Italy’s Francesco ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia is quietly satisfied with his runner-up finish at the British GP at Silverstone at the weekend after a thrilling race-long battle for victory.
Ducati Lenovo Team rider Bagnaia took the runner-up slot in a thrilling British GP, after leading from the early stages until the final lap, when he was passed by the eventual race winner Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia Racing).
Bagnaia, starting from fourth on the grid, moved into third after the first corner and then took the lead on lap two. Still, despite riding masterfully over the entire race distance, he could not pull out a sufficient advantage over his closest rivals.
With some rain arriving in the final few laps to make matters even more complicated, Bagnaia tried his utmost to hold on to the lead but was passed by Espargaró a few corners before the chequered flag.
Therefore, the rider from Chivasso closed the GP in second place, securing 20 points for the overall standings, increasing his advantage to 41 points over Spain’s Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing Team), who finished sixth on Sunday, and to 47 over Italy’s Marco Bezzecchi, who crashed out on lap two when he was in second position.
“We started with the soft tyre because the conditions weren’t the best, and we were a bit on the limit at the front,” said Bagnaia.
“Then it started to rain, and I could not understand how much I could push. I was quite scared in some parts of the track because it was raining a bit too much.
“I tried to control everything and stay in front, but I saw that Aleix was with more traction, and I was losing time in acceleration. I tried everything, but it wasn’t enough, but I am happy with the result and with the weekend, as today was a good day.
“Yesterday (Saturday’s sprint race day) wasn’t ideal, but today (Sunday) we took what was our objective already yesterday. Races are like this, and we must be happy with what we have done, so it has been a positive weekend for sure.”
The 2023 MotoGP World Championship now heads to Austria for its halfway point, with the competitors next appearing on track in round 10 at the Red Bull Ring – Spielberg on the weekend of August 19-20.
Photo courtesy Ducati
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2023 MotoGP World Champs standings after round nine of 20:
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| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Points | Diff. | |
| 1 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP23) | 214 | ||
| 2 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP23) | 173 | (-41) | |
| 3 | Marco Bezzecchi | ITA | Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP22) | 167 | (-47) | |
| 4 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | 131 | (-83) | |
| 5 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Pramac Ducati (GP23) | 122 | (-92) | |
| 6 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | 107 | (-107) | |
| 7 | Luca Marini | ITA | Mooney VR46 Ducati (GP22) | 107 | (-107) | |
| 8 | Jack Miller | AUS | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | 90 | (-124) | |
| 9 | Alex Marquez | SPA | Gresini Ducati (GP22) | 75 | (-139) | |
| 10 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | Aprilia Racing (RS-GP23) | 74 | (-140) | |
| 11 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 65 | (-149) | |
| 12 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 59 | (-155) | |
| 13 | Augusto Fernandez | SPA | Tech3 GASGAS (RC16) | 49 | (-165) | |
| 14 | Alex Rins | SPA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 47 | (-167) | |
| 15 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | RNF Aprilia (RS-GP22) | 40 | (-174) | |
| 16 | Fabio di Giannantonio | ITA | Gresini Ducati (GP22) | 37 | (-177) | |
| 17 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 34 | (-180) | |
| 18 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP23) | 18 | (-196) | |
| 19 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 15 | (-199) | |
| 20 | Raul Fernandez | SPA | RNF Aprilia (RS-GP22) | 14 | (-200) | |
| 21 | Dani Pedrosa | SPA | KTM Test Rider (RC16) | 13 | (-201) | |
| 22 | Lorenzo Savadori | ITA | Aprilia Factory (RS-GP23) | 9 | (-205) | |
| 23 | Jonas Folger | GER | Tech3 GASGAS (RC16) | 9 | (-205) | |
| 24 | Michele Pirro | ITA | Aruba.it Ducati (GP23) | 5 | (-209) | |
| 25 | Joan Mir | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | 5 | (-209) | |
| 26 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Ducati Lenovo (GP23) | 5 | (-209) | |
| 27 | Stefan Bradl | GER | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 5 | (-209) | |
| 28 | Pol Espargaro | SPA | Tech3 GASGAS (RC16) | 4 | (-210) | |
| 29 | Iker Lecuona | SPA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | 0 | (-214) | |