MotoGP 2026
Round 12 – Silverstone
Fernández leads Aprilia clean sweep at Silverstone
Twenty-four hours after throwing away a potential Sprint podium at The Loop, Fernández turned that frustration into a near-flawless performance in the 20-lap British Grand Prix.
The Trackhouse Aprilia rider beat Jorge Martín by 2.538 seconds, with the still-recovering Marco Bezzecchi another 0.855s behind in third.
It was Fernández’s second MotoGP Grand Prix victory, following Australia in 2025, and his first of 2026. Remarkably, it also continued Silverstone’s extraordinary streak: Fernández is the 12th different winner of the past 12 MotoGP Grands Prix held at the British circuit.
He became the seventh different Grand Prix winner of 2026, already matching the total number of different winners seen across the entire 2025 season.
Fernández turns Saturday frustration into Sunday domination
Fernández launched perfectly from second on the grid to beat the pole-sitting Martín into Turn One, while Bezzecchi made an excellent start from fifth to slot into second.
Martín’s getaway was considerably less convincing. Ai Ogura was also involved in the opening exchanges, and Marc Márquez took advantage to briefly work his way into third before Martín restored some order.
None of that mattered to Fernández.
By lap two he had already lowered the Silverstone race lap record to 1m58.457s, taking more than four-tenths from the previous benchmark, and by lap three his advantage was around two seconds.
From there, Fernández was effectively racing the stopwatch.
What made the performance particularly impressive was that this wasn’t simply a matter of burning through the tyre to create an early gap and then hanging on. Fernández was managing both fuel and the medium rear, yet continued circulating almost exclusively in the 1m59s.
He even punched out a 1m58.703s on lap 13, long after the tyre should have been well into the declining phase of its life.
As the race entered its final five laps, his advantage stretched beyond four seconds. Martín began chipping away at it, but whenever the gap threatened to close significantly Fernández had enough in reserve to respond.
He eventually backed things off sufficiently to cross the line 2.538s clear, his final 2m00.173s lap representing one of the very few times all afternoon that he ventured beyond the 1m59s.
Martín recovers from poor start
Martín had considerably more work to do after his messy opening sequence.
The championship leader later explained that he had been too optimistic into Turn One. That compromised his braking sufficiently for the ride-height device not to disengage as intended, costing him positions and allowing Fernández to escape before Martín could settle into his rhythm.
He spent much of the opening half of the race behind team-mate Bezzecchi before moving through to second on lap nine.
By then Fernández was gone, but Martín’s pace remained impressively consistent. His fastest official lap was a 1m58.900s on lap three, yet he was still producing 1m58s during the closing stages.
Second place completed an almost perfect points weekend after Martín’s Sprint victory on Saturday and stretched his championship lead substantially.
Bezzecchi digs deep again
Marco Bezzecchi’s third place was perhaps even more impressive in the context of the injuries he carried into Silverstone.
The Italian had required medical clearance to race after surgery on his collarbone and treatment to his knee, yet followed Friday’s lap-record pace with third in the Sprint and another podium on Sunday.
Once Martín came through, Bezzecchi concentrated on preserving third while Alex Márquez and Pedro Acosta gradually closed from behind.
Rather than fading physically, Bezzecchi actually produced his fastest lap of the Grand Prix on lap 18 – a 1m58.880s – and secured third by 1.309s over Alex Márquez.
The result elevated Bezzecchi to second in the World Championship.
Ogura’s title challenge takes a hit
For Ai Ogura, Sunday proved the complete opposite of his second-place Sprint result.
The Japanese rider started from the front row but was shuffled back to fifth during the opening exchanges and had dropped to seventh by lap two.
Ogura was attempting to recover when he lost the front at Turn 16 on lap nine and slid out of the Grand Prix.
It was a particularly expensive mistake in championship terms. Ogura had arrived at Silverstone second overall and only 14 points behind Martín; he now leaves Britain third and 37 points from the championship lead.
Alex Márquez best of the Ducatis
Alex Márquez produced arguably Ducati’s strongest challenge and eventually finished fourth.
After climbing through the order, Alex passed brother Marc before reaching third place during the middle stages. A mistake at Turn One then cost him positions and dropped him back behind Acosta.
He recovered to re-pass the KTM and was exceptionally quick late in the race, recording a 1m58.652s on lap 14 – the second-fastest lap of the entire Grand Prix and also underneath the previous Silverstone race record.
