Fernandez secures dominant British MotoGP victory, Martin extends championship lead

LONDON (Agencies): Trackhouse Racing’s Raul ​Fernandez led from the opening lap to win the British MotoGP on Sunday, capitalising on ‌an early setback for championship leader Jorge Martin at Silverstone. Spaniard Fernandez swept past pole-sitter Martin into Turn One and never looked back, stretching his advantage to more than four seconds before taking the chequered flag 2.54 seconds clear. The ​victory was the Spaniard’s second in MotoGP and his first since last year’s Australian Grand ​Prix, completing an impressive recovery from a crash in Saturday’s sprint.  “I am really ⁠happy for the team. Yesterday I was quite frustrated after my mistake. But we are human, ​and it is part of the sport,” Fernandez said. Spain’s Martin, who won the sprint, was hampered at the ​start when his ride-height device failed to disengage at Turn One, dropping him behind Marc Marquez and fellow Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi. The championship leader recovered to reclaim second from Bezzecchi on lap nine but was unable to get ​close enough to challenge Fernandez.

Martin’s runner-up finish extended his championship lead to 31 points, with ​Bezzecchi, who finished third, moving up to second in the standings. Ogura lost ground after his first retirement of the ‌season, ⁠falling 37 points behind Martin. “The results here are a big boost of confidence for me and the team,” Martin said. “It seems like we found a bit of direction to get the momentum on our side now. The race was fantastic. I made a small mistake at the start, but I am ​glad I was able to ​fight back.” Defending ⁠world champion Marc Marquez endured another difficult afternoon, finishing seventh after starting sixth on the grid and dropping to fourth in the standings. Bezzecchi faced stiff ​competition from Gresini Racing’s Alex Marquez, who made a late mistake and ​dropped back. Alex ⁠Marquez continued to put pressure on Bezzecchi, but was unable to chase him down as the Aprilia rider finished third to secure his second podium of the weekend. The result was particularly significant for Bezzecchi, ⁠who led ​the championship earlier this season and was recording his first ​Sunday finish since winning his home Italian Grand Prix at the end of May. Alex Marquez came fourth, KTM’s Pedro Acosta fifth ​and VR46 Racing’s Fabio Di Giannantonio sixth.