Jorge Martín strengthens his lead with pole position and sprint victory at Silverstone

Spanish rider Jorge Martín (Aprilia) consolidated his MotoGP lead this Saturday with a victory in the sprint race of the British Grand Prix, the twelfth round of the World Motorcycle Championship. He finished ahead of Japan’s Ai Ogura (Aprilia) and Italy’s Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), while Marc Márquez (Ducati) struggled with rear tire wear and could only manage ninth place.

With complete control from start to finish in the ten laps of the Silverstone Circuit, the Madrid native secured his 19th victory in sprint races and reaches 220 points, increasing his lead over Ogura, second in the championship, to 17 points (203). Bezzecchi moves up to third place (193), displacing the rider from Cervera to fourth (191).

Returning to action after the summer break, Martín defended his pole position at the start of the sprint race, having secured it hours earlier, with the championship runner-up, Japan’s Ai Ogura (Aprilia), right behind him. Raúl Fernández (Aprilia), who had started from second place, crashed on lap four and, despite trying to continue, was unable to finish the race.

Meanwhile, Marc Márquez (Ducati) struggled and dropped from fourth on the grid to sixth, with the Italians Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia) and Fabio di Giannantonio (Kalex) battling for the final podium position. The lack of grip from the rear tire took its toll on the rider from Cervera, who in the closing laps lost another three places in the standings, managing to salvage just one point.

Alex Márquez (Ducati) finished fourth, and Pedro Acosta (KTM) and Joan Mir (Honda), sixth and seventh respectively, also finished in the points, a position topped by the nine-time world champion. Alex Rins (Yamaha) was sixteenth, Pol Espargaró (KTM) eighteenth, and Augusto Fernández (Yamaha) nineteenth.

Earlier, in the battle for pole position, Martín set a spectacular time of 1:56.160, a new circuit record, to secure the top starting position ahead of two other Aprilias: Raúl Fernández, who was just 21 thousandths of a second behind, and Ai Ogura.

The second row will be headed by Fabio Di Giannantonio, the first Ducati, followed by Bezzecchi and Marc Márquez. Alex Márquez, Acosta, Lecuona, and Mir also made it into Q2 and will start Sunday’s race seventh, ninth, tenth, and twelfth, respectively.

Alex Rins will start seventeenth, just behind ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia, and Pol Espargaró, Maverick Viñales’ replacement at KTM, will start twenty-first. Wildcard Augusto Fernández will start twenty-third and last.

GUEVARA LEADS SPANISH TOP 5 IN MOTO2

In Moto2, Izan Guevara (Boscoscuro) took pole position with a time of 2:01.48, beating his compatriot Alonso López (Kalex) by three tenths of a second. Iván Ortolá (Kalex) completed the front row, while championship leader Manu González (Kalex) and Dani Muñoz (Kalex) rounded out the Spanish top five.

In a session marked by a scare for Indonesian rider Mario Aji (Kalex), whose crash brought out the red flag but thankfully escaped without serious injury, only Czech rider Filip Salac (Kalex), in sixth place, broke into a top eight that was almost entirely Spanish. Dani Holgado (Kalex) and Alex Escrig (Forward) finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Sergio García Dols (Kalex) will start from sixteenth position.

QUILES OUT FOR SUNDAY IN MOTO3

Finally, in Moto3, Briton Scott Ogden (KTM) was fastest, securing the second pole position of his career and guaranteeing himself a front-row start ahead of Spaniard Adrián Cruces (KTM) and Argentinian Valentín Perrone (KTM). This all happened on a day when championship leader Máximo Quiles (KTM) suffered a crash and could only manage eleventh place. It was later confirmed that he had fractured his right collarbone and would not race on Sunday.

David Almansa (KTM) will start fourth on the second row, which will also include third-placed Álvaro Carpe (KTM) and Adrián Fernández (Honda). Brian Uriarte (KTM), second in the standings, will start seventh, and Joel Esteban (KTM) will start thirteenth. David González (KTM) and Jesús Ríos (Honda) did not make it to Q2, and will start twentieth and twenty-first respectively.