Bastianini wins British MotoGP, claims first grand prix victory of 2024

Ducati’s Enea Bastianini wins his first grand prix of the season, completing a MotoGP double at Silverstone.

Enea Bastianini of Ducati won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone to complete a weekend double, taking the chequered flag ahead of new world championship leader Jorge Martin and twice MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia.

Bagnaia, who qualified second on the grid for Sunday’s main race, led pole-sitter Aleix Espargaro on the opening lap, but found himself in the battle for third in the second part of the race after Martin overtook him with eight laps to go.

Frontrunner Martin was in control of the contest and looked on course for victory. On the penultimate lap, the Pramac Racing Ducati rider ran wide at turn three, allowing Bastianini to take over the lead.

A dominant final lap-and-a-half saw Bastianini gap Martin with immediate effect to take the win, while Bagnaia narrowly held off six-times MotoGP champion Marc Marquez for the final podium position.

“It has been a very difficult race because I made some mistakes in the start and was in the fourth place, but after I was confident…,” said Bastianini, who also beat Martin to win the sprint race on Saturday.

“I closed the gap to Aleix [Espargaro] and to Pecco [Bagnaia]. The last four to five laps, Jorge [Martin] pushed a lot and it was too difficult to close the gap to him.”

Martin now leads the championship by three points, with reigning champion Bagnaia dropping to second place and Bastianini maintaining his hold on third. Marquez sits fourth in the standings.

The next MotoGP race is the Austrian Grand Prix on August 18.