Moto2 Silverstone: Fernandez on fire for win, Marquez falls
Augusto Fernandez followed Brad Binder as he chased down then leader Jorge Navarro and then pounced at the right time on the final lap to take victory at the Moto2 British Grand Prix at SIlverstone, round twelve of the championship.
The Flexbox HP40 Kalex rider registered his second win of the year, building on his success at Assen with a surprise swoop past Navarro at Club Corner, he then held firm to the chequered flag to win by 0.489s after closing down the Spaniard with a fastest race lap on his penultimate run around the circuit.
Navarro brought the Speed Up home second - he had found himself solo up front after Alex Marquez slid out of contention in the early stages. Reeled in and then passed he tried one final lunge for the win in the last sector but it wasn’t to be - his first Moto2 victory still proving elusive.
Brad Binder lead briefly before being drawn into a battle for third with Remy Gardner - The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider fought back hard in the heat to make it a mix of three manufacturers on the podium after staging a late recovery following running wide.
Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) looked disappointed with fourth after all his hard work to reel in the leaders, but finished clear of his team-mate Tetsuta Nagashima who too rallied for fifth, equalling his best finish to date.
The battle for sixth was next to reach the finish line and was won by top rookie Fabio DI Giannantonio on the second Speed Up, holding off early championship leader Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) and Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP).
The result means, thanks to his huge advantage coming into Silverstone, Alex Marquez still leads the title standings. Luthi is now joined by race winner Fernandez and runner-up Navarro - all now 35 points behind.
Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) held off Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 MArc VDS) as the pair raced to the finish to complete the top ten.
Behind them Iker Lecuona (American Racing Team KTM) claimed a solid eleventh ahead of Jorge Martin on the second Ajo entry.
Mattia Pasini took 13th for Tasca Racing with the remaining points on offer going to Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt Intact GP) who finished a difficult weekend in 14th and Andrea Locatelli in 15th for Italtrans.
Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) missed warm-up but was the best of the British riders at home in 23rd.
Bradley Smith returned to Moto2, taking over from Jonas Folger as replacement for Khairul Idham Pawi at Petronas. He served his three place grid penalty, a hangover from his last MotoGP appearance moving him down to 28th on the grid. He crashed out, as did Sam Lowes who fell from his Gresini at turn nine on the final lap.
Teppei Nagoe, replacement rider for Dimas Ekky Pratama at Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, finished 28th and last.
Enea Bastianini misses the British Grand Prix through foot pain.
