Beast mode deployed as Bastianini does the double

Enea Bastianini came to the British Grand Prix not having won on a Sunday in nine months, and on a Saturday ever. In a 24-hour period, the Italian took two victories in the same one way, and with them, entered the championship conversation that looked to be solely between Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin. 

The Ducati rider hadn’t won since dominating in Malaysia last November, and had – remarkably – never managed a single sprint podium since the short-form races came onto the calendar last year. But Bastianini was at his trademark best as the first half of the season came to a close, and while he’s off to KTM next season, he may well shape how this one ends up. 

Bastianini is renowned – even feared – for his late-race charges from back in the pack, the 26-year-old having an almost supernatural feel for tyre preservation that sees him have grip left for late in races that his rivals squandered laps earlier. At Silverstone, he reprised an old trick and did it twice; he took the lead on lap seven of Saturday’s 10-lap sprint, and on lap 19 of 20 in Sunday’s main race, Martin his victim on both occasions. 

It wasn’t all bad for Martin, though; the Spaniard reclaimed the championship lead he threw away with a crash on the penultimate lap of the previous race in Germany after Bagnaia fell from the Saturday sprint and faded to third on Sunday, Martin’s 10-point deficit after his Sachsenring stumble becoming a three-point lead. 

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With 10 rounds remaining, it’s a margin that’s as good as nothing; what isn’t nothing is Bastianini shaving 18 points off his deficit to the front in two days, meaning ‘The Beast’ is just 49 points adrift of top spot, and likely the only rider who can muscle in on a repeat of last year’s title fight. 

He's on the right bike, too; Sunday’s all-Ducati podium was seventh in a row for the brand, the last time any rider on a bike other than a Ducati was on a rostrum remaining Maverick Vinales’ win in Texas for Aprilia in round three. With Marc Marquez (a muted fourth) and rising star Fabio Di Giannantonio (fifth) trailing the Bastianini-Martin-Bagnaia podium trio, Vinales’ teammate Aleix Espargaro (sixth) was the only non-Ducati inside the top eight, which came after the veteran Spaniard took a superb pole on Saturday. 

The 22-bike field looked resplendent in historic liveries commemorating the 75-year anniversary of the world championship on Sunday, with past giants like Honda and Yamaha reprising their glory days, at least visually. On the timesheets, it’s an internal Ducati fight for the biggest prizes … and it’s one Bastianini looks to be capable of being an increasing part of.

Surprise packet

Given Ducati’s domination, Aleix Espargaro gets a mention here for swimming against the tide at a track where he won last year, the Spaniard upsetting the 2024 form guide to take pole – and by a healthy margin of over two-tenths of a second from Bagnaia.

On his 329th start – only Valentino Rossi (432) and Andrea Dovizioso (346) now have more – Espargaro knew he’d have to do something out of the box to be with Ducati over 20 laps where he was after one in qualifying, and was one of just two riders to run Michelin’s hard front tyre to add some strategic variance into the mix. 

While it worked out to a degree for Espargaro, who finished 9.514secs off the win, fellow Aprilia rider Raul Fernandez wasn’t so lucky; Fernandez was the only other rider to run the hard front, but didn’t make it through one lap before crashing … and taking Trackhouse teammate Miguel Oliveira out with him. 

Number to know

10: That’s 10 different victors of the British GP in the past 10 years after Bastianini’s success; for the record, the nine other winners were Jorge Lorenzo (2013), Marquez (2014), Rossi (2015), Vinales (2016), Dovizioso (2017), Alex Rins (2019), Fabio Quartararo (2021), Bagnaia (2022) and Espargaro (2023).

British Motorcycle Grand Prix: top 10

1. Enea Bastianini (Ducati) 39mins 51.879secs
2. Jorge Martin (Ducati) +1.931secs
3. Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) +5.866secs
4. Marc Marquez (Ducati) +6.906secs 
5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati) +7.736secs
6. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) +9.514secs 
7. Alex Marquez (Ducati) +9.741secs 
8. Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati) +14.016secs 
9. Pedro Acosta (GasGas) +16.386secs
10. Franco Morbidelli (Ducati) +23.609secs

Riders' championship standings (top 5)

1. Jorge Martin (Ducati) 241 points
2. Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) 238 
3. Enea Bastianini (Ducati) 192
4. Marc Marquez (Ducati) 179
5. Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) 130

What's next?

Round 11: Austria (Red Bull Ring), August 16-18