After a long month of July, the wait is finally over and the second part of the season kicks off at the iconic racing venue of Silverstone, for the 2023 British GP. These 5 weeks of hiatus has definitely been useful for many teams, as the Qualy session showed the VR46 Ducati from Marco Bezzecchi at the front stop, with Jack Miller and Alex Marquez closing the top 3.

1. Marco Bezzecchi /// 2. Jack Miller /// 3. Alex Márquez
4. Francesco Bagnaia /// 5. Augusto Fernandez /// 6. Luca Marini
7. Jorge Martín /// 8. Maverick Viñales /// 9. Johann Zarco
10. Brad Binder /// 11. Franco Morbidelli /// 12. Aleix Espargaro
13. Enea Bastianini /// 14. Marc Marquez ///15. Pol Espargaro
16. Miguel Oliveira /// 17. Iker Lecuona /// 18. Fabio Di Giannantonio
19. Joan Mir /// 20. Raúl Fernández ///21. Takaaki Nakagami
22. Fabio Quartararo

As the windy afternoon blows at the circuit, riders align for the sprint race, as light turns off and they go underway. It was Jack Miller who took the early lead from Marco Bezzecchi, as Jorge Martin and Alex Marquez and surprisingly, Raul Fernandez were at the top 5 on the first lap of the race. Meanwhile both Ducati riders were far behind, as Bagnaia was running 12th and Bastianini at 14th.

With laps passing by, the leading pack was composed of 7th riders within one second on the gap, as both Aprillia riders Viñales and Aleix Espargaro joined the group, several battles developed at the track, Alex Marquez taking on Miller and Bezzecchi for the lead, Johan Zarco on Aleix Espargaro and a battle for 3th between Viñales and Miller.

Eventually the leading group started to crack up, as Alex Marquez hold a manageable lead, with Marco Bezzecchi on his own and both Aprilia riders at the back, as Jack Miller was getting hunted by Jorge Martin for 5th and eventually overtook by both Pramac riders after going wide on a turn.

As the sprint was coming to an end, it looked like Bezzecchi was going to catch up with Alex Marquez, as The Italian rider closed the gap on the last couple of laps, but the Spaniard was able to keep the distance before the VR46 Mooney bike was able to strike a move. Alex wins his first ever Sprint race with a superb ride, followed by Marco Bezzecchi at 2nd and Maverick Viñales closing the podium step.

1. Alex Marquez /// 2. Marco Bezzecchi /// 3. Maverick Viñales
4. Johann Zarco/// 5. Aleix Espargaro /// 6. Jorge Martin
7. Jack Miller /// 8. Augusto Fernandez/// 9. Brad Binder
10. Miguel Oliveira /// 11. Luca Marini /// 12. Fabio Di Giannantoino
13. Enea Bastianini /// 14. Francesco Bagnaia ///15. Franco Morbidelli
16. Pol Espargaro /// 17. Joan Mir /// 18. Marc Marquez
19. Raul Fernandez /// 20. Takaaki Nakagami///21. Fabio Quatararo
22. Iker Lecuona

Massive performance by Alex Marquez, as the Spaniard seeks to have a better second half of the season. Meanwhile an unexpected setback for the main Ducati bike, as both riders went far behind from expected positions. This could be useful for both Bezzecchi and Martin, as these riders could close the championship gap at tomorrow’s race.

MiniBikers – MotoGP
2023 British GP
Sprint Race