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After a five-week break, MotoGP returned to action at the famous Silverstone Circuit at the weekend for the ninth round of the 2023 series, the British GP.

It was edge of the seat stuff as Spain’s Aleix Espargaro handed the Aprilia factory its first MotoGP race win of the 2023 season when he beat Italian Ducati star Francesco Bagnaia in a last-lap showdown in damp conditions at the British GP.

Making a much better start in the Grand Prix that he had in the sprint race the previous day, Bagnaia slotted into third, behind Spain’s Alex Marquez, before turning that into second position after diving to the inside of Italian Marco Bezzecchi.

Bezzecchi responded immediately, but defending world champion and 2023 series leader Bagnaia was not to be denied as he rode around the outside of his fellow Italian at turn nine.

Bagnaia wasted no time in challenging for the race lead as he overtook Australian Jack Miller just one corner later.

On lap three there was an incident between Maverick Vinales and Miller, with the Aprilia rider unable to make the apex as he challenged for fourth.

Vinales’ move resulted in him going wide while also pushing Miller off the circuit. While the battles intensified at the front, former world champion Joan Mir crashed on lap four.

As Bagnaia set the fastest lap of the race on lap four, Bezzecchi came across the line and bettered his time by just under a tenth of a second.

As Bezzecchi made a small mistake on the approach to turn 15, Alex Marquez saw his Grand Prix end on lap six due to a technical issue.

Bezzecchi then saw his race end after making another mistake at turn 15, however, this time he carried more speed into the corner which resulted in him losing the front-end.

Despite Bezzecchi’s fall seemingly handing Bagnaia a big advantage, the race was far from over as Espargaro began catching the world champion.

Espargaro closed to within four tenths of a second come the end of lap six, before taking another tenth out of Bagnaia’s lead in sector one [lap seven].

With the two leaders still separated by half a second, Vinales began another charge as he overtook Binder for the final spot on the podium at mid-race distance.

The Aprilia rider took four tenths out of the top two as he dragged Binder along with him.

While lap times were similar between the top four riders, Vinales and South African Brad Binder were continuing to close in on Bagnaia and Espargaro.

Bagnaia then saw his lead shrink completely with six laps to go as Vinales made his first move at securing second.

But Espargaro responded straight away which gave the Ducati rider a small advantage once again.

Binder then pounced as both Aprilia riders ran wide at turn 15, while the rain was getting heavier and heavier in the final sector.

Espargaro tried to respond one lap later but Binder was having none of it as he kept hold of second place.

Espargaro then secured second with four laps remaining before catching Bagnaia immediately. Binder was then quickly passed by Vinales who was also showing more pace.

Vinales was then passed by Miguel Oliveira, who had quietly caught the top four and was the fastest rider on circuit for several laps.

Further back, Frenchman Fabio Quartararo was the latest rider to crash after losing a huge chunk of his fiaring after contact with Luca Marini.

At the front, Bagnaia was still unchallenged until the final lap, but that changed when Espargaro produced a sensational move at turn 11 to snatch the GP race victory.

The big picture remains the same, however, with second place enough for Bagnaia to maintain, and actually even stretch, his points advantage at the top of the championship standings

Photo courtesy Aprilia

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