Alex Marquez prevailed to take the Sprint race victory at Silverstone, ending Marc Marquez’s run of six straight MotoGP Saturday wins.
A mistake from his older brother allowed the Gresini rider to take the lead, and the Spaniard never looked back, winning by over 3.5s.
VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio secured third place to complete an all-Ducati podium.
Pole sitter Fabio Quartararo maintained the lead into Turn 1, but fourth-placed qualifier Marquez scooped around the outside of his team-mate Francesco Bagnaia to take third.
Marquez’s onward momentum continued as he passed his brother at Turn 7 before the Spaniard took the lead by the end of the first lap.
As always he showed aggression, which saw a costly mistake at Turn 3 on Lap 2, allow his younger brother to come through after he made a move on Quartararo.
In the background Brad Binder crashed out at Turn 5 after making up seven positions in first two laps.
Quartararo’s Yamaha is no match to the Ducatis down the National and International pit straight, but kept Bagnaia at bay for the first three laps.
Bagnaia stormed past the Frenchman as Fabio Di Giannantonio entered the fold for the final podium place, with the Italian rider not able to find a way through yet.
The two Fabio’s battled it out around the Loop, but the Yamaha rider remained in fourth spot, however, Di Giannantonio made the move stick in the final sector of Lap 5.
Alex Rins lost control of his Yamaha from 10th place at the end of Lap 3, resulting in the Spaniard running off the track, and he rejoined in last place.
The Marquez brothers continued to dominate out front with the pair separated by less than a few bike lengths, but both riders had different strengths at different parts of the track.
The gap between the two Spaniards to Bagnaia in third extended from 1.1s to 1.4s at the halfway stage.
Johann Zarco made a ridiculous move on Pramac’s Jack Miller at Maggots around the outside to take sixth place.
Only a few corners later, Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi pounced on the Australian at the end of the Hangar Straight to take seventh.
VR46 Ducati rider Di Giannantonio propelled himself into third place after completing a perfect switchback move in the first sector.
The mini battle on Lap 7 brought Quartararo, Zarco and Bezzecchi into contention once again, but crucially, Bezzecchi overtook both French riders on Lap 8.
His purple patch of immense pace continued as he almost fought his way through Bagnaia through Maggots and Becketts on Lap 9, but the perfect move finally arrived on the final lap.
Bagnaia’s tyres on the final lap fell off a cliff as Zarco dispatched the Italian with ease, but Quartararo couldn’t quite get passed his old championship rival.
Marquez’s resounding Sprint race victory at Silverstone reduces the championship gap to 18 points.
Marc Marquez’s second came after an aggressive start which paid off due to his racing lines in the opening few corners.
Di Giannantonio secured only his second Sprint race podium, but did well to fend off Bezzecchi, who was in the form of his life in the final laps.
Zarco claimed fifth to bag even more points for LCR Honda, but Bagnaia was just able to keep Quartararo at bay in the dying embers.
KTM rider Pedro Acosta claimed important points considering the Austrian marque’s lack of pace so far this weekend.
Jack Miller claimed the final point for Pramac Yamaha, but successfully fended off pressure from Honda rider Luca Marini.
Franco Morbidelli finished a surprise 11th on the GP24 VR46 Ducati, finishing ahead of the second factory Honda rider of Joan Mir.
Maverick Vinales finished in 13th for Tech3 KTM, defeating Fermin Aldeguer, who fell from the top five to 14th.
2024 British Grand Prix race winner Enea Bastianini claimed 15th place, finishing one second clear of the second Pramac Yamaha rider of Miguel Oliveira.
Honda and Aprilia test rider Aleix Espargaro and Lorenzo Savadori claimed 17th and 18th place, defeating Raul Fernandez, Rins and LCR’s Somkiat Chantra.
