toughest lap of the race today was the warm-up lap, when we were on slick tyres and the track was totally wet. It hasn’t been an easy weekend, we started from twentieth but the rain helped us finish off with a good result and some championship points. It was just a shame that I had a couple of moments on the last couple of laps and lost time, which allowed Viñales and Bautista past. It could have been a top ten finish today but we have to be satisfied with twelfth. We had a chance to understand the grip levels in the wet during the warm-up this morning and I knew it was important to stay on the inside in turn one off the start. The team also did a great job with the chassis and the electronics. I tried to get the tyres up to temperature quickly at the start and from the mid-point of the race my lap times were fast and consistent. In fact, my best lap was the tenth fastest of the race. It was important to take the Open victory today so let’s see if we can qualify better at Misano and fight for another one.”
17th Eugene Laverty: “We had a little experience with this bike in the wet but my feeling on those occasions wasn’t too good. This was our first truly wet race and I probably rode as well as I ever have in these conditions but I lost too much time in the exit of the corners. I was braking hard and the first part of the corner was okay but we had no grip on the exit. I tried to follow a few riders and copy what they were doing but I had the same issue in every corner. Today showed that we need to find more grip in these conditions. At Misano we will have to work on improving the chassis set-up.”
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Rain-master Rossi re-takes championship lead at Silverstone
Valentino Rossi claims his fourth win of the season after a masterful ride in the wet, with Petrucci and Dovizioso completing the podium.
Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi produced a fearless ride in the rain to claim his first ever victory at Silverstone, and open up a 12-point lead in the MotoGP™ World Championship standings over his teammate Jorge Lorenzo.
Rossi had earlier topped the wet Warm Up session, and there was drama before the lights even went out at Silverstone as it was originally declared a dry race, but rain on the grid prompted every rider to return to the pits on their warm up lap to swap for wets. This led to a 30-minute delay to allow the teams and riders to safely re-form back on the grid.
When the action started in anger, Rossi enjoyed a solid start, before moving his way up from 4th on the grid to take the lead on just the second lap. Rossi managed to pass his teammate and main title rival Lorenzo at Village corner, much to the delight of the 73,000 fans at the legendary Silverstone Circuit.
He then tried to break away at the front, with only Marc Marquez on the Repsol Honda able to stay with him. Lap after lap Rossi and Marquez pulled away at the front, opening up a gap of 7 seconds to the 3rd placed Petrucci by just the ninth lap. The 36-year-old Italian was setting a blistering pace in the dreadful conditions, and it proved too much for even Marquez. The reigning MotoGP™ World Champion crashed out on lap 13 at Copse Corner to effectively end any chance he had of defending his title. The Spaniard now trails Rossi by 77 points in the standings, with just 6 races remaining.
Without Marquez to push him, Rossi seemed to relax and at one point it seemed as if the chasing Ducati’s of Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso would close him down towards the end of the race. Petrucci had reduced the gap to just 1.6s with two laps remaining, but Rossi got a signal from his pit board and upped the pace once more. The ‘Doctor’ went on to take the race win by 3.010s.
Octo Pramac Racing’s Danilo Petrucci delivered an incredible ride to secure his first ever MotoGP™ podium as the leading Satellite rider. The Italian, starting from 18th on the grid, rode through the pack superbly before getting involved in an excellent battle for second with Dovizioso on the factory Ducati Team GP15. Petrucci’s GP14 is known as a good bike to ride in the wet and he made sure that he secured his best ever MotoGP™ career result to the delight of his team.
Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso (+4.117s) completed an all-Italian podium to equal his best result of the season in Assen. The former 125cc World Champion started from 12th on the grid but rode superbly in the tricky conditions to secure his 29th MotoGP™ Podium.
Rossi’s main title rival and teammate Jorge Lorenzo (+5.726s) had a frustrating race. The double MotoGP™ World Champion led into the first corner, but found himself dropping back through the field at an alarming rate. At one point Lorenzo was as low as sixth before he seemed to recover and fought back to cross the line in fourth, limiting the damage to his title chances.
Dani Pedrosa (+11.132s) on the second Repsol Honda battled hard throughout the race to secure fifth spot. The Spaniard was right in the mix for the podium during the race but started to drop back in the latter stages, eventually crossing the line over 5 seconds behind Lorenzo.
