Aug 5 (Reuters) - Spaniard Alex Marquez beat late-charging Marco Bezzecchi to become the fifth different sprint winner in nine rounds of the MotoGP season with victory in the 10 lap race at Silverstone on Saturday.
The Gresini Racing Ducati rider, who started on the front row in third place, beat VR46 Ducati's pole-sitter Bezzecchi by 0.366 seconds with Aprilia's Maverick Vinales third.
The younger brother of six times MotoGP champion Marc, who finished 18th for the struggling Repsol Honda team, Marquez took the lead from KTM's Australian Jack Miller on the second lap on a drying track after heavy rain.
Alex Marquez was one of several fallers in qualifying, with some riders questioning whether the sprint should go ahead on safety grounds before conditions improved.
"I didn't expect such difficult conditions in the race," said Bezzecchi, who had a big crash in qualifying after securing pole and came back at Marquez in the closing stages.
Persons:
Alex Marquez, Marco Bezzecchi, VR46, Bezzecchi, Aprilia's Maverick, Marc, Repsol, Marquez, Jack Miller, Francesco Bagnaia, Jorge Martin, Pramac, couldn't, Alex, Alan Baldwin, Christian Radnedge
Organizations:
Silverstone, Ducati, Repsol Honda, Pramac Ducati, Marquez, Vinales, Thomson
Locations:
London