Silverstone: Believe the hype

Hype can be a hard thing to deal with in racing, and it’s something that has surrounded Maverick Viñales since even before he appeared and won races as a 125 rookie. Having lived up to it more often than not, the 2013 Moto3™ World Champion smashed it out of the park at Silverstone during the British GP, taking his first win in the premier class ahead of home hero Cal Crutchlow and Italian legend Valentino Rossi. Since Mugello, that made seven different winners in a row - and a fourth new winner of the season.

After a first start that saw a big crash for Loris Baz (Avintia Racing) and Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was red-flagged just as Viñales had taken the lead, the pressure was on for the Spaniard to repeat the feat on the restart – and repeat it he did, back in P1 by the end of Lap 1 and then disappearing for a stunning maiden win, over three seconds clear.

Movistar Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo had a tough race after weather played havoc with practice, gambling slightly on setup and not able to get into the front group. In that front group, the notable battle behind Viñales saw Rossi and Marc Marquez go head-to-head in a spectacular duel for P3. Marquez, uncharacteristically – for 2016, at least – unleashed, got the better of the Italian and set off after Crutchlow in second – before making a mistake when attacking the Brit and being forced to settle for fourth. Despite missing the podium, the rider from Cervera escaped the battle with a lead of exactly two race wins – 50 points - but Rossi nevertheless gained a little more ground.