With the busy summer period of the Grand Prix season well underway, Stefan Bradl's championship rivals will be desperate to halt his charge towards the Moto2 World Championship. The German has won four of the first six races, starting from the front row at all of them, and has nearly twice the number of points of second placed Simone Corsi.
In the torrential conditions at Silverstone, Bradl was unstoppable once early leader Mattia Pasini slid out but his fellow title contenders had a day to forget. Corsi could only manage tenth while Yuki Takahashi was the only other front runner to finish in the top ten, coming in seventh.
Thomas Luthi and Andrea Iannone found themselves battling over a single point with the Swiss rider prevailing to finish 15th while polesitter Marc Marquez followed his warm-up crash with another in the race.
Bradley Smith produced one of the rides of the season so far to come from 28th on the grid to finish second, claiming his first Moto2 podium in the process. The Briton now heads to Assen as the top rookie in the intermediate class and will have his eyes on the podium again.
Iannone may well be the man to watch though. While Bradl has never been in the top five at Assen, the Italian dominated here last year, taking pole position before cruising to victory on the Saturday. After only scoring four points in the last four races, he needs a return to form this weekend.
Takahashi sits third in the title race behind Bradl and Corsi after a consistent start but is still searching for his first win of the year. Consistency has also been the key for Luthi, especially on a Saturday, but his still awaiting his first ever Moto2 win. This weekend would be as good a time as any.
Marc Marquez' Silverstone weekend summed up his season so far. The blistering pace on Saturday was undone by an accident at the worst possible time but there is no question that he will be a threat on a circuit he won at in the 125cc class last year.
With Bradley Smith on top form, Scott Redding has stepped up his game in the last couple of races after a nightmare start to the year. The Marc VDS youngster led the early stages of the British Grand Prix before finishing in fifth, and will look to continue the momentum this weekend. Kev Coghlan was back in the points too and if rain muscles in on the action again, he may spring a surprise.
When looking at the championship standings, Julian Simon may be considered a championship contender but the Spaniard will be missing again through injury. His place in the TT Assen will be taken by Elena Rosell who becomes the first woman to compete in a Grand Prix since 2003.
