MotoGP 2026

Round 12 – Silverstone

The three-week summer break is over, and the MotoGP paddock is heading for Britain, with Silverstone hosting Round 12 and opening the second half of the 2026 World Championship.

There is almost no breathing room at the front of the standings. Only 24 points separate the leading five riders, the smallest margin ever recorded between the top five at this point of a MotoGP season.

Jorge Martín leads for Aprilia with 208 points, but Ai Ogura has closed to within 14 points after becoming the highest-scoring rider across the championship’s most recent seven rounds. Marc Márquez sits third, defending Silverstone winner Marco Bezzecchi is fourth, and Fabio Di Giannantonio holds fifth on 184 points.

There are another 37 points available across Saturday’s Sprint and Sunday’s Grand Prix, leaving ample scope for the championship order to change before the paddock leaves Britain.

Silverstone – fast, wide and unforgiving

Built on the site of a former Royal Air Force base, Silverstone first hosted the British motorcycle Grand Prix in 1977. The event returned in 2010 with the substantially revised 5.9-kilometre layout, which remains the longest lap on the MotoGP calendar.

Its eight left-hand and ten right-hand corners include some of the fastest and most recognisable sequences in motorsport. Riders must negotiate the rapid changes of direction through Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel, while the circuit’s 770-metre longest straight allows the MotoGP machines to approach 340 km/h.

The width of the circuit opens up several possible lines through its faster corners, but its length makes it difficult to assemble a clean qualifying lap. A minor error early in the lap can compound through the remainder of the lap.

Silverstone’s asphalt is not considered especially abrasive, although the sustained high-speed cornering, heavy braking and long periods of acceleration place significant loads through both tyres.

This year’s move from late May to August has prompted Michelin to broaden its allocation. Riders will have three symmetric front slicks in Soft, Medium and Hard compounds, rather than the usual two choices, while the Soft rear has been made stiffer to cope with potentially higher track temperatures.

The rear slicks will be asymmetric, with the right side reinforced to account for the circuit’s greater number of right-hand turns.

British conditions can still change quickly, so Friday’s work assessing tyre combinations could prove particularly valuable should temperatures or rainfall move outside the anticipated window.

Five riders covered by 24 points

Championship leader Jorge Martín has combined outright speed with greater consistency aboard the Aprilia RS-GP26. His double victory in France remains one of the high points of his campaign, but he has not established the sustained domination needed to escape the increasingly crowded group behind.

Martín also has strong Silverstone form. He finished second in both the Sprint and Grand Prix in 2024, while Aprilia has won two of the past three British Grands Prix through Aleix Espargaró in 2023 and Marco Bezzecchi in 2025.

Bezzecchi’s participation remains subject to a medical examination after surgery on the left collarbone he injured during qualifying at Sachsenring. He has also undergone a procedure to clean a wound on his left knee and acknowledges that he will not be back to full fitness.

Silverstone is nevertheless a particularly encouraging venue for his return. It was here that Bezzecchi claimed his first victory as an Aprilia rider last season, after previously qualifying on pole at the circuit in 2023.

Ogura and Trackhouse carry serious momentum

Ai Ogura has emerged as the strongest scorer in the field since the Spanish Grand Prix, collecting 157 points across that period compared with 145 for Marc Márquez and 134 for Fabio Di Giannantonio.

The Japanese rider’s recent sequence has included two second-place finishes at Brno, his maiden MotoGP victory at Assen, and another runner-up finish at Sachsenring. Those results have elevated the second-year MotoGP rider to second in the championship, only 14 points behind Martín.

Silverstone was the site of one of Ogura’s lowest moments in 2025, when a fast Friday high-side caused a knee injury that ruled him out of subsequent rounds.

His situation is substantially different twelve months later. The RS-GP26 has become one of the most complete motorcycles in the field, and Ogura now regards the high-speed, flowing corners he once disliked as one of his strengths.

Trackhouse team-mate Raúl Fernández has also been in excellent form. The Spaniard won the Sprint at Assen before finishing second to Ogura in Sunday’s race, then backed that result up with third place in Germany.

Fernández is sixth in the championship and has yet to record a top-five Grand Prix result at Silverstone, but the circuit’s fast corners, open entries and heavy reliance on aerodynamic stability should give the latest Aprilia package an opportunity to operate close to its potential.

Márquez keeps closing

Marc Márquez reaches Silverstone third in the championship after steadily rebuilding his campaign and fitness following his crash and further surgery after Le Mans.

