MotoGP: Quartararo dominates as Espargaro seals first MotoGP podium for Aprilia

Round 12 of the 2021 MotoGP World Championship, the British Grand Prix, took place in Silverstone. Despite somewhat threatening skies, the race started dry as Pol Espargaro started from pole position for the first time with HRC.

Pol Espargaro made the holeshot and led the early laps. It took Fabio Quartararo a few laps to get into his rhythm, but once he did he was able to cut through from fourth to the lead by lap five. 

Once there, there was no hope for the rest, as Quartararo built a three-second lead and escaped to a relatively comfortable victory. With neither Joan Mir nor Francesco Bagnaia in the podium battle, it was a critical day for Quartararo’s championship hopes, as his points lead extended to 66 points. 

The battle for second was more intense. Pol Espargaro held it after he was passed by Quartararo, but he was passed by his brother, Aleix, on lap six at the Vale chicane. The #44 lost third place two laps later to Alex Rins, who was looking strong and was eventually able to overcome Aleix Espargaro on lap 12 at the same place as he passed Pol Espargaro. 

Jack Miller was the next rider to pass the #44 Honda, as Espargaro made a mistake at Stowe on lap 15. 

Miller was coming on strong, and was able to join the podium fight with Rins and Aleix at the end of the race. 

Rins was able to escape slightly with second in the closing stages, and Miller dug deep to close in on Espargaro on the final lap. Miller made his move at Village, but Espargaro showed excellent race craft to square off the Australian at the Loop, allowing him to get the inside at Aintree, which compromised Miller’s run onto the straight before Brooklands. Espargaro covered the inside into Brooklands, and crucially did not run wide, and unlike Marc Marquez in 2013, Espargaro held it tight to the inside at Luffield, forcing Miller to look around the outside and square the corner off. Miller, though, was without options, and Espargaro maintained good traction through the final corner to take his first podium since Aragon 2014, and Aprilia’s first ever in a four-stroke MotoGP race. 

But Fabio Quartararo was unmatched on his way to a fifth race win of the season, which is the most for a Yamaha rider in one season since Jorge Lorenzo managed it in 2015, on his way to the title. Additionally, it is the first Yamaha win in Silverstone since Valentino Rossi was victorious in the wet in 2015, and the first dry victory for Yamaha at the British track since Lorenzo won in 2013. 

Unlike Lorenzo in 2015, though, Quartararo looks relatively at ease in this title fight. He is the only rider, other than Jack Miller, to have won more than once this season, and is the only one to have been competitive in every track, both over one lap and in the race scenario. With two races in Misano coming up over the next couple of months and with Yamaha’s recent form in that track, it must be said that Quartararo is now looking quite undeniable with respect to the 2021 MotoGP title.

Alex Rins found his best performance of the season to take second. Hopefully for the Spaniard he will be able to build on this in the coming races, now he has been able to match speed with consistency, and held both – under considerable pressure – from lights-to-flag. 

A first podium in MotoGP for Aprilia comes at the perfect moment, having just announced Maverick Vinales in the break between Austria and Silverstone. And, for Espargaro, it is a justification for his long-term faith in both Aprilia and himself, as well as for Aprilia’s faith in him. It also sends, for Vinales, two messages: firstly, that the RS-GP is capable of fighting for podiums; and, secondly, that his teammate is not a rider to be taken lightly. 

Jack Miller just missed out on the podium in fourth, but it was a good ride and response from the Australian after two difficult races in Austria. He finished a few seconds clear of Pol Espargaro, who had his best weekend of the season and capped that with a season-best top five. 

Brad Binder suffered at the start of the race, but as the grip diminished he became stronger, picking off riders in the end to finish sixth, ahead of Iker Lecuona who took a career-best MotoGP finish of seventh place. 

Alex Marquez was strong in the first half of the race, but was overcome by the two aforementioned KTMs at the end. The Spaniard finished eighth in the end, ahead of Joan Mir.

Mir was one of three riders, in particular, who seemed to struggle with tyres. Both he and Francesco Bagnaia matched Fabio Quartararo’s choice of front tyre, with all three championship contenders choosing the soft option. Unlike Quartararo, though, Mir and Bagnaia struggled to make it work, and in the end suffered a lot  after the first five-to-eight laps. Bagnaia, in particular, suffered heavily, and finished down in 14th.

Danilo Petrucci completed the top 10, another decent ride from a KTM rider, ahead of Johann Zarco in 11th. Enea Bastianini seemed to be struggling in the middle of the race, having been passed by Esponsorama teammate, Luca Marini, but the #23 came on strong at the end to finish 12th, ahead of Takaaki Nakagami, the aforementioned Bagnaia, and Marini who took the final point in 15th. 

Miguel Oliveira completed a poor weekend with 16th, ahead of Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi, who was the third rider who in particular seemed to struggle with tyres, lapping over one second slower than Moto2 pole position on the final lap. The only rider to finish behind Rossi was his rookie and stand-in teammate, Jake Dixon, who certainly did not disgrace himself this weekend, and finished last of the 19 finishers.

The only two retirements came in the opening stages when Marc Marquez mis-judged a cut-back move on Jorge Martin at turn nine, and had to sit up to avoid the kerb. In doing so, Marquez hit Martin, and they both crashed. Marquez could not get his Repsol Honda going again, while Martin re-joined only to retire in the pits at the end of the lap.