APRILIA DOMINATES AT SILVERSTONE AS JORGE MARTIN WINS THE SPRINT AHEAD OF AI OGURA

Jorge Martin converted pole into a commanding Sprint victory at Silverstone, leading every lap and extending his advantage in the MotoGP standings. Motorsport.com reported that he nailed the start, faced only a brief challenge from Ai Ogura in the middle stages, then pulled clear in the final laps. Autosport added that Martin led every lap of the half-distance race and only encountered Ogura’s threat during the middle stint before easing away. The result delivered an Aprilia 1-2-3, with Ogura second and Bezzecchi third, while Marc Marquez struggled through the race.

The Aprilia story, though, was Marco Bezzecchi’s return to the podium after a difficult run of setbacks. MotoGP News noted that Bezzecchi’s last Sprint podium had come in Hungary, and his last Grand Prix podium—and last point—was at Mugello. His form had been disrupted further when Martin “wip[ed] him out in Hungary,” and Bezzecchi was later suspended from the Czech GP for punching a marshal. Just before the summer break, Bezzecchi suffered a “complete” collarbone fracture at the German GP and was ruled out, leaving him still not 100% fit at Silverstone. Despite that, the 27-year-old showed strong pace on Friday and Saturday: he set the lap record in practice and was challenging for pole in qualifying, only for his rear wing to fly off, forcing him to settle for fifth. In the Sprint itself, he fought with Marc Marquez on the opening lap and then moved up to third, taking P3 in a major emotional moment in parc fermé. MotoGP News reported that Bezzecchi was in tears as he stepped off the bike, and Martin offered his congratulations.

Martin said via TNT Sports 2: “A lot of work during the summer, and all the work we did was worth it, so I’m really, really happy.” He added: “Today, what can I say? Incredible job, congrats to all the Aprilia team. Congrats also to Marco, because after what he suffered, it’s crazy that he’s on the podium again.” Motorsport.com also quoted Martin explaining that switching back to an older-spec base package helped him climb “out of the hole he was in” and rediscover his winning form. He also explained his race management, saying: “Yeah, today was a difficult race. I tried to be as fast as possible, trying to manage. At the end, I had no rear tyre, so I thought Ai would catch me, but I was able to manage the distance.”

Speedweek underlined how Aprilia’s sweep came with Martin extending his championship lead by a further three points to 17 over Ogura. It also stressed Marquez’s lack of rear grip, describing him as having been “chancenlos” and dropping to ninth, earning only a single championship point—taking his deficit to Martin up to 29.

The Sprint’s 10 laps were also shaped by extreme tyre graining, with Martin admitting he was “in really big trouble” after just four laps. He said he was managing from the first lap, and when he realised Ogura might close, he focused on keeping the gap: “At that point I thought, ‘Okay, they are even worse than me’.” He added that he avoided opening the throttle fully—“trying to wait until the grip is there”—and expected Sunday to be slower and more constant.

While Aprilia dominated the front of the Sprint, a potential 1-2-3-4 was lost when Raul Fernandez crashed out. Crash.net reported that Fernandez said the incident was “100% my mistake,” but also described it as “a consequence of a really bad start,” linked to a clutch issue that affected his launch and left him feeling vibrations when he released the clutch.

With the Sprint setting up Sunday’s grid, Crash.net confirmed Martin starts from pole for the 20-lap Silverstone race at 13:00 local time, with Fernandez and Ogura completing the front row. Bezzecchi lines up alongside Marc Marquez on the second row, while Fabio di Giannantonio starts fourth ahead of Bezzecchi. The article also noted there are currently no penalties.