Márquez has won at Silverstone only once, back in 2014, but has another three premier-class podiums at the circuit and has started from pole on five occasions.

With victories and double-winning weekends returning to his 2026 campaign, the Ducati Lenovo rider is again a central figure in the championship fight.

Team-mate Francesco Bagnaia is 65 points behind Martín but showed better momentum before the break, including a Brno Sprint victory during a sequence of four consecutive Grand Prix podiums.

Bagnaia won the British GP in 2022 and has finished on the Sunday podium in each of his past three Silverstone appearances.

Ducati has also won every Sprint held at Silverstone. Alex Márquez claimed the Saturday race in 2023 and 2025, while Enea Bastianini completed the Sprint and Grand Prix double for Ducati in 2024.

Alex Márquez will again be one to watch over the shorter distance, although his BK8 Gresini team will have a revised line-up. Fermín Aldeguer is sitting out the British round as a precaution, with Iker Lecuona returning to the Gresini garage as his replacement.

Yamaha returns to one of its strongest circuits

No manufacturer has won more premier-class races at Silverstone than Yamaha. The Japanese marque has eight victories at the circuit, including five since MotoGP returned in 2010.

Fabio Quartararo supplied the most recent Yamaha victory in 2021 and looked capable of adding another last year.

Quartararo set the current outright lap record of 1m57.233s to secure pole, then led the opening 11 laps of the Grand Prix and built an advantage of more than five seconds before a technical problem ended his race.

The Frenchman is only 14th in the 2026 championship, but Silverstone’s flowing nature may provide a clearer indication of the progress being made with Yamaha’s latest MotoGP package.

Álex Rins also has an exceptional record at the British venue. He defeated Márquez by just 0.013 seconds in 2019 after passing him at the final corner and returned to finish second behind Quartararo in 2021.

Prima Pramac Yamaha rider Jack Miller provides the primary Australian interest in the premier class. Miller finished on the Silverstone podium with Ducati in 2022 and delivered seventh place for Pramac Yamaha last season, which was one of the team’s strongest results during the early phase of its Yamaha partnership.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu will ride a MotoGP machine at Silverstone for the first time. The Turkish rookie last raced at the circuit in the 2014 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and continues to move closer to the MotoGP top ten as he gains experience alongside Miller.

Yamaha will field a fifth motorcycle through test rider Augusto Fernández, who enters as a wildcard to collect additional development data under race conditions.

Fernández won the Moto2 race at Silverstone in both 2019 and 2022 and achieved his best MotoGP qualifying result at the circuit in 2023.

Injuries reshape the MotoGP grid

Pol Espargaró will replace Maverick Viñales at Red Bull KTM Tech3 after further examination identified a small tear in Viñales’ left infraspinatus muscle.

Viñales has been managing the ongoing effects of the shoulder injury sustained at Sachsenring in 2025 and will remain out of action while a revised recovery programme is established.

Espargaró has extensive Tech3 experience, although he admits he will need time to readjust after concentrating much of his recent testing work on KTM’s future MotoGP project rather than the current 1000 cc RC16.

KTM has never won a MotoGP race at Silverstone. Brad Binder’s third place in 2023 remains the Austrian manufacturer’s only premier-class podium at the circuit, while Pedro Acosta is one of seven riders entered this weekend with an opportunity to claim a maiden MotoGP Grand Prix victory.

Enea Bastianini returns as the most recent rider to complete a Silverstone double, although this time he will attempt to repeat that 2024 success aboard the Tech3 KTM rather than a Ducati.

Cal Crutchlow is also back for his home Grand Prix as Johann Zarco continues his recovery.

Crutchlow qualified on pole and finished second at Silverstone in 2016, becoming the first British rider to stand on the premier-class podium at his home Grand Prix since Jeremy McWilliams in 2000.

Honda targets qualifying gains

Luca Marini enters the weekend as the only MotoGP rider to have scored points in all eleven Grands Prix held so far this season.

That consistency has placed Marini tenth in the championship with 79 points and comfortably clear of the next Honda rider.

His immediate objective remains gaining direct access to Q2, which would provide a better platform from which to convert his steady race pace into stronger finishing positions.

Joan Mir has shown greater speed than many of his recent results suggest, but crashes and non-finishes have continued to undermine promising weekends.

Silverstone has also been a difficult venue throughout his MotoGP career, with only two points-scoring finishes from five starts.

Rookie Diogo Moreira has increasingly challenged as the fastest Honda over a single lap, while Crutchlow’s presence adds another source of development information during an important phase of the RC213V programme.

