A few months ago, Raúl Fernández seemed more out than in the MotoGP World Championship. For him, it was very hard to understand given his performance on track, never so consistent and sharp in his five years at the top level. Despite the growing frustration over the door slammed in the offices, with most of the 2027 grid spots already taken, he set out to forget the administrative silence and speak on the track, where maybe someone would finally listen to him. And he did. This season saw several podiums and new victories: right at the start in Buriram, then in Montmeló and also in Mugello, where he won his first ‘sprint’. The next Saturday victory came with a display in Assen, where he started a streak of three consecutive Sunday podiums that he rounded off with the second victory of his life in a Grand Prix this weekend in Silverstone.
Read more Netanyahu rejects Trump’s plan for Hamas disarmament
Just before the British GP, the 25-year-old from Madrid had finally signed his hard-fought two-season renewal with the American Trackhouse team, a client of the ultra-competitive Aprilia and his home these last four seasons. The Spaniard capped his personal celebration with an undeniable victory on British soil to the delight of Justin Marks, the busy owner of the group who rarely shows up at races. Fernández’s dominance on the English circuit was such that, within a couple of laps after taking the lead as soon as the lights went out, he already had a two-second advantage over the rest, a cushion he extended to four seconds for much of the race.
“When you get a win like this, something you dream of since you were little, it’s hard to know what to say. I just know I’m really enjoying being on the bike and that we’ve been on a very good run in the last races,” said the day’s winner. “When you’ve been out of these positions for so long, fighting with champions like Jorge or Marc is very difficult, and that’s why my goal is to keep enjoying it to see if I can break that mental barrier of seeing myself fighting for everything,” he added. Fernández took 76 Grand Prix starts to sign his first podium and win at the top level, which came at the end of October last year at Phillip Island. Since then, he has accumulated six podiums in 14 races, a record that has earned him his celebrated continuity at Silverstone, a track with no owner. Twelve different riders have won the last 12 races held here, another fact that illustrates the equality reigning in contemporary MotoGP.
Behind the day’s main protagonist were the official Aprilias of leader Jorge Martín, who comes out strengthened from his return to competition after the summer, and Marco Bezzecchi, heroic after arriving very low on strength to the event following a broken left collarbone four weeks ago. It is the third triple of the year for the Noale factory, undoubtedly the bike setting the pace this year and leading all championship classifications after making the ‘sorpasso’ over the Ducatis effective.
Read more A 61-year-old man dies in a semi-basement explosion in Madrid
Alex Márquez, with a fourth place that should have been a podium if he hadn’t made a mistake a few laps from the end, was the first Desmosedici GP across the finish line, all affected by a worrying lack of traction and excessive tire wear compared to their main title rivals. In a race with up to seven crashes, the most accident-prone of the year alongside the Catalonia GP, Marc Márquez could only be seventh after a defensive weekend. Sixth on the grid and ninth in the ‘sprint’, the defending champion’s feelings on the red Ducati were so bad that he didn’t even respond with his usual grit to the overtakes from his championship rivals, who easily passed him.
After all the contenders arrived at the event close together, Silverstone allowed Martín to put some distance, who with his Saturday win and second place this Sunday now has a 31-point margin over Bezzecchi when 37 points are distributed each weekend. “It has been a solid weekend, I’m happy with the feelings and results, and it will be important to maintain the line in Aragón. When everything is in place, I know I can fight for wins,” assessed Martín, the 2024 champion. Ai Ogura, the stoic Japanese who is Fernández’s teammate at Trackhouse, crashed on lap nine and recorded his second zero of the season to fall 37 points behind the leader in the standings, while the reigning champion is 40 behind and Fabio Di Giannantonio, the other Ducati in the fight, 41. In one of the most closely contested World Championships remembered, even Raúl Fernández seems close to joining the party, now 56 points back.
