Jorge Martin delivered a golden Saturday for Aprilia at Silverstone, winning the Tissot Sprint from pole and leading an Aprilia 1-2-3 for the first time in a Sprint. The result also moved the championship leader 17 points clear of Ai Ogura ahead of Sunday's Grand Prix at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Great Britain.
Martin made the most of his front-row advantage on lap one, leading into Turn 1 while Ai Ogura held second. The pace at the front quickly settled into a controlled rhythm, with Martin building a gap and setting up a landmark result for Aprilia Racing on a day that belonged to the Noale outfit.
Martin controls the Sprint from the front
By lap 4 of 10, Martin was already 0.5s clear of Ogura, and from there the shape of the race began to tilt decisively in Aprilia's favour. Behind him, the fight for the podium intensified, but the leader stayed calm and in control as the laps ticked down.
That made this more than just another Sprint win for Martin. It was his third Tissot Sprint victory of the season, and the manner of it underlined how effective he can be when he is able to dictate the race from the first corner.
Aprilia’s breakthrough 1-2-3
The headline story, though, was the team result. Aprilia finished 1-2-3 in a Sprint for the first time, with Marco Bezzecchi eventually taking third after first working his way past Marc Marquez and then Fabio Di Giannantonio.
Bezzecchi had already moved ahead of Marquez for fourth after Raul Fernandez lost the front at The Loop and crashed out on lap 4, and he later made the key move at Copse with four laps to go. That opened the door to a podium that underlined the strength of the Aprilia package on the day.
Marquez struggles to salvage a point
For Marc Marquez, it was a very different kind of Sprint. The Ducati Lenovo Team rider endured a difficult outing and struggled for rear grip, slipping backwards as the race developed around him.
Alex Marquez passed him at Woodcote, Pedro Acosta and Joan Mir also got through with one and a half laps to go, and Franco Morbidelli pushed him back to ninth on the final lap. Even so, Marquez still claimed the final point by 0.027s, a tiny margin that summed up how hard he had to work just to stay in the scoring positions.
It was a striking contrast between the front and the rest of the field. Martin looked composed, Aprilia looked complete, and the championship picture now carries a little more daylight for the leader heading into the Grand Prix.
