Alex Rins made a spectacular move in the final seconds of the 2019 MotoGP British Grand Prix to win one of the most thrilling races of the season. The Suzuki Ecstar rider passed reigning champion Marc Marquez just moments before the finish line to cross the chequered flag. The long duel between the riders saw Rins edge out past the final corner by a margin of 0.013s at the Silverstone circuit. This marks Rins second MotoGP victory ever after bagging his first in the Austin GP earlier this year, apart from a few podium finishes. Coming in third was Yamaha's Maverick Vinales, 0.620s behind the lead riders while teammate Valentino Rossi was a distant fourth.
The British GP started with Marquez on pole after a brilliant show in qualifying followed by Rossi in second place. The race started with Marquez in the lead ahead of Rossi, while the opening lap saw Petronas Yamaha rider Fabio Quartararo and Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso being involved in an accident. The incident saw Quartararo high-side coming out of Copse, sliding into Dovizioso who launched the Petronas rider in air. The riders were cleared of any major injuries after being taken to the hospital.
Quartararo & Dovizioso's crash on the opening lap brought the race to a standstill briefly
The incident though promoted a fifth starting Rins to third, and the rider then charged towards passing Rossi to take second. The Suzuki rider found the opportunity to clear the Yamaha on the second lap itself and Rins then spent the majority of the race catching up with Marquez. Rins made his first attempt to pass the Honda rider on Lap 9, only for the pair to swap positions on the following turns.
The duo made for a spectacle of a battle from here with Rins a hair's length away from Marquez for most of the race. On Lap 17, it seemed that Rins had finally lost pace after suffered a wobble at Club, which increased the gap by half a second. But the rider was right back on the leader's tail by the end of that lap. The penultimate lap also saw Rins pass Marquez, but the Honda proved once again to be more powerful regaining the lead in the following turns. However, the Suzuki rider was determined more than ever to bring this race home and a strong exit on the final corner and overtaking Marquez by the width of a hair to claim the well deserved victory.
On the podium - Alex Rins, Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales
Taking the final place on the podium was Vinales, who passed his teammate on Lap 7, but didn't have the pace to contest against the top riders. Rossi though was a distant fourth finishing 11.439s behind the race leader, bringing in crucial points for the team. Petronas Yamaha's Franco Morbidelli finished fifth, producing his best result of the season so far, ahead of LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow, Ducati's Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller of Pramac Ducati.
KTM rider Pol Espargaro finished ninth, followed by Aprilia's Andrea Iannone in 10th place. The last points were picked up by Francesco Bagnaia of Pramac Ducati in 11th place with Suzuki stand-in Sylvain Guintoli finished 12th. Making a comeback to racing after his injury earlier this season, Honda's Jorge Lorenzo finished 14th behind KTM's Hafizh Syahrin after a long battle, while Avintia Ducati rider Karel Abraham was placed 15th picking the final point. Takaaki Nakagami of LCR Honda crashed out of a top 10 place but remounted and finished 17th, behind Tito Rabat.
A second-place finish still puts Marquez at the top of the points table with a lead of 78 over Dovizioso.
