Rossi wins at Silverstone as Marquez crashes out
A crash at the British MotoGP looks to have caused serious damage to Marc Marquez's chances of defending his title.
Marc Marquez's title defence took a major step back on Sunday as he crashed out of the British MotoGP, while Valentino Rossi wrested control of the riders' standings with victory.
The pair opened up a sizeable lead at the front, with Repsol Honda rider Marquez in close pursuit of his Movistar Yamaha rival.
But Marquez crashed out of the race on lap 13, opening the door for Rossi to hold on for victory, despite late pressure from Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso.
A shower on the warm-up lap saw everyone head into the pits to swap bikes, prompting the start of the race to be aborted.
Subsequently declared a wet race, Jorge Lorenzo made a swift start and led pole-sitter Marquez into turn one.
However, it was Lorenzo's team-mate Rossi who eventually took control and, along with Marquez, opened up a comfortable cushion over the chasing pack
Cal Crutchlow briefly moved into third at his home race but was taken out by LCR Honda team-mate Jack Miller in the third lap, the Australian diving for a gap that was not there for the taking.
Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa struggled to keep touch with their team-mates out in front, with the former seeing Petrucci and Dovizioso go past into third and fourth respectively on lap eight.
Marquez kept Rossi in close quarters as the rain became heavier but it was the Spaniard who blinked first in the battle for victory - crashing out at turn one on lap 13.
Petrucci - who had never previously featured on a MotoGP podium - and Dovizioso continued to tussle for position, but it was the Octo Pramac Racing man who eventually clinched second.