Another different Silverstone winner?

Silverstone has produced eleven different MotoGP Grand Prix winners across its past eleven races and seven different pole-sitters at the past seven editions.

A new winner this weekend would extend that extraordinary sequence to twelve, while pole for anyone other than Marc Márquez, Pol Espargaró, Marco Bezzecchi or Fabio Quartararo would make it eight different pole-sitters in eight British Grands Prix.

Martín carries the championship lead, Ogura carries the strongest recent scoring record, and Márquez continues to close. Bezzecchi returns to the circuit where he won last season, Yamaha arrives at its most successful venue, and Miller has both previous podium form and one of Yamaha’s better 2025 Silverstone results to build upon.

Silverstone is fast enough to reward confidence, long enough to punish every mistake and unpredictable enough to prevent anyone from treating the form guide as a guarantee.

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2026 MotoGP Championship Standings

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Moto2

Agius returns to scene of maiden victory

The Moto2 World Championship resumes at Silverstone this weekend following its three-week summer break, with eleven rounds remaining and Manuel González holding a substantial advantage at the top of the standings.

The LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP rider has accumulated 195.5 points, placing him 51.5 clear of second-ranked Izan Guevara.

Senna Agius is third on 136 points and returns to the scene of his maiden Grand Prix victory. The young Australian broke through at Silverstone last season, and another strong result would consolidate his championship position while bringing him closer to Guevara.

The Intact squad therefore enters the second half of the year with both of its regular riders inside the championship’s leading three.

González starts the second half in control

Manuel González completed the opening half of the season at the top of the Moto2 standings and now carries a sizeable points buffer into the final eleven races.

That advantage gives the Spaniard some margin for error, but the length of the remaining campaign means the championship remains far from settled.

González’s position is strengthened by the broader form of the LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP team, with team-mate Agius also firmly involved in the championship contest.

Silverstone will provide an early indication of whether González can maintain his advantage or whether the chasing group can begin applying greater pressure.

Agius returns as defending winner

Senna Agius arrives with particularly positive memories of the British circuit after claiming his first Grand Prix victory there in 2025.

The result established Silverstone as a landmark venue in the Australian’s career and he returns twelve months later in a substantially stronger championship position.

Agius sits third overall with 136 points, only eight behind Guevara in second place.

Another podium or victory could therefore move Agius into the championship’s runner-up position, while also reducing the gap to González at the front.

His prior success should also give the Australian a useful foundation from which to begin Friday practice, particularly at a circuit where finding an effective rhythm can take considerable time.

Guevara looks to reignite his challenge

Izan Guevara holds second place in the championship with 144 points and returns to a circuit where he delivered his best Moto2 result last season.

Guevara finished fifth at Silverstone in 2025 after fighting with the leading group, a performance his BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 team regards as an important turning point in his campaign.

The Spaniard also finished fourth at Silverstone during his Moto3 career in 2021 and believes the circuit suits him, including when conditions become wet.

Guevara needs to begin reducing González’s advantage as the championship enters its decisive phase, but he must also defend second position against Agius and the rapidly closing Aspar riders.

His rookie team-mate Alberto Ferrández faces Silverstone for the first time.

Learning such a long and technical venue will limit the number of opportunities Ferrández has to refine individual sectors, making a clean and methodical opening day particularly important.

Alonso and Holgado pressure the top three

CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar team-mates David Alonso and Dani Holgado sit immediately behind the championship’s leading three.

Alonso is fourth with 116 points and Holgado fifth on 115, leaving them separated by only one point and keeping both firmly in contention for a top-three championship position.

Silverstone has produced a remarkable sequence of results for Alonso.

The Colombian won the Moto3 race in 2023, finished second in Moto3 in 2024 and then claimed his first Moto2 podium with third place last season.

Alonso arrives determined to rebound from Germany, where he crashed while running inside the top five after showing strong progress throughout the weekend.

With eleven races remaining, Alonso wants to make better use of every available lap, an especially relevant objective at a circuit where the field completes fewer laps during each practice session.

Holgado narrowly missed victory at Sachsenring and has also previously stood on the British GP podium, finishing third in the 2023 Moto3 race.

His progress before the summer break leaves both Aspar riders positioned to challenge Guevara and Agius during the second half of the season.

López targets Silverstone comeback

Alonso López is scheduled to return for the Italjet Gresini Moto2 team after missing the previous three rounds with a right-hand injury.

López underwent surgery followed by an intensive rehabilitation programme and recently returned to riding a motorcycle.