Alex believed the Turn One mistake probably cost him an opportunity to fight Martín for second, but fourth still made him comfortably the first Ducati home.
Acosta holds off a charging Di Giannantonio
Pedro Acosta also enjoyed one of his stronger rides of the season, moving quickly into the top five and briefly running fourth before settling into a tyre-management rhythm.
The KTM rider took fifth, but only just.
Fabio Di Giannantonio came alive during the second half of the race. After losing ground at the start, the VR46 rider managed his tyres impressively and began making progress as others struggled.
Di Giannantonio produced a 1m58.690s on lap 14 and an even more impressive 1m58.747s on lap 16 before finally passing Marc Márquez on lap 18.
He then hunted down Acosta and crossed the line just 0.126s behind the KTM.
Another difficult afternoon for Marc Márquez
Marc Márquez looked threatening during the opening exchanges and briefly ran third, but Silverstone again proved considerably tougher for the reigning champion than Sachsenring had been before the summer break.
Alex Márquez came through on lap six and Acosta followed one lap later.
Marc remained in the hunt through much of the race, recording his personal best of 1m59.152s on lap 12, but again began struggling more noticeably as the race wore on.
Di Giannantonio passed him with three laps remaining and Marc’s final lap slipped to 2m00.916s.
Seventh place leaves him fourth in the championship on 200 points, 40 behind Martín.
Francesco Bagnaia endured an even worse afternoon. Starting only 16th after a difficult qualifying session, Bagnaia had begun working his way towards a more competitive rhythm when he lost the front at Turn Seven on lap eight and crashed out.
Binder charges from 18th
Brad Binder supplied KTM’s other notable performance by climbing from 18th on the grid to eighth.
Binder had learnt plenty from his medium-rear gamble in Saturday’s Sprint and again concentrated heavily on tyre conservation.
He admitted afterwards that he may actually have been a little too conservative, as he still had usable grip available at the finish, but eighth nevertheless represented his second-best result of the season and completed back-to-back top-ten Grand Prix finishes.
Luca Marini was only 1.557s behind Binder in ninth after another measured Sunday charge and again finished as the leading Honda.
Diogo Moreira made it two Hondas inside the top ten with tenth from 14th on the grid, while Franco Morbidelli was 11th.
Miller classified 12th after post-race revision
Jack Miller crossed the line 13th after spending much of his afternoon in company with Fabio Quartararo.
The Australian had hoped Silverstone would prove more favourable to the Yamaha package after securing direct passage into Q2 on Friday, but race-long grip remained a limitation.
As was the case on Saturday, Miller found himself taking greater risks under braking and through the corners simply to remain attached to the group ahead. That effort extracted a price from the tyres during the final phase of the race.
His fastest lap was a 1m59.921s on lap eight and he eventually finished 29.458s behind Fernández.
Miller was subsequently promoted to 12th in the revised classification after Quartararo received a 16-second post-race penalty for a technical regulations infringement.
That same penalty elevated Pol Espargaró to 13th, Toprak Razgatlıoğlu to 14th and Yamaha wildcard Augusto Fernández to 15th.
Quartararo, who had crossed the line 12th, was therefore officially classified 16th.
The medium rear answers Saturday’s question
Much of the discussion after Saturday’s Sprint centred on which rear tyre could possibly survive Sunday’s twice-as-long Grand Prix.
In the end, the medium became the obvious race choice, with the leading riders combining it with the hard front.
The tyre still required careful management, and several riders reported significant degradation late in the race, but the numbers suggest it coped considerably better with the 20-lap distance than some had feared.
Fernández’s 1m58.703s on lap 13 was one example. Alex Márquez went faster again with his 1m58.652s on lap 14, Di Giannantonio was still in the 1m58s on lap 16, Martín was there on lap 18 and Bezzecchi set his fastest lap of the entire race on lap 18.
That is a very different picture to Saturday, when a number of riders on the soft rear were losing several seconds per lap by the finish.
There was still a drop – Miller was among those who reported it becoming particularly significant across the final seven laps – but Aprilia appeared notably adept at preserving performance while still maintaining outright speed.
Fernández’s winning race time of 39m45.930s also bettered the 2025 Grand Prix duration, while his 1m58.457s established a new race lap record.
Seven riders fail to finish
It was also an attritional Grand Prix.
Joan Mir and Alex Rins were involved in a Turn Seven incident on the opening lap. Mir was out immediately while Rins attempted to continue before returning to the pits, with the stewards taking no further action over the incident.
