MotoGP 2016: Flawless Vinales takes first ever win in British GP

Maverick Vinales claims first ever MotoGP win at Silverstone, ahead of Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi.

History continues to be made this year in MotoGP as Maverick Vinales took his first ever win in the premier class at Silverstone. The Spaniard put a flawless show at the British GP, fending off all the rivals by a quite a big margin. This is also the first time in nine years that a Suzuki rider has finished on the top step of the rostrum. Vinales was joined by Cal Crutchlow of LCR Honda (2^nd) and Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi (3^rd) on the podium.

It was not a usual affair at Silverstone this year though. Soon after the lights went off, there was a huge crash involving Loris Baz and Pol Espargaro, forcing the race to be red flagged in the very first lap itself. After the restart, Crutchlow was quick to get off the line from pole but Vinales put the hammer down early on, thereby, ending Crutchlow’s hopes of winning his home gran prix. Vinales took lead in the early laps and then pulled away from other riders like no one’s business! Lap after lap, Vinales put the fastest lap times of the race, leaving others for dead in the race. For the entire race distance of 19 laps, nobody managed to catch a close sight of Vinales's Suzuki, let alone challenge him.

Without taking anything away from Vinales though, it was the battle behind that was the highlight of the British GP this year. That’s because Crutchlow, Rossi, Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Iannone fought tooth and nail with each other to make it to the podium alongside Vinales. It was a proper edge-of-the-seat and nail-biting affair watching these riders tangle with each other to come out on top. Marquez, who’s been riding ‘sensibly’ for the past few races, came back to his own self as he pushed Rossi and Crutchlow with some hard moves. Towards the end of the race, Marquez managed to make it up to second position, but an over-enthusiastic inside pass on Crutchlow saw him clip the LCR Honda rider, which eventually resulted in Marquez running wide while also losing 2^nd and 3^rd position to Crutchlow and Rossi in the process.

Pedrosa managed to finish in 5^th position behind his teammate. Iannone looked strong in the middle part of the race as he was charging ahead of the aforementioned pack in 2^nd position, although he crashed out. His teammate Andrea Dovizioso finished in 6^th position with Aleix Espargaro of Suzuki Ecstar taking the 7^th spot.

Despite being a dry race, reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo struggled yet again for grip and crossed the line eighth. Danilo Petrucci of Octo Pramac Ducati and Alvaro Bautista of Aprilia Racing Team Gresini completed the top ten.

Marquez is now leading the championship by 50 points over Valentino Rossi. Next race is at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.

2016 MotoGP British Grand Prix (04/09/2016)
Silverstone Circuit – 5.906km, 18 turns