British Grand Prix Preview

Aug 25, 2015
4 min read

MotoGP heads home for the twelfth round of the 2015 season to the iconic Silverstone.

Formerly an RAF base opened in 1943 during the height of the second World War, racing graced the Northamptonshire circuit in 1948. In 1950, the circuit now under lease of the RAC, the first ever Formula 1 World Championship event took place on a track made up from the perimeter roads.

Motorcycle Grand Prix racing began life in the UK also in 1949, but it was staged at the most prestigious two-wheeled event of the time – the Isle of Man TT. The TT was part of the Grand Prix calendar up to 1976 and was struck from the World Championship the following season as a result of safety concerns and a boycott from Giacomo Agostini in 1972 after the death of his friend Gilberto Parlotti.

The British round moved to the Silverstone Circuit in 1976 where it remained until 1986. The race moved to Donington Park for the following season and remained until 2009. Silverstone once again echoed with the sound of Grand Prix motorcycles in 2010 on the revised 'Arena' layout, which featured a new infield section turning right at Abbey instead of left.

Silverstone has been the scene of many a classic moment. Many fans around in the 1970s will remember the titanic duel between Yamaha's Kenny Roberts and Suzuki's Barry Sheene in 1978, as well as that famous hand gesture from the Briton. And who could forget Marc Marquez versus Jorge Lorenzo in 2013?

One of the longer laps at 3.67 miles, Silverstone is a very demanding circuit on both mechanic and rider. The long corners, quick changes of direction and hard braking zones will really put your machine to the test and amplify its pitfalls. Like Brno, its hard to look past a Yamaha winning here; the question being which one? Jorge Lorenzo has three wins to his name whilst Rossi has none, and with the Championship fight lying square between the pair coming into this round you can guarantee an almighty duel.

I expect Honda to struggle relative to the Yamaha, but you can bet on Marc Marquez pushing the limits to try and further lower the points gap. Ducati showed well at Brno and should do again, but the front-end issues that Andrea Dovizioso highlighted two weeks ago will cause the Desmosedici riders grief through the mighty Maggotts/Becketts complex and the Arena section.

Suzuki's strong chassis will help them here, but their lack of power will once again hold them back as Silverstone is very much a power circuit. The same goes for Aprilia.

With three Brits occupying the Satellite seats much will be expected from the home crowd. But a podium will be out of reach for all three most likely as Satellite bikes tend to lose out more so at this type of circuit than anywhere else to the Factory riders.

Many fans were disappointed that Donington was unable to hold the race this year after financial issues forced them to back out of their deal with the Circuit of Wales. But the anticipation for this race has been through the roof thanks to barnstorming racing in the premier class and British success in the feeder categories, all of which pointing towards another classic weekend at Silverstone.

This race will also be the first time Inside Line Media will be in a World Championship paddock, so our coverage may be a little different this weekend.

Stats:

Circuit Length – 5.9km (3.67 miles)
Number of Turns – 18 (8 left, 10 right)
Longest Straight – 770m
Number of Laps – 20
Circuit Record – 2:01.941 (Dani Pedrosa, 2013)
Fastest Lap – 2:00.691 (Marc Marquez, 2013)
Top Speed – 328.6km/h
Average Speed – 173.2km/h
Most Wins – 3 (Jorge Lorenzo)
Most Poles – 2 (Marc Marquez)

Bridgestone Tyre Compounds:

Front – Extra-soft, Soft, Medium

Rear (Factory) – Hard, Medium

Rear (Open) – Medium, Soft

Previous Five Winners:

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda RC213V, 2014

Jorge Lorenzo, Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1, 2013

Jorge Lorenz, Yamaha Factory Racing YZR-M1, 2012

Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda Team RC212V, 2011

Jorge Lorezno, Fiat Yamaha Racing YZR-M1, 2010

Classic Silverstone Moment:

Morning warm up, Vale chicane, 2013. Cal Crutchlow has just slid off his Tech 3 YZR-M1 Yamaha and the marshals are retrieving his stricken bike. Seconds later Marc Marquez does the exact same thing; his Honda strikes the Yamaha and the Spaniard dislocates his shoulder. Three hours later, laden with painkillers, Marquez goes toe-to-toe with Jorge Lorenzo for the win. The pair swap the lead, just as they did in qualifying 24 hours earlier, on multiple occasion. The laps counted down with no clear answer as to whom the victor would be. Under braking for Brooklands Marquez has a go up the inside of Lorenzo and makes it stick, but runs it just a touch wide at Luffield allowing the Yamaha back through on the inside. Powering out of the hairpin and through Woodcote the pair were line-astern. Lorenzo took the victory, a crucial one at that, to reignite his title hopes after a tricky run of races in the first part of 2013.

Weekend Schedule:

Friday:

Moto3 FP1 – 09:00-09:40

MotoGP FP1 – 09:55-10:40

Moto2 FP1 – 10:55-11:40

Moto3 FP2 – 13:10-13:50

MotoGP FP2 – 14:05-14:50

Moto2 FP2 – 15:05-15:50

Saturday:

Moto3 FP3 – 09:00-09:40

MotoGP FP3 – 09:55-10:40

Moto2 FP3 – 10:55-11:40