Read more Jódar crushes Lehecka and reaches the quarterfinals of a Masters 1,000 for the third time
| posrider |
|---|
1 Raúl Fernández |
| 2 Jorge Martin |
3 Marco Bezzecchi |
| 4 Álex Márquez |
| 5 Pedro Acosta |
| 6 Fabio Di Giannantonio |
| 7 Marc Márquez |
8 Brad Binder |
| 9 Luca Marini |
10 Diogo Moreira |
| posrider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Raúl Fernández | APRILIA | 39:45.930 |
| 2 Jorge Martin | APRILIA | +2.538 |
| 3 Marco Bezzecchi | APRILIA | +3.393 |
| 4 Álex Márquez | DUCATI | +4.702 |
| 5 Pedro Acosta | KTM | +6.256 |
| 6 Fabio Di Giannantonio | DUCATI | +6.382 |
| 7 Marc Márquez | DUCATI | +9.550 |
| 8 Brad Binder | KTM | +22.288 |
| 9 Luca Marini | HONDA | +23.845 |
| 10 Diogo Moreira | HONDA | +25.411 |
| posrider |
|---|
| 1 Raúl Fernández |
| 2 Jorge Martin |
| 3 Marco Bezzecchi |
| 4 Álex Márquez |
| 5 Pedro Acosta |
| 6 Fabio Di Giannantonio |
| 7 Marc Márquez |
| 8 Brad Binder |
| 9 Luca Marini |
| 10 Diogo Moreira |
| posrider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Raúl Fernández | APRILIA | 39:45.930 |
| 2 Jorge Martin | APRILIA | +2.538 |
| 3 Marco Bezzecchi | APRILIA | +3.393 |
| 4 Álex Márquez | DUCATI | +4.702 |
| 5 Pedro Acosta | KTM | +6.256 |
| 6 Fabio Di Giannantonio | DUCATI | +6.382 |
| 7 Marc Márquez | DUCATI | +9.550 |
| 8 Brad Binder | KTM | +22.288 |
| 9 Luca Marini | HONDA | +23.845 |
| 10 Diogo Moreira | HONDA | +25.411 |
See full classification
| posrider |
|---|
| 1 Jorge Martin |
| 2 Marco Bezzecchi |
3 Ai Ogura |
| 4 Marc Márquez |
| 5 Fabio Di Giannantonio |
| 6 Raúl Fernández |
| 7 Pedro Acosta |
| 8 Francesco Bagnaia |
| 9 Álex Márquez |
| 10 Luca Marini |
| posrider | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Jorge Martin | APRILIA | 240 |
| 2 Marco Bezzecchi | APRILIA | 209 |
| 3 Ai Ogura | APRILIA | 203 |
| 4 Marc Márquez | DUCATI | 200 |
| 5 Fabio Di Giannantonio | DUCATI | 199 |
| 6 Raúl Fernández | APRILIA | 184 |
| 7 Pedro Acosta | KTM | 163 |
| 8 Francesco Bagnaia | DUCATI | 143 |
| 9 Álex Márquez | DUCATI | 106 |
| 10 Luca Marini | HONDA | 86 |
| posteam |
|---|
| 1 APRILIA |
| 2 DUCATI |
| 3 KTM |
| 4 HONDA |
| 5 YAMAHA |
| posteam | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 APRILIA | APRILIA | 836 |
| 2 DUCATI | DUCATI | 786 |
| 3 KTM | KTM | 323 |
| 4 HONDA | HONDA | 203 |
| 5 YAMAHA | YAMAHA | 120 |
| posrider |
|---|
| 1 Jorge Martin |
| 2 Marco Bezzecchi |
| 3 Ai Ogura |
| 4 Marc Márquez |
| 5 Fabio Di Giannantonio |
| 6 Raúl Fernández |
| 7 Pedro Acosta |
| 8 Francesco Bagnaia |
| 9 Álex Márquez |
| 10 Luca Marini |
| posrider | Team | Pts |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Jorge Martin | APRILIA | 240 |
| 2 Marco Bezzecchi | APRILIA | 209 |
| 3 Ai Ogura | APRILIA | 203 |
| 4 Marc Márquez | DUCATI | 200 |
| 5 Fabio Di Giannantonio | DUCATI | 199 |
| 6 Raúl Fernández | APRILIA | 184 |
| 7 Pedro Acosta | KTM | 163 |
| 8 Francesco Bagnaia | DUCATI | 143 |
| 9 Álex Márquez | DUCATI | 106 |
| 10 Luca Marini | HONDA | 86 |
See full classificationSee full classification
