Silverstone, Northhamptonshire - The MotoGP moves to England this Sunday for the British Grand Prix with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo set for an epic showdown.
The Yamaha team-mates are tied on 211 points at the top of the standings, with Lorenzo holding the advantage due to the fact he has five wins to Rossi’s three.
Honda’s Marc Marquez is third in the standings, 52 points behind the two Yamaha team-mates, and two wins and two second places in the last four races show that he is not out of the fight just yet.
Last year’s British Grand Prix saw Marquez take his 11th win of the season after an excellent duel with Lorenzo, with Rossi completing the podium. If the same were to happen this year, Lorenzo would leave Silverstone with the outright lead in the standings.
Rossi finds himself knocked off the top of the world championship standings for the first time this season after finishing third behind Lorenzo and Marquez at Brno in the Czech Republic a fortnight ago. Interestingly, the charismatic nine-time World Champion has never won at Silverstone.
IMPERIOUS LORENZO
Lorenzo, having won at Brno in imperious fashion, will be looking to stamp his authority on the 2015 title battle and to establish an outright lead in the standings for the first time this season. He’s won three times at Silverstone in the past in MotoGP (2010, 2012, 2013) and only lost out to Marquez last year by 0.7sec.
Marquez had no answer to Lorenzo’s blistering pace at Brno, and will be looking to respond at Silverstone to preserve any hopes he has of retaining his MotoGP world championship title.
The Spaniard has won twice at Silverstone: last year’s victory in the MotoGP race and also back in 2010 in the 125cc class.
Marquez’s Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa will hope to have recovered fully from the injury to his left foot he sustained in practice at Brno. The Spaniard finished fourth in last year’s race after an excellent scrap with Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso.
Ducati’s Andrea Iannone currently lies fourth in the championship standings after his fourth placed finish in Brno, and has not finished outside of the top six all season.
Star Motoring