MotoGP Preview: Things you should know ahead of the 2021 British GP

MotoGP comes to Silverstone for the twelfth round of the 2021 season after a nail-biting double-header at the Red Bull Ring. Silverstone is one of the most iconic circuits on the grid and was originally designed as an airbase to help the Allied war effort during the Second World War. The circuit is 5.819km long with 18 corners and four straights and happens to be one of the few tracks that are common between both MotoGP and Formula 1.

So far, in the 2021 season, Fabio Quartararo from Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP leads the riders championship with 181 points while Ducati Lenovo Team rider Francesco Bagnaia is trailing behind with 134 points. But things don’t end there. Team Suzuki Ecstar rider Joan Mir and Francesco Bagnaia are tied for the second position with the same points tally after 11 races. French rider Johann Zarco of Pramac Ducati is currently fourth with 132 points to his name. Meanwhile, in the constructors championship, Ducati leads with 212 points in total with Yamaha (209 points) trailing in P2, KTM (152 points) at P3, Suzuki (138 points) at P4, Honda (104 points) at P5, with Aprilia at the bottom with 98 points.

With that being said, here are the things you need to know ahead of the Silverstone GP.

• The Vinales exit

• The KTM miracle

• Threat of Marc Marquez

• Unstoppable El Diablo

The Vinales exit

Maverick Vinales has recently been released from the Monster Yamaha contract for the remainder of the 2021 season after the incident at the Styrian GP. Vinales was found to be deliberately damaging his Yamaha YZR-M1’s engine during the final laps of the Styrian GP which resulted in the team withdrawing Vinales’ participation from the second race at the Red Bull Ring and also terminating his contract.

Maverick told the world that his actions during the final laps of the race were completely out of emotion and he apologised for his conduct. However, he did point out that the race engineers, and Yamaha as a team, had a part to play in his outburst.

Meanwhile, Aprilia had already signed the Spanish rider for the 2022 season. But with the early release of Vinales from the Japanese team, Aprilia now has a chance to make Vinales ride the RS-GP for the remainder of the 2021 season. Cal Crutchlow will be taking Vinales’ place in the Monster Energy Yamaha team.

The KTM miracle

KTM with Red Bull’s partnership has been a part of the MotoGP grid since 2017. They have shown signs of improvements through the years and have caught up to the big players in a relatively short span of time.

But the 2021 season has pumped in a new fire inside the team, with a drastic improvement from mid-season. KTM introduced a new chassis and a fuel upgrade at the 2021 Italian GP which has catapulted the team from being among the top 10 to being able to contend for the race win.For perspective, in the first five races, KTM only managed to score 33 points. But after the upgrades, KTM scored 156 points in the next six races.

This is sure to have bumped the team’s morale, and KTM could even be seen as a contender to win the race on Sunday. Moreover, Dani Pedrosa is directly involved with the development of the KTM motorcycle and his inputs to the team have proven to be game-changing for the Austrian side.

Riders Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira have already won a race in the 2021 MotoGP season so far after the introduction of the upgrades and this upward trajectory is expected to be more than just a one-hit-wonder and the Austrian team will be a side to watch out for in the upcoming British GP.

Threat of Marc Marquez

Marc Marquez is one of the biggest names on the 2021 MotoGP grid. 2020 was a rough season for the Spaniard as was recovering from his shoulder injury. The current 2021 season was supposed to be his year of rehabilitating back on the Honda RC213V. However, as the season progressed, we got to see glimpses of the Marc Marquez that we love and adore.

Things were looking up for the eight-time world champion at the start of the season with him even fighting for the lead on certain occasions. But due to the lack of development of the Honda RC213V and his physical limitations, the Spaniard could not really make the most of the situation and crashed out on multiple occasions.

The rear tyre stability of the Honda RC213V is its Achilles heel and apart from Marquez, none of the Honda riders could extract a competitive race pace from it.

But things turned around for Marquez at Sachsenring as he kept his winning streak alive at the German track. From then onwards, Marquez seemingly got more comfortable on the bike and is now considered a constant threat for the win.

Unstoppable El Diablo

Fabio Quartararo has been on a high in the 2021 season and is seen as a favourite for the 2021 riders championship title. With 181 points already under his belt in the first 11 races, Quartararo has a 47 points lead on Francesco Bagnaia in second place.

Quartararo has shown the ability to get the most out of his Yamaha YZR-M1 and has won four Grand Prix so far. He was struggling with tyre degradation for most of the 2020 season but has managed to get that under control this year. Moreover, Yamaha has improved their holeshot device during the 2021 season which has helped it remain competitive. This puts Fabio Quartararo in a good position to take the win at the British GP. But at the same time, the Silverstone circuit has proven to be harsh on the tyres. So, a clear cut victory is also not a given.

The upcoming MotoGP race may open a chance for the Ducati riders to use their motorcycle’s top-end grunt to full use as the track has four long straights and a few high-speed corners. But the slow corners and the constant change in directions might favour the Yamaha. Furthermore, Silverstone is known for its abrasive track surface which might be a hindrance to many teams. In the recent past, Suzuki has been the best at managing its tyres and this has been proved by Alex Rins’ victory at the 2019 British GP. With all these factors coming into play, it will be hard to miss out on the 2021 MotoGP British Grand Prix. The race starts on August 29 at 5:30pm IST. To watch the race, you can tune into Eurosport, Eurosport HD or the Discovery+ app. You can also get live updates of the race on Motorsport India’s Twitter handle.