MotoGP Silverstone: Aleix Espargaro wins after sublime final lap overtake on Francesco Bagnaia

Aleix Espargaro wins Aprilia's first MotoGP race of the 2023 season after beating Francesco Bagnaia in a last-lap showdown. 
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia MotoGP Silverstone 2023
Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia MotoGP Silverstone 2023

Unable to hold off the defenses of Jack Miller like in the sprint, ▨Marco Bezzecchi had to slot in P2 as the KTM rider led the waᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚy ahead of three Ducati riders and Maverick Vinales. 

Making a much better start in the Grand Prix, Bagnaia went forward as opposed to backwards as he claimed P3 off Alex Marquez, before turning that into P2 after divi💯ng to the inside of Bezzecchi.

Bez💞zecchi responded immediately, howev꧒er, the world champion was not to be denied as he rode around the outside of his fellow Italian at turn nine.

Bagnaiꦅa wasted no time in challenging for the race lead as he overtook Miller just one corner later.

On lap three there was an incident between Maverick Vinales and Miller, with the Aprilia rider unable to make the apex as he challenged for 🐈P4.

Vinal𓆏es’ move resulted in him going wid༺e while also pushing Miller off circuit. While the battles intensified at the front, Joan Mir suffered a fall on lap four. 

As Bagnaia set the fastest lap of the race on lap four, Bezzecchi came across the line and bettered his time by🌼 just under a tenth.  

As Bezzecchi made a small mistake on the approach to turn 15, Alex Marquez saw his Grand Prix end on lap six due to a tec♕hnical issue. 

Bezzecchi then saw ♉his race end after making another mistake at turn 15, however, this time he carried more speed i😼nto the corner which resulted in him losing the front-end. 

Despitꦰe Bezzecchi’s fall seemingly handing Bagnaia a big advan𒉰tage, the race was far from over as Espargaro began catching the world champion.

Espargaro closed to within four tenths come the end of lap six, before taking another tenth out of Bagnaia’s lead in s🅺ector one [lap seven].

With the two leaders still separated by 💜half a second, Vinales began another charge as he overtook Binder for the final spot on the podium at mid-race distance. 

The Aprilia rider took four tenth🌠s out of the top two as he dragged Binder along with hi♌m. 

While lap times were similar between the top four riders, Vinales and Bi🍸nder were continuing to close in on Bagnaia and Espargaro. 

Bagnaia then saw his꧃ lead shrink completely with six laps to go as Vinales made his first move at securing P2.

But Espargaro responded straight away which ga🌺ve the Ducati rider a smal𝓀l advantage once again. 

Binder then pounced 🐼as both Aprilia riders ran wide at turn 15, while the rain was getting heavier and heavier in the final sector. 

Espargaro tried to respond one lap later but Binder was having none of itꦛ as he kept hold of P2.&♌nbsp;

Espargaro then secu🎃red P2 with four laps rem🍷aining before catching Bagnaia immediately. Binder was then quickly passed by Vinales who was also showing more pace. 

Vinales was then passed by Miguel Oliveira, who had quietly caught the top four and was the fastest rider on circuit for several ওlaps. 

Further back, Fabio Quartararo was the latest rider to crash after losing a huge chunk of his fiaring after contact with♎ Luca Marini. 

At the front,🤪ꦫ Bagnaia was still unchallenged until the final lap but that changed when Espargaro produced a sensational move a turn 11.

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