Enea Bastianini fell at Turn 17 on lap six, Iker Lecuona went down shortly afterwards, Cal Crutchlow crashed at Turn Six, Bagnaia fell on lap eight and Ogura’s Turn 16 crash followed on lap nine.
All escaped serious injury.
Aprilia makes championship history
The race result completed an extraordinary British Grand Prix weekend for Aprilia.
Martín, Ogura and Bezzecchi swept Saturday’s Sprint podium. Fernández, Martín and Bezzecchi then repeated the feat in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The Sunday result was Aprilia’s third Grand Prix podium lockout of 2026 after France and Assen, while Fernández became the fourth of the four regular Aprilia riders to win a Grand Prix this season.
More significantly, Martín now leads the World Championship with 240 points ahead of Bezzecchi on 209 and Ogura on 203.
That marks the first time Aprilia riders have occupied the top three positions in the MotoGP World Championship at the completion of a Grand Prix weekend.
Marc Márquez is fourth on 200 and Di Giannantonio fifth on 199, meaning only ten points now cover second through fifth while Martín has opened a 31-point buffer at the front.
Aprilia also leads Ducati by 367 points to 338 in the Constructors’ Championship.
There are still ten rounds remaining, but Silverstone represented a sizeable swing in a title fight which suddenly has Aprilia occupying every step of the championship podium.
Next stop Aragón
MotoGP now takes another short break before returning at MotorLand Aragón from August 28-30.
Silverstone suggested Aprilia presently has speed, tyre life and depth in equal measure. Aragón will tell us whether that was circuit-specific brilliance, or the beginning of something more significant in the second half of 2026.
Silverstone MotoGP Race Results
 |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Pos
|
Rider | Bike | Time/Gap |
|
1
|
R. Fernandez
|
Apr
|
39m45.930
|
|
2
|
J. Martin
|
Apr
|
+2.538
|
|
3
|
M. Bezzecchi
|
Apr
|
+3.393
|
|
4
|
A. Marquez
|
Duc
|
+4.702
|
|
5
|
P. Acosta
|
KTM
|
+6.256
|
|
6
|
F. Di Giannantonio
|
Duc
|
+6.382
|
|
7
|
M. Marquez
|
Duc
|
+9.550
|
|
8
|
B. Binder
|
KTM
|
+22.288
|
|
9
|
L. Marini
|
Hon
|
+23.845
|
|
10
|
D. Moreira
|
Hon
|
+25.411
|
|
11
|
F. Morbidelli
|
Duc
|
+26.301
|
|
12
|
J. Miller
|
Yam
|
+29.458
|
|
13
|
P. Espargaro
|
KTM
|
+41.310
|
|
14
|
T. Razgatlioglu
|
Yam
|
+41.492
|
|
15
|
A. Fernandez
|
Yam
|
+42.379
|
|
16
|
F. Quartararo
|
Yam
|
+42.883
|
| Not Classified | |||
|
DNF
|
A. Ogura
|
Apr
|
+12 Laps
|
|
DNF
|
F. Bagnaia
|
Duc
|
+13 Laps
|
|
DNF
|
C. Crutchlow
|
Hon
|
+14 Laps
|
|
DNF
|
I. Lecuona
|
Duc
|
+15 Laps
|
|
DNF
|
E. Bastianini
|
KTM
|
+16 Laps
|
|
DNF
|
A. Rins
|
Yam
|
+19 Laps
|
|
DNF
|
J. Mir
|
Hon
|
DNF
|
Silverstone MotoGP Event Top Speeds
|
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Pos
|
Rider |
Bike
|
Speed
|
Event
|
|
1
|
P. Espargaro
|
KTM
|
341.7
|
PR
|
|
2
|
A. Ogura
|
Apr
|
341.7
|
PR
|
|
3
|
J. Martin
|