He must still pass Thursday’s medical inspection before being cleared to compete, but says he is close to full fitness.

The Spaniard believes Silverstone’s fast changes of direction could suit the strengths he and the team displayed before his injury, although regaining race rhythm after several weeks away will remain part of the challenge.

Sergio García will complete the team’s original line-up. García used the summer break to train and reset after a difficult opening half of the season and is hoping Silverstone can mark the beginning of a stronger run.

The second-half equation

González starts the weekend with enough points in hand to retain the championship lead regardless of the result, but Silverstone could still alter the complexion of the title fight.

Guevara must begin eating into the leader’s advantage, Agius returns to the venue where he knows he can win and the Aspar pairing of Alonso and Holgado is now close enough to challenge for the championship’s leading three positions.

For Agius in particular, Silverstone provides both a reminder of what he has already achieved and an opportunity to begin the second half of 2026 with another major result.

Moto2 Championship Standings

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Moto3

Quiles resumes dominant title campaign

The Moto3 World Championship resumes at Silverstone this weekend following the three-week summer break, with Máximo Quiles holding one of the most imposing championship advantages anywhere in the Grand Prix paddock.

The CFMOTO Valresa Aspar rider has finished on the podium in ten of the opening eleven races and won six of them, establishing a 104-point lead over his nearest challenger.

Silverstone is also where Quiles achieved his first World Championship podium, finishing second in 2025.

His promotion to the CFMOTO Aspar Moto2 operation for 2027 has already been confirmed, but completing his dominant Moto3 campaign remains the immediate objective.

Quiles has points to manage but victories in mind

Quiles’ championship position gives him ample scope to approach the second half of the season strategically, but the Spaniard has shown little inclination to settle for conservative results.

Six victories and ten podiums from eleven starts underline both his outright speed and remarkable consistency.

Silverstone is also one of his favourite circuits and carries positive memories from his runner-up finish there last season.

Quiles says the size of his championship advantage will not change his basic approach. He intends to continue fighting for wins when they are available while accepting the value of banking points on weekends when outright victory is out of reach.

That balance between aggression and championship management is likely to become increasingly important across the remaining eleven rounds.

Morelli continues rapid rookie rise

Team-mate Marco Morelli is preparing for his first appearance at Silverstone after becoming one of the strongest-performing rookies in the category.

The Argentine finished on the podium at Assen before qualifying on the front row and taking fourth place in Germany.

Those results have lifted Morelli to fourth in the championship, only eleven points behind third-placed Álvaro Carpe and twelve behind Brian Uriarte in second.

Morelli’s lack of Silverstone experience will make Friday a learning exercise, although the circuit’s width should provide opportunities to explore different lines without immediately sacrificing an entire lap.

His recent form suggests unfamiliarity is unlikely to prevent him from quickly becoming involved at the front.

The strength of the two Aspar riders is also reflected in the teams’ championship, where CFMOTO Valresa Aspar carries an advantage of more than 90 points.

A new González joins the grid

The LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP Moto3 operation will introduce David González to the World Championship at Silverstone.

The 18-year-old Spaniard, currently fifth in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, replaces the injured David Muñoz and will make his Grand Prix debut on one of the longest and most technically demanding circuits he could have encountered.

Silverstone’s long lap means González will have relatively few opportunities to learn each section during practice, while the circuit’s fast corners require confidence and precision.

The debut nevertheless gives the young Spaniard an opportunity to measure himself against the World Championship field while gaining valuable experience in the Intact GP structure.

David Almansa returns to the other side of the garage after illness forced him to miss the team’s home Grand Prix at Sachsenring.

Can the chasing group apply pressure?

Quiles’ 104-point advantage means no single Silverstone result can significantly threaten his control of the championship, but the contest for the remaining top positions is considerably tighter.

Uriarte, Carpe and Morelli are separated by only twelve points from second to fourth, giving Silverstone the potential to substantially reorder the group behind the leader.

Morelli enters with particularly strong momentum following his Assen podium, first front-row qualifying result and fourth place in Germany.

Quiles, however, remains the clear benchmark. He has demonstrated the speed to win, the consistency to finish on the podium almost every weekend and the judgement to avoid turning every race into an all-or-nothing exercise.

Silverstone’s wide layout and slipstreaming potential may make controlling the race difficult, but Quiles has already shown he can succeed across a broad range of circuits and conditions.

The championship leader has enough points to race conservatively, yet his record suggests he will again be looking towards the front rather than simply protecting what he already has.

Moto3 Championship Standings

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2026 MotoGP Calendar