Boris on MotoGP – Silverstone, the sun-baked empire turns up the heat

MotoGP 2022 – Round 12 – Silverstone
Monster Energy British Grand Prix

I thought that bloody summer holiday would never end. For those of us who avidly follow MotoGP, there is only MotoGP because everything else is waiting for MotoGP.

But there is always something going on, even if the riders are off sunning themselves on Spanish beaches, visiting their families, and re-charging for the second half of the season.

Pecco, as we all know, got munted in Ibiza and threw his rent-a-car into a pole. He said sorry. I’m sure he meant it too. Then he went and won the Ducati Race of Champions to remind everyone that he’s a much better rider than he is a driver.

Andrea Dovizioso took time over his break to decide it was time to retire, so his last race will be at Misano, where the Italians will be sure to send him off in style. As they should – he’s been an amazing asset to the sport during his time at the pointy end. I will be sad to see him go.

He will be replaced by Yamaha test-rider and everyone’s favourite feisty Pom and noted gravel-plough, Cal Crutchlow, who will doubtlessly pump heaps of great data into the Yamaha factory team, and maybe scare a few of the racers when he crashes near them. It will be great to have him back, even if it’s only for six races. 

Very few decisions regarding the remaining empty seats for next year were made in the break, and there are still more seats than there are riders, so lots of them will still be singing for next year’s supper, it seems.

Fabulous, the reigning world champion, had only one thing on his mind when he returned for the Silverstone round. That was his long-lap penalty, and what a dint, if any, it would make in his championship lead.

You’ll recall he copped the penalty just before the summer break at Assen when he helped direct Aleix Espargaro into the gravel. Aleix, being Aleix, wanted Fabulous to be shot at dawn for the indiscretion, and has been loudly lamenting to anyone who would listen the short Long Lap section at Silverstone was nowhere near long enough to penalise Fabulous with appropriate cruelty.

As it turned out, it was certainly long enough. For his part, Aleix inflicted more than enough cruelty upon the world by returning with a neon-white dye-job on his bonce – which looks passing strange on a man of his advanced years.

Silverstone served up a sensational bout of weather for the entire weekend, and there were some very interesting and possibly ominous positionings.

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Maverick Vinales seems to have returned from whatever wilderness he’s been in, and was consistently fast in all the Practice sessions. He qualified in second on the grid.

Aleix, who is a serious contender for the title this year, high-sided himself in FP4, and was stretchered off. He was limping badly soon afterward, but then somehow smashed the lap record in Qualifying. Which was great…until the next five blokes also smashed the lap record. Aleix ended up qualifying in sixth.

Zarco was on pole. And Zarco had been fast all weekend. Maverick was beside him, and Jack Miller finished the front row. Jack was also sporting fins on his tail-piece, and Hedgie had suggested Gigi so enjoyed screwing with peoples’ minds, these tail-piece aeros were just another arrow in his quiver of mind-rooters.

Behind them sat Fabulous, Pecco and Aleix, while the third row boasted Bezzechi, the Beast, and Martin. As you can see, the only real surprise on the pointy end of the grid was Maverick.

And it also came as no surprise that Maverick, yet again, fluffed his start. But I was honestly expecting great things, both from Maverick and the race itself. Moto3 had just served up one of the greatest battles ever to grace a racetrack, and I was expecting MotoGP to keep its end of the bargain.

And it did. Zarco was fastest off the line, with Fabulous, Miller, and Pecco chasing hard, and Rins was also making his way through the field very quickly.

The only thing on Fabulous’ mind was the LLP he would have to take as soon as the notification flashed onto his screen – and he had been assiduously practicing it all weekend. Everyone estimated it would cost him maybe a bit more than a second. Which was not a lot.

So his plan seemed to be to stay with Zarco, or maybe pass him in the first lap or two, then take the penalty, and keep on charging. He took it on lap three and it dropped him back to fifth – and he never recovered.

Miller was now the fastest man on the track,  and the top six were now Zarco, Miller, Rins, Peco, Fabulous, Maverick and Martin – and this lot were starting to gap Aleix a little.

Then Zarco crashed. He was coming first and riding hard, then shameful gravel was his world. So Miller, Rins, and Bagnaia started their work, as Fabulous tried to keep them honest. 

Rins, who has always been blisteringly fast at Silverstone, passed Miller. Then Miller passed him back, as third-place Pecco watched and waited for something to go wrong. Rins made his next pass on Miller stick, and he was leading the race.

It had not occurred to me to tip him to win. I had, in a moment of madness, picked Vinales to kick over the apple cart. But he didn’t seem to be doing anything exciting just then. Certainly not like Rins. In fact, Martin was on a charge, and passed first Maverick and then Fabulous, to grab fourth. Miller was struggling to stay with Rins, but Pecco had some serious pace. He passed Miller and set off after the Suzuki, which was almost a second ahead by now.

Aleix conceded his seventh place to Mir, just as Maverick figured it might be time to earn his money. He grabbed fifth of Fabulous and was now the fastest man on the circuit. He was also on a hard rear tyre, which meant he might not have the same issues in the last few laps the others might.

Pecco was closing on Rins, who ran wide on a corner and allowed the Factory Ducati to close right up on him. Four seconds now separated the first 12 riders, and things settled briefly into a snaking holding pattern.

Then Peco pounced on Rins coming into Stowe, while Miller held third, Martin fourth, and Maverick was still the fastest on the track, in fifth. Except then he suddenly wasn’t. Now the Beast was fastest and he was making his move from back in ninth place. 

With eight laps left, Maverick took over from Martin in Village Corner, and Miller passed Rins, which sent him back into Maverick’s accelerating clutches. The Beast was now in seventh and on it hard. This encouraged Mir to trowel it in Turn Seven.

Martin took over from Vinales in fourth place, as the Beast and Fabulous fought over sixth place, and then Vinales took fourth back from Martin. It was hard to look away from the screen.

Four long laps from the end, Pecco had eked out an almost half-second lead on Jack, as Rins and Vinales battled for the last step of the podium. Vinales won that fight, and Martin also went past Rins, relegating him back to fifth. 

Vinales was now betting the pot. He went past Miller and set off after Pecco, and he caught him as well. And he passed him three corners from the end of the race, but couldn’t make it stick and ceded the top step of the podium to the Italian.

The Beast, still charging hard, grabbed fourth from Martin, but Miller managed to hang onto third.

It was a nail-biter, no mistake – made that way by Maverick Vinales, who not so long ago was a candidate for lithium and counselling.

From the championship ladder aspect, Fabulous’s poor showing (8^th) and Aleix’s throbbing-footed ninth, didn’t move the ladder much. But both Pecco and the Beast moved a little closer to them, and there are still eight races to go.

The Austrian drag-strip is next, and in two short weeks we’re really going to see how many Ducatis can fit onto the podium…or will we?

British Grand Prix MotoGP Race Results

MotoGP Championship Points Standings