EG 0,0 Marc VDS’s Scott Redding (+25.467s) won the ‘Battle of the Brits’ as he pulled off his the best result of his MotoGP™ career in front of his passionate home support. His compatriot Bradley Smith on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha was a further second back, after he enjoyed a race long battle with his teammate Pol Espargaro, before the Spaniard crashed out at turn 3 on lap 14.
Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) finished in eighth ahead of the Team Suzuki Ecstar GSX-RR of Aleix Espargaro in ninth. Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista secured the team’s first top-ten finish of their return to the premier class.
Nicky Hayden (Aspar MotoGP Team) was the leading Open Honda in 12th ahead of the Avintia Racing duo of Hector Barbera and Mike Di Meglio, while his teammate Eugene Laverty crossed the line in 17th.
LCR Honda pair Cal Crutchlow and Jack Miller both enjoyed excellent starts to the race and found themselves battling for the final podium spot. Unfortunately Miller would take out his British teammate at Vale on the 3rd lap, with both men forced to retire. Stefan Bradl (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) also crashed out of the race with 8 laps to go.
Check out the full MotoGP™ race results, and the latest MotoGP World Championship standings. Up next is round 13 in the MotoGP™ World Championship, the Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini on 11th-13th September.
Zarco takes fifth win of season in Moto2™
Johann Zarco extends his championship lead after a commanding race win in the wet, with Alex Rins and Tito Rabat completing the podium.
Ajo Motorsport’s Johann Zarco made it 11 podiums in a row and extended his lead in the Moto2™ World Championship standings after taking a commanding win during a wet race at the Octo British Grand Prix. The Frenchman crossed the line 3.360s ahead of Paginas Amarillas HP40’s Alex Rins, with Tito Rabat on the EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalex completing the podium.
Heavy rain during the morning’s Warm Up session saw all the riders line up on the grid with wet tyres but it had stopped by the time the lights went out, leading to a dramatic and tense race. Frenchman Zarco showed that he was the master in the wet as he managed to preserve his tyres when a dry racing line appeared while many others struggled.
Zarco, starting from 3rd on the grid, was involved in an excellent early battle with Rabat and Rins with the three riders swapping the lead numerous times. On the second lap Zarco and Rabat almost touched, with Zarco running wide and dropping back to fifth. It took him until lap seven to work his way back to the front and take the lead. Zarco immediately set about creating a gap at the front as the others seemed to suffer from greater tyre degradation. By lap thirteen the gap between Zarco and second placed Rabat had reached 8 seconds. There was a slight scare for the championship leader as Rins started to close him down in the final stages but he responded to take his 6th career GP victory by a comfortable margin.
Rookie Rins came out on top in an excellent scrap for second between himself and the two EG 0,0 Marc VDS Kalexs of Rabat and Alex Marquez. Rins made a move with 5 laps to go to secure second for his own, leapfrogging Rabat in the championship standings in the process.
Rabat (+5.527s) had led into the first corner and looked like he could match the pace of Zarco in the early stages of the race, but after 8 laps you could visually see the rubber flying off his tyres. The reigning Moto2™ World Champion ran wide while fighting with his teammate Marquez for third on the penultimate lap, but managed to recover to take third and secure his fifth podium of the season.
Marquez (+6.489s) came from ninth on the grid to take his second fourth position in a row ahead of AGR Team’s Jonas Folger (+8.228s). Pole man and local hero, Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes, had a terrible start and was down in eighth by the end of the first lap. The British rider responded in front of his passionate home fans and fought back to cross the line in sixth.
Australian wet race specialist Anthony West (QMMF Racing) fought his way from 22nd on the grid to claim seventh. Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP), Thomas Luthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten), and Ricard Cardus (JP Moto Malaysia) completed the top ten.
There were crashes for wildcard Bradley Ray (FAB-Racing), Forward Racing duo Lorenzo Baldassari and Simone Corsi, plus Thitipong Warokorn (APH PTT The Pizza SAG).
Courageous Kent victorious in Moto3™
Danny Kent completely dominated proceedings in the wet at Silverstone to take his 6th win of the season ahead of Kornfeil and Antonelli.
Leopard Racing’s Danny Kent delighted the 73,000 fans at the Octo British Grand Prix by claiming his 8th GP career victory in dominant fashion. The Moto3™ race saw the worse weather of the day at Silverstone, but even this could not stop runaway Moto3™ championship leader Kent. Starting from 3rd on the grid, the British rider took over the lead with 13 laps to go after Isaac Viñales crashed out and never looked back.
