The British weather caused chaos at Silverstone…but not for Valentino Rossi!
MotoGP Silverstone Race Report
Before we get on to the international champions, let’s start with the Brits. In front of a home crowd and putting the paddock umbrellas to good use, our British riders had an exciting weekend. The home-grown star performer was Scott Redding, who achieved his best result of the season for EG 0,0 Marc VDS. Redding is going out with a bang on the Honda, after the announcement that he will join Octo Pramac Racing’s Ducati team in 2016.
Finishing in 6th place, Redding overcame an uncomfortable start and built his confidence throughout the race. He finished as the top British rider on British soil, a satisfying victory in trying conditions. He commented: “I always said that if I could get my best result here I’d be happy…I wasn’t too comfortable in the rain this morning, but I took a risk in the race and it paid off. Overall, I’m happy with today’s result.” We’re happy for him, too – the future is looking bright for British racing despite the dark clouds!
For Monster Yamaha Tech 3, Bradley Smith is a British talent worth hanging on to. Smith’s star is still on the rise, as he achieved 7th place at Silverstone behind his fellow Brit. A resurgent Dovizioso pushed him down 5 points to 6th in the table, but Smith is still a consistent and confident rider, even in the wet.
Smith was happy with the result, but admitted that his pace wasn’t quite up there with the top racers this time. He said: “I have to be quite pleased with the end result as the conditions were far from ideal out there today…I gave my absolute all to stay with the second group in order to try to fight for a podium, but at the end of the day they just had a bit more speed than me.”
Unfortunately, Cal Crutchlow’s string of bad luck doesn’t seem to be over. He ended up as collateral damage after his teammate Jack Miller fell. He rushed to his other bike, but it was set up for dry weather, and even with wet weather tyres it wasn’t able to cope with the slick surface of the Silverstone track. He fell again shortly after leaving the pitlane and was forced to retire.
A defeated Crutchlow refused to blame his teammate for the incident, showing true British sportsmanship. He said: “Jack is young, he was near to the front in a MotoGP race and made an ambitious move. He made a mistake, he apologised and I have accepted his apology…this is racing, but obviously I was very disappointed.” Crutchlow has had a crazy season, balancing frequent crashes with a podium finish in Argentina. Anything could happen in Misano, but we hope the outlook stays sunny for all our British riders.
The championship battle continues…
The loudest singing in the rain came from Valentino Rossi, who took advantage of the difficult conditions to show his full skill set. With a fourth race win now safely under his belt, the Doctor has a healthy 12 point lead on Lorenzo and is back at the top of the table. His expertise saw him glide to victory with a 3.010s gap, when his dry weather pace had been seriously behind his main rivals.
On his first Silverstone victory, the Doctor commented: “I’m very happy and proud of this victory, it’s a great feeling! I think that the last race on the wet that I won was ten years ago…Today I was very fast, I had great confidence with the bike and it’s a fantastic victory at Silverstone, where I never won before, this is the first time!” This excellent result keeps the Doctor on track for his 10th world championship, but it’s all to play for in the next round.
The Misano circuit has been kind to Rossi in the past, with 3 out of 7 wins so far. However, this record equals Lorenzo’s, so on September 13th we could see either of the two Yamaha champions reclaiming the top of the podium. At such a crucial moment in the championship, a win at the San Marino GP could give Rossi the momentum he needs to see off Lorenzo for good.
Jorge Lorenzo didn’t get a look at the podium at Silverstone and had to settle for a hard-won fourth. His dry weather pace was no use on the slippery track, and he knew it. A misted visor also slowed the champion down, meaning that he couldn’t challenge for third.
Lorenzo explained: “I completely lost my vision, because the visor was foggy and had to slow down and lost a chance at the third place, which was a pity. In the rain I didn’t have the same pace as Valentino and Marquez.” There’s no room for minor performance issues at this stage in the championship, and Lorenzo’s title hopes could really suffer from this below-par performance.
Ducati riders shone at Silverstone, with Andrea Dovizioso making his way up from 12th to secure a 3rd place podium finish. We bet he’s relieved to be up there again, after a mixed bag of a season which has seen him retire from three races. The all-Italian podium was completed by the surprise addition of Danilo Petrucci, who popped the champagne for the very first time after a brilliant finish in second.
Petrucci’s wet weather success comes after winning points in every race this season, and he has now achieved the best satellite rider finish since Aleix Espargaro in Aragon 2014. The joyous Octo Pramac Racing rider said: “In the last lap in the last corner I started laughing, as I couldn’t believe it!”
We think it’s safe to say that Marc Marquez‘s title hopes are dead in the water – though he may not agree! For all his blistering performance so far, Marquez is fairly new to the premier class, which you might forget when you see him at his best. In his hurry to keep up with Rossi, Marquez fell on lap 13, after consistently snapping at the Doctor’s heels throughout the race.
The young Spaniard is now an impossible 77 points behind Rossi in the championship standings. He could achieve a maximum of 150 points in the last 6 races… but unless Rossi and Lorenzo come down with a nasty stomach bug, he won’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of winning another MotoGP title this year. Marquez has fought long and hard, and with remarkable determination and skill, and we can’t wait to see what he brings to the table in 2016.
Were you waving your flag at Silverstone and cheering on your favourites? Who’s your pick for 2015 champion? What’s the most exciting thing you’ve seen this season? Leave us a comment and share your take on the 2015 MotoGP.
Want more racing news?
We’ve got coverage of every MotoGP and BSB race this season in the Racing News section of our blog, so you won’t miss out on any of the action! You can also read up on our own Taz Taylor, who did us proud at Silverstone with a 19th place finish in the Moto3 class.
We’ll be back with more MotoGP news and analysis after Misano on September 13th – watch this space!
Photo courtesy of www.motogp.com
