After a staggering display of balls-out riding that certainly took Lorenzo by surprise, Silverstone was shaping up to be a two-horse race between Lorenzo and Marquez. Whilst us Brits would love to have seen Cal fighting for the win, this seemed highly unlikely despite an injury to Marc.
The Hondas and Lorenzo's Yamaha dominated
When the lights went out the inevitable happened, Lorenzo took off with Marquez right on his heels. Fairly easily gapping the field the two Spaniards were a class apart. The only question was how long could Marc's injured shoulder hold out as they swapped lap records? Then Dani Pedrosa woke up...
13 to go and the two leaders were joined by Dani, something that didn't seem on the cards after qualifying, while behind Bautista, Rossi and Bradl were embroiled in their customary battle for fourth with Cal a fair distance behind in seventh.
Mid-race and Marc had apparently forgotten that he had dislocated his shoulder a few hours earlier as he continued to harass Lorenzo and keep Dani at bay. But he did look a little tentative in some bends; was that just tyre conservation or the shoulder?
Lorenzo repasses Marquez for the lead
Three laps to go and incredibly Marc stuck it past Lorenzo but then Jorge repaid the compliment and regained the lead a lap later, entering the final lap with a small gap. Could Marc make up the distance? He could but an amazing last series of corners saw Lorenzo take the chequered lag. A win to Lorenzo but you have to admire Marc's determination and ability to shrug off a dislocated shoulder!
Entering his home race leading the championship, Scott Redding not only had a smile on his face but also a flash new Union Jack paint scheme on his bike. Would he leave Northampton as happy? Despite a brief intervention by Nakagami, Scott led virtually the whole Moto2 race and took a much deserved win. The kid is pure class and is certain to make a big impact in MotoGP next year.
Moto3 was another too close to call race with Salom eventually pipping Rins to the win by just 49 thousandths of a second. It doesn't get much closer than that!
MotoGP
1. Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing)
2. Marquez (Repsol Honda Team)
3. Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team)
Moto2
1. Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team)
2. Nakagami (Italtrans Racing Team)
3. Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Racing)
Moto3
1: Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2: Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0)
3: Vinales (Estrella Galicia 0,0)
Brit watch
Cal Crutchlow (MotoGP) - 7
Bradley Smith (MotoGP) - 9
Michael Laverty (MotoGP - CRT) - 19
Scott Redding (Moto2) - 1
Danny Kent (Moto2) - 18
Gino Rea - DNF
John McPhee (Moto3) - 14
Kyle Ryde - (Moto3) - 27
Wayne Ryan - (Moto3) - 30
Over in Germany the Brits had mixed fortunes. Tom Sykes won the first race of the day after a red flag brought proceedings to a premature end. Unfortunately the flag was due to oil on the track, something that caused Camier and Rea to crash with Rea breaking his leg in the accident. In race two Davies took the honours from Laverty and Melandri after another red flag stopped the race. In Supersport Sam Lowes extended his championship lead with another impressive win.
Race one:
1. Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)
2. Melandri (BMW Motorrad Goldbet SBK)
3. Davies (BMW Motorrad Goldbet SBK)
Race two:
1. Davies (BMW Motorrad Goldbet SBK)
2. Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team)
3. Melandri (BMW Motorrad Goldbet SBK)
Championship places:
1: Sykes
2: Guintoli
3: Melandri
Brit watch
Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) - 15, 2
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) - 1, 4
Leon Camier (Suzuki) - DNF, DNS
Leon Haslam (Honda) - 7, 13
Jonathan Rea (Honda) - DNF, DNS
Chaz Davies (BMW) - 3, 1
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