Maiden Win for Vinales!

SILVERSTONE - Ecstar Suzuki’s, Maverick Vinales has taken his maiden MotoGP win at Silverstone this afternoon, putting in a riding masterclass to take the lead on lap one of the re-started race and never looked back, crossing the line with a 3.4 seconds lead to secure the factory’s first win since 2007.

And the home crowd had something to shout about following Sam Lowes’ disappointment in Moto2 as Cal Crutchlow got the better of Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi to finish in second place just two weeks after his maiden win at Brno.

Valentino Rossi completed the podium in his 250th Grand Prix race after a colossal battle with Marquez saw the Spaniard eventually run out of space after some no-holds-barred moves and ran off track at Stowe as he tried to pass Crutchlow, coming back on in fifth place abut passing team-mate Dani Pedrosa at Maggotts to take fourth.

Vinales claimed Suzuki's first MotoGP race win in nearly a decade at Silverstone, expertly controlling a restarted race after a huge crash on the opening lap brought out the red flags.

The race was brought to an abrupt halt on the opening lap of the original start, as Pol Espargaro and Loris Baz were both launched from their bikes in terrifying fashion at Maggotts.

Contact between Espargaro and Danilo Petrucci triggered the accident, from which Espargaro emerged more or less unscathed - albeit after being taken from the track by stretcher.

Baz meanwhile received immediate attention from the medics trackside, before being reported conscious and taken by ambulance to the medical centre for further evaluation.

The restarted race was reduced in distance by a lap to 19, with Vinales moving from his grid slot of third to take an immediate lead with passes on Valentino Rossi at Stowe and poleman Cal Crutchlow at Abbey.

From there, Vinales gradually extended his advantage as his rivals became embroiled in a frenetic scrap for position behind that allowed the Suzuki rider to escape his pursuers and win by a margin of 3.4 seconds.

It marks Vinales' first victory in the premier class and Suzuki's first since Chris Vermuelen's wet Le Mans triumph in 2007. In the dry, it was the Japanese marque's first win since Sete Gibernau at Valencia in 2001.

Crutchlow fended off stern attacks from Rossi and Marquez to take second place in front of his home fans, ahead of Rossi - who came out on top of an exhilarating dice with arch-rival Marquez for the final spot on the podium.

Behind Marquez, Dani Pedrosa was fifth, ahead of Andrea Dovizioso, Aleix Espargaro and an off-colour Jorge Lorenzo. Petrucci and Alvaro Bautista completed the top 10.

Andrea Iannone had been running as high as second before crashing out with a handful of laps to go at Luffield.