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Francesco Bagnaia flies off bike at 180mph as Storm Antoni terrorises MotoGP in Britain

Francesco Bagnaia may be storming this year's MotoGP season, but the Italian struggled in the face of Storm Antoni during British GP qualifying

[It was a difficult afternoon for Francesco Bagnaia]

It was a difficult afternoon for Francesco Bagnaia(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

MotoGP leader Francesco Bagnaia flew off his bike at 180mph as Silverstone felt the wrath of Storm Antoni.

The summer rain caused absolute havoc during the qualifying stages of the British GP. Bagnaia came into the weekend with a sizable 35 point lead over nearest competitor Jorge Martin, but found himself scrambling in the gravel after coming off his bike.

The reigning champion suffered a huge blow as he lost control at 180mph on the Brooklands corner, which also went on to claim Luca Marini, Alex Marquez, and Marco Bezzecchi.

His crash summed up an extremely chaotic and dangerous session in Northampton.

Read More: World champion 'prepared' as British weather threatens to terrorise another sport

The Ducati driver looked furious as he ran to pick his bike. Bagnaia skidded across the track and into the gravel with six minutes to go. He sprinted back into his paddock and wanted to get back out there, but his team stopped him as they ran out of time.

Fortunately, last years British GP victor had done enough to secure himself fourth on the grid in Q2. He was far from the only one to crash out before the end of the race.

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[Bagnaia fell at the Brooklands corner]

Bagnaia fell at the Brooklands corner(Image: Twitter/MotoGPonTNT)

Fellow Italian Marco Bezzecchi managed to take pole position despite also crashing. The Mooney VR46 ace suffered a front-end fall at turn 16 but still clung onto the pole position by his fingernails.

Fabio Di Giannantonio was the first rider to fall to Storm Antoni after he flew off into the gravel during his first lap. Last years runner-up Fabio Quartararo looked to be on his way down also, until he managed to stop the bike from going over.

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[The rain has been extremely challenging at Silverstone]

The rain has been extremely challenging at Silverstone(Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Unfortunately, the Frenchmans bike looked to have stalled and he was not able to get it started again. As a result, the 2021 champion had to content himself with a starting position of 22nd.

In Q2, Alex Marquez skidded into the sides and was quickly followed by Bezzechi. Luca Marini, Jake Dixon, Fabio Di Giannantonio, and Miguel Oliveira, also suffered early falls.

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