Apr
|
340.6
|
PR
|
|
4
|
M. Bezzecchi
|
Apr
|
340.6
|
WUP
|
|
5
|
B. Binder
|
KTM
|
339.6
|
GP
|
|
6
|
E. Bastianini
|
KTM
|
339.6
|
PR
|
|
7
|
F. Bagnaia
|
Duc
|
339.6
|
Sprint
|
|
8
|
R. Fernandez
|
Apr
|
339.6
|
PR
|
|
9
|
J. Mir
|
Hon
|
338.5
|
PR
|
|
10
|
M. Marquez
|
Duc
|
338.5
|
PR
|
|
11
|
A. Marquez
|
Duc
|
338.5
|
WUP
|
|
12
|
P. Acosta
|
KTM
|
337.5
|
WUP
|
|
13
|
F. Morbidelli
|
Duc
|
337.5
|
PR
|
|
14
|
L. Marini
|
Hon
|
337.5
|
PR
|
|
15
|
F. Di Giannantonio
|
Duc
|
337.5
|
PR
|
|
16
|
I. Lecuona
|
Duc
|
336.4
|
GP
|
|
17
|
D. Moreira
|
Hon
|
335.4
|
PR
|
|
18
|
F. Quartararo
|
Yam
|
334.3
|
GP
|
|
19
|
C. Crutchlow
|
Hon
|
334.3
|
PR
|
|
20
|
J. Miller
|
Yam
|
334.3
|
PR
|
|
21
|
T. Razgatlioglu
|
Yam
|
333.3
|
GP
|
|
22
|
A. Rins
|
Yam
|
331.2
|
Sprint
|
|
23
|
A. Fernandez
|
Yam
|
330.2
|
Sprint
|
2026 MotoGP Championship Standings
|
||
|---|---|---|
|
Pos
|
Rider |
Points
|
|
1
|
J. Martin
|
240
|
|
2
|
M. Bezzecchi
|
209
|
|
3
|
A. Ogura
|
203
|
|
4
|
M. Marquez
|
200
|
|
5
|
F. Di Giannantonio
|
199
|
|
6
|
R. Fernandez
|
184
|
|
7
|
P. Acosta
|
163
|
|
8
|
F. Bagnaia
|
143
|
|
9
|
A. Marquez
|
106
|
|
10
|
L. Marini
|
86
|
|
11
|
F. Aldeguer
|
76
|
|
12
|
E. Bastianini
|
76
|
|
13
|
B. Binder
|
72
|
|
14
|
F. Quartararo
|
55
|
|
15
|
D. Moreira
|
54
|
|
16
|
F. Morbidelli
|
53
|
|
17
|
J. Zarco
|
34
|
|
18
|
J. Mir
|
29
|
|
19
|
J. Miller
|
23
|
|
20
|
A. Rins
|
21
|
|
21
|
T. Razgatlioglu
|
14
|
|
22
|
M. Viñales
|
10
|
|
23
|
I. Lecuona
|
9
|
|
24
|
A. Fernandez
|
6
|
|
25
|
P. Espargaro
|
3
|
|
26
|
C. Crutchlow
|
0
|
|
27
|
J. Folger
|
0
|
|
28
|
M. Pirro
|
0
|
2026 MotoGP Calendar
|
|||
|
Rnd
|
Date
|
Event
|
Circuit
|
| 1 |
01 Mar
|
Thai
|
Chang International Circuit
|
| 2 |
22 Mar
|
Brazil*
|
Autodromo Internacional Ayrton Senna
|
| 3 |
29 Mar
|
US
|
Circuit of the Americas
|
| 4 |
26 Apr
|
Spain**
|
Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto
|
| 5 |
10 May
|
France
|
Le Mans
|
| 6 |
17 May
|
Catalonia
|
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
|
| 7 |
31 May
|
Italy
|
Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
|
| 8 |
07 Jun
|
Hungary
|
Balaton Park Circuit
|
| 9 |
21 Jun
|
Czech
|
Automotodrom Brno
|
| 10 |
28 Jun
|
Netherlands
|
TT Circuit Assen
|
| 11 |
12 Jul
|
Germany
|
Sachsenring
|
| 12 |
09 Aug
|
GB
|
Silverstone Circuit
|
| 13 |
30 Aug
|
Aragon
|
MotorLand Aragon
|
| 14 |
13 Sep
|
San Marino
|
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
|
| 15 |
20 Sep
|
Austria
|
Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
|
| 16 |
04 Oct
|
Japan
|
Mobility Resort Motegi
|
| 17 |
11 Oct
|
Indonesia
|
Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
|
| 18 |
25 Oct
|
Australia
|
Phillip Island
|
| 19 |
01 Nov
|
Malaysia
|
Petronas Sepang International Circuit
|
| 20 |
08 Nov
|
Qatar
|
Lusail International Circuit
|
| 21 |
22 Nov
|
Portugal
|
Autodromo Internacional do Algarve
|
| 22 |
29 Nov
|
Valencia
|
Circuit Ricardo Tormo
|
