The British GP delivered high drama, with Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) claiming his first MotoGP victory for Aprilia, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) forced to retire due to a technical issue, and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) crashing out. A red flag added to the drama, shaping an unforgettable race. As the paddock leaves Silverstone, plenty of storylines have emerged, on and off the track, so let’s take a closer look at the key talking points from an unforgettable weekend.

"It was not an easy period for them"

Bezzecchi enjoyed a standout weekend, charging through the field after starting P10 on the grid. In the opening stages, Bezzecchi entered the podium battle, soon inheriting the lead after a retirement from Quartararo. The Italian held onto victory, crossing the line to become the 11^th different winner in a row at Silverstone, leading to an emotional day for both Bezzecchi and the Aprilia.

"I’m proud, I’m happy. But I think the whole factory has to be proud. As I said already many times, it was not an easy period for them with the injury of Jorge, who was, I don't want to say main rider, but he almost is, because he is the World Champion. It was not an easy start for them. I just tried to work as much as I could to bring them what they deserve."

"We proved that the bike can win"

It has been a hectic period for Aprilia, with their star signing, Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing), continuing to recover following his crash in Qatar. However, Massimo Rivola believes that the British GP is a positive step for the Italian brand, proving that their bike can win a Grand Prix, as he sent his best wishes and respects to Martin.

"First of all, we proved to ourselves. Because when you pass quite a difficult time, maybe you start doubting that you are not following the right path, because in Noale people are working hard night and day.

"Today we proved that the bike can win, but we need to do it many more times. We cannot say more than that. The only thing that I feel for him is that when you are a rider, when you are such a good athlete and you spend most of your time in bed, in the hospital suffering, nobody can know how fast the bad time is passing. So I think this is something that we have to respect."

"I even thought maybe I could take victory"

Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR) delivered yet another podium for the Japanese factory, securing a further 20 points in the Championship. It was a brave ride from the #5, who opted for the soft front tyre and looked to have carried his momentum from Le Mans. Zarco spoke about the confidence that the front tyre gave him and the moment when he thought he could potentially win.

"There was a key moment because my soft front tyre gave me enough confidence to overtake the other riders. When Bez overtook me, I knew he was going to be super fast because he was fast yesterday in the Sprint. I tried to stay with him as long as possible because he would have a good pace, and try to save the tyres. Then we were on the podium, Fabio got the technical problem. From there, I even thought maybe I could take victory. Maybe Bez will struggle with the used tyres, but no. He kept consistent."

"The Marquez family was the luckiest family"

Marc Marquez had a dramatic Sunday, crashing out of the lead before the red flag was brought out due to track conditions. After crashing, the #93 took the restart on his second bike, struggling with the feeling on the medium front tyre. However, with Marc Marquez remaining ahead of some key rivals, he decided to minimise his risks and finish the Grand Prix in P3.

"The Marquez family was the luckiest family. It's true that both of us made a mistake in the first start. But talking about my mistake, I am quite angry because the feeling during the first start was amazing. I don't know why, but we changed the tyres on the restart. We changed the bike.

"The feeling with the second start was a disaster. I made another mistake when I dropped positions. Then I tried to minimise the drama. I tried to minimise the problems. When I saw that I was in front of Alex and Pecco, I decided to stay on the bike and finish the race."

"Everything was under control"

Fabio Quartararo’s Sunday ended in heartbreak after he stormed to pole position and led the early stages of the race. However, on Lap 12, disaster struck as a technical issue with the rear ride height device forced the Frenchman to retire from the lead. Reflecting on the incident, Quartararo opened up about the race and the emotions that followed.

"Yeah. Heartbreaking. I knew the medium for us was clearly not an option, because yesterday, we finished quite well with the front, but struggled with the rear. So I knew to go fast today, I had to brake like hell, and this is what I did from the first lap, braking super late, so I didn't use as much the rear tyre, and like this we managed it in really, really good way. Because Bezzecchi in one lap took three, four tenths on me, and the next lap, I could just respond and could ride really well. But, yeah, we had the issue with the device that remained locked on the rear.

"A big shame, because I haven’t felt that good for a long time, and everything was under control."

"I lost the rear"

Francesco Bagnaia endured another difficult weekend, finishing sixth in the Sprint despite securing a front-row start for the Grand Prix. However, his Sunday unravelled quickly as he slipped down the order and crashed out of 13th place on Lap 4 of the restart. Speaking afterwards, Bagnaia described what he was feeling on the bike.

"We stopped for the red flag, we just changed the rear tyre and put a new one on. And from that moment, nothing worked again. I was sliding and spinning everywhere. No traction. Everyone was overtaking me. I lost the rear in Turn 9, went wide. Then entering Turn 7, I just tried to lean, and I lost the rear, and then I crashed. So, it's already a difficult situation, but with a problem like this, it's even worse."

"I attacked a little bit too late"

Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) had an eventful day, launching from the front row and briefly taking the lead before crashing at Turn 1. Fortunately, a red flag later allowed the #73 to restart, giving him a second chance to fight for valuable Championship points. He recovered to finish fifth but believes a stronger result was within reach if he had pushed earlier.

"I think that in this race I attacked a little bit too late, because in the last three laps, I had good feeling, good traction, and I said, 'OK, I go', but I lost a lot of time with Jack, that he was defending his position, which is normal. I was just trying to get through. So with one or two laps more, I was able to fight with Marc and Morbidelli."

"It was an amazing race"

Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) capped off his weekend with an impressive performance, going head-to-head with Marc Marquez for the final podium spot. It marked the end of a dramatic day, which began with an early collision involving Aleix Espargaro (Honda HRC Test Team) on the first start. However, after the restart, the #21 finished fourth, taking away many positives from Sunday.

"It was an amazing race. It was an incredible weekend. Everything happened, but we kept on working. We kept on trying to adjust. We kept on believing. After the race started, after the accident, after the penalty, starting from 13th, it's just incredible to have the chance to fight for the podium and miss it just for 17 milliseconds."

Morbidelli elaborated further on the incident: "This time, he took the risk and he crashed into me. It was a nasty crash. I'm in pain. I don't know if I have something broken, but I take the positives from today, which was the amazing performance we had."

Aragon is up next! Join us as the most exciting sport on Earth heads to Spain for another action-packed weekend.