A technical problem caused Brad Binder to withdraw from the British Grand Prix in South Africa before it had got underway. Italian rider Enea Bastianini emerged victorious from the MotoGP competition.
The Red Bull KTM rider just made it off the starting line due to an apparent clutch problem, and he finished sixth on the grid.
In the meantime, Jorge Martin of Spain took back the lead in the championship as Bastianini of Ducati completed the British MotoGP double.
In the final two laps, Bastianini overtook Martin to add to his sprint triumph on Saturday. The Spaniard took second place and reclaimed his lead over Francesco Bagnaia in the overall riders’ championship.
Martin of Ducati-Pramac was 10 points behind Bagnaia, the winner of the previous four grand prix, when he arrived at Silverstone. However, he passed the Italian back into the lead after finishing second in both the sprint and grand race.
I’m really pleased with this because we regained the lead,” Martin remarked.
By the time the main race on Sunday came around, the two were separated by just one point, and as Martin finished in second position, he currently leads the Ducati rider by three points.
With nine circuits to go on Sunday, Martin took the lead in the race but was unable to stop the unstoppable Bastianini.
“As soon as I saw Enea was catching, I tried to keep it constant, to try to manage a bit for the end, but he was much stronger today,” the Madrid native, 26, stated.
Enea deserves congratulations because he was exceptional.”
Bagnaia crashed out of the sprint and then gave up the lead early in the grand prix race, making it a forgettable weekend for him.
However, after putting on an incredible late effort to win the sprint to the double, his countryman Bastianini will remember Silverstone 2024 with joy.
Begun on the front row, Bagnaia surged ahead from the flag but was eventually caught by Martin, who had started on the second row, shortly after the halfway point.
After passing Bagnaia on lap 14, Bastianini quickly moved up to the two leaders and, on turn three of the 19th lap, he made his move to go clear of Martin and race to the finish line.
“It was a really challenging race,” Bastianini remarked.
“Jorge pushed hard in the final four or five circuits, making it challenging to catch up to him. However, in the final two or three laps, I always have something more, and today was no exception.
“It’s arrived this second victory consecutive and I’m really satisfied.”
Six-time world champion Marc Marquez of Ducati-Gresini came in fourth, followed in fifth place by Ducati-VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio.
