Fabio Quartararo shortly before the award ceremony after his fifth triumph of the season – the Monster Energy Yamaha rider is in absolute top form and inflicted a serious defeat on his toughest competitors in the fight for the world title this weekend.

Two outstanding World Championship leaders and an Italian veteran

In a separate article, we will shed light on that in England, with the crash between Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin, it was not the first time that fairness fell by the wayside. For our side, the failure to punish the six-time MotoGP world champion should have far-reaching consequences, this should be said in advance. Due to the terrible breakdown of the Spanish MotoGP marketing company Dorna, however, many fans did not even hear via livestream what was going on during the race in the premier class. For more about the bankruptcy for MotoGP fans and subscription customers, see our report on the MotoGP race on this page. But luckily there were some events on the sporting side that were very enjoyable and which are worth reporting on. And that is what this article should go into, because the trip to Silverstone was worth it in the end, primarily for this reason. It was primarily two outstanding leaders in the World Cup interim rankings who wrote this chapter, plus a veteran from the country with the shape of a boot.

Remy Gardner ahead of Marco Bezzecchi and Sam Lowes with the sparse Marquez fan stand in the background – the fans of the number 93 were once again bitterly disappointed by their idol, as in the second run of Spielberg.

Only for the second time this season after Mugello – not a Spanish anthem

After Le Mans last year and Mugello at the end of May this year, there was a weekend in England for the second time in 2021 when the Spanish national anthem was not heard in any class at the award ceremony. In MotoGP, which has been dominated by the Spanish marketing company and for many years by the riders of this country, this is an absolute rarity and therefore worth a special mention. The many spectators and fans owed this to three drivers who made their mark on Sunday in their category. First, a Frenchman should be mentioned, who grew up on the Iberian Peninsula from his teenage years, but is a native French and currently does the sport in his country credit. Born in Nice, according to his compatriot Johann Zarco, in contrast to himself, he went through the so-called Spanish racing driver’s school, but for him the Marseillaise, which is well worth listening to, was played at the award ceremony.

Marc Marquez and his Repsol Honda – the little Spaniard had his third crash of the weekend in the race and that wasn’t enough, he also got Ducati rookie Jorge Martin out of the race. Many observers see the fact that the 6-time MotoGP world champion was not punished for this as simply scandalous and a shame for the sport.

Fabio Quartararo – the towering figure of the MotoGP of 2021
All the spectators caught their breath when the fast Frenchman held his left lower leg after his fall in FP2 on Friday afternoon. Afterwards he was only able to get up and walk on his own with difficulty, but nevertheless he started the race from row one on Saturday and was the dominant man from lap five onwards. Within just six rounds, he already had a lead of over 3 seconds over his closest pursuers. From then on the cheese was bitten and as a five-time winner, the Yamaha Hope extended its lead in the World Cup from 47 to 65 points. The dominator of the first two thirds of the season can now calmly heal his ankle injury before the next round in Aragon in two weeks. The battle for second place is particularly exciting behind him at the moment. Only five points separate Joan Mir in second place from Pecco Bagnaia, who is currently fourth and was overtaken by Johann Zarco, although he missed the top ten.

One of the most dangerous moments for Fabio Quartararo in the 2021 season – when he cracked his left ankle after a crash, after which he could barely walk. However, this did not prevent the Monster Energy Yamaha rider from riding fast.

The previous MotoGP season at a glance

It is incredible that Maverick Viñales and Miguel Oliveira kept their placements without scoring points at Silverstone. While the Catalan had to watch after his early release by Yamaha, the Portuguese missed the points in England. The cut of World Cup leader Quartararo is remarkable compared to his pursuers. The reigning world champion is only slightly below his value from the previous year, but the Suzuki rider’s meandering results are currently not enough to press the French. Before the weekend of the British GP, he defiantly claimed in an interview that the Yamaha ace would definitely make mistakes during the course of the season. However, with an increase in the last third of the year, he will hardly be able to defend his title on his own. He now has to attack urgently and runs the risk of losing points again with mistakes, as at Le Mans, instead of making up for the current front-runner. In Aragon, he was beaten in both races by his team-mate Rins in both races at Silverstone in 2020, which means that he will be under tremendous pressure there in two weeks’ time. This also applies to a certain extent to Johan Zarco, who is already the best Ducati rider in the World Championship and was the most successful of the Reds in Aragon last year on the two-year-old Ducati GP-19 ahead of Dovi.

The only race of the 2021 season that has so far started as a rain race is highlighted in blue.

Remy Gardner and his masterpiece at the British Grand Prix

The Australian had his MotoGP ticket in his pocket very early in the season, as we reported on April 5, 2021 as the first portal worldwide. With his sovereign victory, the son of the 500 world champion from 1987 laid an important basis for trying, like Quartararo in the premier class, to manage his lead without taking any risks for the next rounds. Because his team-mate and first pursuer in the World Championship classification lost a lot of points due to his fall, the Spanish rookie now has more and more pressure from Marco Bezzecchi, who is only 8 points short of second in the intermediate classification. Romano Fenati also made good ground in Moto3 for the Spaniards Acosta and Garcia ahead of him. Like his compatriot Bezzecchi, the Italian creates a lot of tension in the smallest category when it comes to the title fight.

Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing VR46 Kalex) had to admit defeat to World Championship leader Remy Gardner at the British GP and for Aragon, after two crashes in the previous year, he should see the chequered flag in two weeks.

The Silverstone Circuit

The status of all classes in the World Championship at a glance

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© MotoGP).