British Grand Prix, Silverstone, MotoGP Race 2017: Dovizioso goes English and Marquez breaks

The British Grand Prix celebrated its 40th anniversary at Silverstone in a storm of blue skies which also saluted the 300th start of Valentino Rossi. There will therefore be something to celebrate and the winner of this twelfth meeting of the year in MotoGP will therefore have something to remember. Would Marc Marquez be the one to better anchor himself at the head of the championship, could the Ducati still surprise or would we find the conquering Yamahas again? All with an Englishman ready to do anything to dominate in front of his audience…  

But before drawing plans on the comets, here is the state of play:

#BritishGP MotoGP™	2016	2017
FP1	2'02.483 Maverick Vinales (see here)	2'02.130 Maverick Vinales (see here)
FP2	2'01.421 Andrea Iannone (see here)	2'00.897 Cal Crutchlow (see here)
FP3	2'00.944 Marc Marquez (see here)	2'01.734 Johann Zarco (see here)
FP4	2'17.678 Marc Marquez (see here)	2'01.060 Jorge Lorenzo (see here)
Q1	2'18.193 Eugene Laverty (see here)	2'00.830 Dani Pedrosa (see here)
Q2	2'19.265 Cal Crutchlow (see here)	1'59.941 Marc Marquez (see here)
Warm Up	2'15.285 Yonny Hernandez (see here)	2'01.622 Andrea Iannone
Course	Vinales, Crutchlow, Rossi (see here)
All time lap record	2'00.234 Marquez 2015

During the warm-up, a Andrea Iannone even remembered his opponents with a Suzuki which had triumphed on this circuit just a year ago with Vinales. The same Vinales now on Yamaha who surprised this morning with a combination of medium and soft tires while the majority of the field opted for hard everywhere. Including Dovizioso who nevertheless affirmed, since the start of this meeting, that these rubbers hardly suited him.

Pedrosa had taken a couple of hard and medium but without convincing and the Yamaha confirmed to suffer in the fourth sector. Finally, we regretted the crime of Folger victim of a very heavy fall apparently due to defective brakes. As for Alex Espargaro, he was preparing to suffer martyrdom on the Aprilia because of ribs so painful as to prevent him from breathing normally... Such was the situation on the starting grid where we were awaiting the final choices concerning the tires for a track at 41°.

Vinales was betting on the soft rear with a hard front like Baptist while all the tenors took a hard couple, including the official Ducatis. Barbera only took software and Baz a medium and a soft rear.

It is Red who undermined politeness Marquez in the first turn. Vinales was already third and bleeding on the rear soft tire. Marquez had a fright at the start but saved the situation and his second place. Dovizioso took fifth place from his teammate Lorenzo at the start of the second of twenty laps of the race. zarco was ninth behind the KTM of Espargaro Pol.

Red began to build a lead over Marquez evolving under the threat of Vinales de Crutchlow and Dovi. The fastest man on the track was then… alex rins on the Suzuki in eleventh place.

 

Three laps completed and Red posted the best lap time and saw his lead go beyond a second over his new challenger: Vinales.

Vinales took the fastest lap while the leading group was completed by Marquez, Crutchlow et Dovizioso. The rest of the peloton led by Lorenzo was already three seconds away with a zarco eighth, behind Pedrosa and under threat of Kidneys leader at Suzuki.

In the fifth round, DesmoDovi settled his account at Marquez. Sam Lowes fell at turn 5.

Twelve laps from the goal, zarco took the best time in the race and became a clear threat for Pedrosa et Lorenzo in the chasing group on the first four, still led by Red, eight tenths ahead Vinales. Dovizioso remained in front of a Marquez followed by a wise man Crutchlow who didn't try anything on the leader Honda.

At exactly the halfway point, Marquez raised his voice with the fastest lap. But the citadel Dovizioso still stood before him. Better still, he dealt the blow to Vinales and passed him in two stages before suffering a counterattack from the Yamaha who lost at the start of the ninth lap.

Marquez understood the message and in turn attacked Vinales, passed him and pounced on the Ducati. Red only had a lead of three tenths. With eight laps to go, were the Yamahas breaking down, as feared?

In the seventh round, Marc Marquez was betrayed by the engine of his Honda. Abandonment was inevitable and the championship was completely relaunched. Dovizioso resumed Red six rounds from the end. With the virtual rank of leader in the general classification!

Crutchlow launched the offensive on Vinales and his third place. zarco worked to get back together Lorenzo in order to take the top 5 announced as the objective. But in fact, with four laps to go, it became clear that victory was going to be a four-way affair...

Three laps from the goal, Dovizioso et Vinales passing Red but Red gave change to his teammate. Who didn't let it count. All under the threat of Crutchlow while Dovizioso was spinning in the English style. Much further, Iannone clung with Petrucci for the account.

Dovizioso won by nothing in front Vinales et Red and Crutchlow. The official Ducati is the new leader of the championship by 9 points on Marquez, 13 on his second of the day and 26 on Red. zarco is sixth. And Pol Espargaro eleventh fell in its deceleration lap.

#BritishGP MotoGP Race: Ranking

1	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	40'45.496
2	25	Maverick VIÑALES	Yamaha	+0.114
3	46	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	+0.749
4	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	+1.679
5	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Ducati	+3.508
6	5	johann zarco	Yamaha	+7.001
7	26	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	+10.944
8	45	Scott REDDING	Ducati	+13.627
9	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	+15.661
10	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Ducati	+25.279
11	44	Pol Espargaró	KTM	+30.336
12	53	Tito RABAT	Honda	+31.609
13	17	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	+31.945
14	8	Hector BARBERA	Ducati	+33.567
15	76	Loris BAZ	Ducati	+33.901
16	43	Jack Miller	Honda	+43.012
17	38	Bradley SMITH	KTM	+48.683
		Not Classified
	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	2 lapses
	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	3 lapses
	29	Andrea Iannone	Suzuki	3 lapses
	93	Marc Márquez	Honda	7 lapses
	22	Sam LOWES	Aprilia	15 lapses