Once he had established a 10 second lead, he managed the gap perfectly to become the first British rider to win at Silverstone in the lightweight class despite a huge moment in the latter stages as the weather worsened.
With such a big lead, it became a test of concentration for Kent, but he passed with flying colours to cross the line 8.492s ahead of Jakub Kornfeil. He now has a 70-point lead over Gresini Racing Team Moto3’s Enea Bastianini after the Italian crashed out of fifth on the penultimate lap.
Drive M7 SIC’s Kornfeil secured his first ever Moto3™ podium as he battled through the pack from 13th on the grid to finish as the leading KTM, ahead of Niccolo Antonelli (+13.819s) on the Ongetta-Rivacold Honda who completed the podium. The Italian followed up his maiden win last time out in Brno with only his second career podium.
Almost 37 seconds further back was Estrella Galicia 0,0’s 16-year-old Fabio Quartararo in fourth. The French rider struggled with his helmet steaming up during the race, but managed to win an excellent battle with RW Racing’s Livio Loi (+51.755s) and Scotsman John McPhee (+53.726s) on the SAXOPRINT RTG Honda. Loi and McPhee once again demonstrated their prowess in the wet after finishing on the top two steps of the podium at Indianapolis.
Mapfre Team Mahindra’s Juanfran Guevara pulled off his career best result as he finished in seventh. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Husqvarna Factory Laglisse) scored points for the first time in his career in only his third race, finishing in eighth.
Efren Vazquez (Leopard Racing) and Tatsuki Suzuki (CIP) completed the top ten while British wildcards Luke Hedger (FPW Racing) and Taz Taylor (RS Racing) finished in 18th and 19th respectively.
There were falls for Francesco Bagnaia, Andrea Locatelli, Maria Herrera, Brad Binder. A total of 16 riders fell, including pole man Jorge Navarro who crashed out of the race on the very first lap whilst in the lead.
More, from a press release issued by Octo Pramac Racing:
Petrux is the hero of OCTO British GP and conquers the second place of an all-Italian podium
It was a stunning Sunday for OCTO Pramac Racing which is celebrating the second place won by Danilo Petrucci at Parc Fermeé. Moreover, an extraordinary result obtained at Grand Prix of England, designed OCTO and with the Mameli’s Anthem as a soundtrack to an all-Italian podium. On the contrary, not that lucky Yonny, whose race finished at the first braking after a sudden touch with Aleix Espargaro.
The Siena team of the Campinoti family is back to celebrations after the third place won in 2008 by Toni Elias during the Gran Prix of San Marino, the very next stage of MotoGP. It is a big marvelous party for Danilo who disputed an almost perfect race recovering 16 positions and trying to slightly undermine Valentino Rossi also.
During the last 4 laps the rider from Terni made up three seconds to the race’s leader protecting this way a sensational second position.
But the very masterpiece of Petrux came up with incredible overtakings one after another, passing Jorge Lorenzo and winning a spectacular duel with Andrea Dovizioso.
The warm and touching hugs of the team together with the loud applause of the paddock and the handshakes of the operators underlined one more time the immensity of this achievement.
Petrux brings home the most exciting 20 points of his career which make possible for him to achieve the eighth position (83pts) in the MotoGP World Ranking and to bring OCTO Pramac Racing (124pts) at -3 from the Top 5, while Yonny stops at 41pts (14° position).
Petrux is the hero of OCTO British GP and conquers the second place of an all-Italian podium
2° – Danilo Petrucci – OCTO Pramac Racing #9
“It was such an incredible race today that I still can barely realize what really happened out there. I went very fast during the warm up, but the race, you know, it’s another thing. So I was a bit apprehensive while passing Pedrosa and Lorenzo because I thought they’d have pressed me. Then Dovi came along also, so at that point I decided to concentrate only on reaching Valentino, it was the only possible way to focus on the race. The team did a great job because we weren’t that prepared on the dry but we knew how to fix our issues. They all trusted me and that helped me a lot. I am very thankful to the whole crew, to Pramac team, to Francesco Guidotti who chose me, to Campinoti family and Ducati for trusting in me. This win goes to my family, my mother, my father who brought me up with so many sacrifices. Repaying them this way it’s the most beautiful thing in the world,
DNF – Yonny Hernandez – OCTO Pramac Racing #68
What a pity I fell at the first turn. I had good vibrations during the warm up. Unfortunately I touched with Aleix Espargaro at the first braking. At first I thought it was Vinales. It was only when I watched the replay of the images in the TV that I realized who I really touched with.