Fabio Quartararo won his fifth race of the season which takes him 65 points clear in the World Championship with Suzuki’s Alex Rins coming in second to take his first podium of the season, ahead of Aleix Espargaro who crossed the line P3 to secure his first podium and create history by securing Aprilia’s first-ever podium in MotoGP. Let’s have a look at the men who shined and the men who left us wanting more at the 2021 British Grand Prix.
MEN WHO SHINED
After starting third on the grid it hardly took Yamaha Monster Energy’s rider, Fabio Quartararo any time to take the lead off Aleix Espargaro and Pol Espargaro. After securing another race win, it looks as if the Championship might already be over as the young Frenchman holds a strong 65 point lead at the top. It was a great day for Suzuki as Alex Rins crossed the line P2 and got his first podium of the season. Aleix Espargaro, who started from the second row made his way up to P3 and secured Aprilia’s first-ever podium finish in MotoGP but it wasn’t easy as he had to defend the final podium spot against Jack Miller who crossed the line P4. The man who started on pole, Pol Espargaro dropped down the pecking order early in the race but still managed to finish the line in fifth position. Next to cross the chequered flag was Brad Binder on his KTM. The South African did really well over the final few laps with some brilliant maneuvers on Iker Lecuona (P7) and Alex Marquez (P8). The defending world champion Joan Mir could only gain two positions from where he started the race and almost got caught by KTM’s Daniel Petrucci who crossed the line just +00.061 seconds behind Mir to wrap up the top 10 of the British Grand Prix.
MEN WHO LEFT US WANTING MORE
It’s back-to-back poor performances for Ducati’s Johann Zarco as he crossed the line P11 and most probably brought his Championship challenge to an end. Francesco Bagnaia too had another disappointing race. The Italian started second on the grid and it looked as if he was going to secure another podium but as the race went on, we saw him drop positions as he ended up finishing P14. Miguel Oliviera was the one everyone was talking about when he secured three back-to-back podiums but things have turned around as he now finds himself in a poor run of two retirements and a 16th placed finish in his last three races. The riders who left us wanting more the most were Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin. At the start of the race, it looked as if these two will be in contention for the race win but the Honda rider made contact with Martin at Club Corner, which took both the riders out of the race.
STANDINGS:
Riders
With his fifth race win of the season, Fabio Quartararo’s total points tally sums up to 206 points and the Championship seems to be over already as he holds a strong 65 point lead on Joan Mir who sits second with 141 points. A poor race for Ducati’s Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia saw both of them drop a position on the leaderboard with 137 and 136 points respectively. Despite finishing fourth, Jack Miller finds himself stuck in 5th position with 118 points. After winning the Austrian GP and finishing P6 in Silverstone, Brad Binder moved up to 6th position in the Championship with 108 points. Maverick Vinales is P7 but is going to be stuck there as Vinales and Yamaha have agreed to terminate his contract. Miguel Oliviera (85) who had a poor race is stuck on P8 ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro (83) and the rookie Jorge Martin (64).
Constructors
With just six races to go, the Constructors Championship is getting as intense and a race win for Yamaha saw them reclaim their lead in the Constructors Championship. Currently, Yamaha holds a nine-point lead over rivals Ducati who sit second with 225 points. In the third position, we have KTM with 162 points, just four ahead of fourth-placed Suzuki. Honda finds themselves second-last on the table with 115 points and 31 points clear of Aprilia who secured their first podium finish in MotoGP.
The British Grand Prix lived up to its high expectations but the 2021 MotoGP season has a lot more to offer as we head to Spain for the Gran Premio TISSOT de Aragon which takes place this weekend.
[All Images Credit: MotoGP]
Shashank Iyer