It was another Sunday full of surprises and twists at the Tissot Grand Prix of the United Kingdom with the MotoGP™ class making once again the show at the Silverstone track. After an early red flag after just two laps, all riders followed a quick restart procedure with just 19 laps instead of 20. From his 18th position on the grid, Maverick Viñales brought home some points to the team with an 11th place at the British Grand Prix, while Enea Bastianini finished 17th.
Grand Prix of The United Kingdom
It was once again an eventful race start for the MotoGP™ class after the race was red flagged just two laps after the start, due to oil spillage on the track following the lap 2 crash between Franco Morbidelli and Aleix Espargaro. At the first start, Maverick Viñales had taken a solid start from 18th to 14th, to battle it out for 13th against Miguel Oliveira in the opening lap. In the next lap, the race was red flagged while he had dropped to 15th. As less than 3 laps had gone by, all riders were able to join the restart procedures, including the lucky early crashers, Alex Marquez, Marc Marquez, Franco Morbidelli and Aleix Espargaro. At 13:24, lights went out for good under the extremely windy conditions. Many riders including Viñales opted for a medium-medium strategy, while some tried out the soft-medium. Only time would tell which bet was going to be the winning one. The second start was not as prolific as the first one, as ‘Top Gun’ only gained two positions in the first sector, but he dropped back to 18th soon after as he tried to find his way through the traffic. He moved past Miguel Oliveira in the following lap, to sit just 0.199 seconds behind Raul Fernandez. In lap 3, Brad Binder dropped a bit and that meant Viñales found himself in his back wheel, and the two moved together past Alex Rins on lap 5, as they followed Fernandez. That was P15 for Maverick after 5 laps. The gap to Fernandez was 0.397 seconds, but the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider was lapping faster than the Trackhouse rider as he progressively reduced it, until he eventually moved to 14th on lap 8 ahead of Brad Binder. A later mistake from Fernandez saw Maverick go to P13, now sitting at the lead of that little group of 3, chasing the front group 2.5 seconds ahead closed by Firmin Aldeguer. A heartbreaking technical issue from race leader Fabio Quartararo on lap 12 meant P12 for Maverick 6 laps to the checkered flag. He then continued to maintain a strong pace towards the race, and P12 remained his final position. Some additional penalties handed to other riders post-race meant that Maverick moved up to 11th. Five points in the bag to wrap up a challenging weekend across the English Channel for the Spaniard, who will be looking forward to returning on home turf as we head next to Aragon.
Enea Bastianini’s weekend continued to be challenging, with the Italian’s struggles on the RC16 remaining strong. At the original start, the number 23 had gained himself 3 positions to 16th before the race was red-flagged. Let’s do it all over again. As the lights went out for the second time, the start was not quite the same. He moved up to 15th in a few turns, but quickly we saw him drop to 19th as he could not find the space within the group. He was behind his teammate Viñales, until he completed the long lap penalty handed in Le Mans. Once that was done, he was in 18th, 5 seconds to Miguel Oliveira. The goal was now to try catching up on the Portuguese, but the lap times were not enough for the Italian to catch the 88. Small mistakes allowed a comeback of Salvadori, who overtook Enea on lap 15. The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider managed to gain back the positions before the checkered flag, to finish in 17th. A weekend to forget for the Italian, who will hope for a full reset as we now head to Aragon for the GoPro Grand Prix of Aragon on June 6-8.
MAVERICK VIÑALES: "I have faith in the package we have, so this weekend we did not make too many changes on the bike, but somehow Silverstone was quite challenging. We had a technical issue on Friday, then another one in Q1, and just like that you are 18th on the grid and everything is a bit more difficult, although I had the rhythm to fight for top 5. But at the start, you spend energy fighting with everyone to try going through, you lose 5-6 seconds in 5 laps, and then the race is pretty much settled. Anyway, the lack of grip on the edge of our bike has been a weakness this weekend, and I believe that Silverstone is not a track for us, so we just need to look forward to Aragon, because in Jerez and Le Mans, we were fast. Let’s stay positive, clever in the way we work, and keep building step by step."
ENEA BASTIANINI: "The weekend has been very complicated, because we have not made any improvements since Friday. We tried some things on the bike, but it was impossible for me to push today in the race. In the straights, I struggled to keep the throttle, because the front of the bike was lighter, which was really frustrating. I think that it was the worst race of my career, I thought many times of going back to the pit box today, but I continued to finish it for the team. I am just not happy at all with myself right now, and I hope that KTM will help me make the progress that I need for the future. Let’s try to regroup and move forward to Aragon."
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "The whole weekend has been quite difficult for Red Bull KTM Tech3. Maverick Viñales arrived to Silverstone with the confidence of 3 strong weekends in the row, but somehow he never really felt comfortable enough on this track. The weekend started bad when we missed Q2, and things became difficult from 18th on the grid, and in sprint and race, he was not really in the fight with the top guys at the front. We need to check everything carefully, but I am sure that Aragon will be a completely different weekend. Enea Bastianini arrived to Silverstone with high expectations, but he has struggled with the same issues all weekend, without being able to find solutions. His strong point is racing, especially the end of the races, but we did not see his light at all today, which is quite worrying. We need to sit together, and try finding solutions, because we can not carry on like this. Enea deserves much more than these weekends, so let’s try to regroup, speak, and arrive in Aragon with better ideas."
RACE RESULTS
1. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA), Aprilia Racing, 38'16.037
2. Johann Zarco (FRA), Honda LCR ,+4.088
3. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, + 5.929
11. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +11.318
17. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +38.225
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 196 pts
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, 172 pts
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 124 pts
11. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 45 pts
15. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 31 pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - F. Quartararo (FRA) - 1'57.233 - 181.1 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - A. Espargaro (SPA) - 1'58.895 - 178.6 km/h
Best Pole: 2025 - F. Quartararo (FRA) - 1'57.233 - 181.1 km/h
Top Speed: 2022 - E. Bastianini (ITA) - 340.6 km/h
