Silverstone 26

Loving is easy

You had me fucked up

It used to be so hard to see

The first race I went to was in Lincolnshire, so obviously that would be Cadwell Park, 1970 or 71. I was 7 or 8 years old, and we’d just moved north from the south coast. I think my father was trying his hardest to entertain me and my older brother by actually doing something with us. This later evolved into watching Grimsby Town. Watching bike races alternate with 3-wheel Morgans which seemed more adept at oiling the track than actually racing.

Slowly through some sort of osmosis bike racing got under my skin. An incurable disease for which only the which the only cure was the minimal grids of the 90s. I can’t and won’t blame Doohan for being so dominant.

In the late 70s early 80s guy called Sid Smaller moved into the north Lincs village on the edge of the world, and he raced. That was good enough for me, so I started helping at race meetings to the point that in the end he gave me an opportunity to race. Dreadful. Terrifying.

Anyway, back to watching bikes then. I was lucky in my 20s, there were plenty of mates keen to watch almost any racing. MCN Championships, Grand Prixes, club racing, the lot. Time slips by and waistlines expand, girlfriends come and go and people change, so does racing. And here we are; not as popular as F1, but posher and smarter than it ever was, now with added Liberty. Yep, Liberty who bought F1 a few years ago, and you can bet they will want their money back with interest. It’s early days but the times are a changin’. MotoGP is no longer the gritty, scruffy, down-to-earth series it once was. It’s still not as polished as F1, and it is legitimate to compare because they're the two pinnacles of motorsport but also miles apart in the fan base.

Every year the spectator figures for the MotoGP race are lower a) than anyone hopes for and b) compared to F1 spectator figures. But that’s to do MotoGP a disservice; it’s always going to be more niche and in part that’s due to its history. Bikes were the working classes cheap mode of transport. Car were for the middle and upper classes, and so that idea perpetuated. Then the popular media intensified the image of recklessness and violence created in part by themselves in order to sell newspapers. Want a sensational story? Look to mods and rockers on their chosen bikes. Want to differentiate your readers from the working class? Show them an accident at the Isle of Man TT and terrify your readers into believing motorbikes are dangerous. And there you have it – a scenario that lasts to this day, and probably explains why MotoGP isn’t as popular as F1.

Silverstone is hosted MotoGP this August and although the stands look empty, the spectators have turned up, and the sun is shining, and the bikes are racing. Is Silverstone any good? There’s the question. For spectators? Well, it’s better than some would say. But It’s big and flat and an old World War II airfield, so yes of course it’s a bit two dimensional in some respects. But it’s not Donington, which is the other UK circuit type; an old British estate road that was part of Donington Hall. Britain either has old estates’ roads as circuits or massive old WWII airfields. Like Silverstone, Donington is in the middle of England (maybe a circuit in beautiful Scotland would work with those stunning mountains, but let not talk about Wales, eh?) and has good access as far as motorways/main roads are concerned, but Silverstone has the important better access/egress nearer the circuit. Silverstone isn’t also constrained by a tight property boundary that seems to prevent any future expansion at Donington Park. Silverstone’s set-up however is based on 4-wheels, from F1 and down through all sorts of variations. And it’s owned by the BRDC (British Racing Drivers' Club). Happily, the current CEO Stuart Pringle is a bike nut. Does that help? Silverstone now has a DORNA/MSEG/Liberty contract for 2028, but after that? Will the UK lose MotoGP to the Americas? Certainly, Argentina would like Buenos Aires to host. Can they afford it? India is the big market that aches to be cracked. Even if 0.01% of the population were interested that would be nearly 150,000 fans pretty much close enough to be a single day attendance record for all circuits. So, fear for the future on MotoGP in the UK. In 2026 43,000 fans turned up for the main race day, and nearly 31,000 the day before that had the Sprint with a weekend total (includes Friday and probably Thursday) of 105, 885. That doesn’t seem good enough for Silverstone who have to bid to hold the race in the UK.

The racing is normally good. Apart from this year when it wasn’t as Raul Fernandez disappeared into the distance winning with an easy margin, but Moto2 was great and Moto3 was its usual mad box of surprises. The circuit is wide, fast and flowing which is why it’s safe. Well maybe the fast bit makes having an accident less safe than say sitting in an armchair, but there are plenty of places to pass, and the riders appreciate that and the fast bit. If the bravest current rider (Marc Marquez) says it takes large cojones to go fast here, then you’d better believe it.

There will always be moans and groans no matter which circuit hosts MotoGP. Not because Brits are the only moaners, but Brits are the only ones we hear from. There are probably just as many locals moaning about their own national circuit but just in their language which we as islanders have no understanding of. It is a really big circuit which is a bind for anyone trying to walk around to see as many things as they can, and the organisers do try their hardest to put on as much non-racing entertainment as they can from live music to displays and vendors’ stands. It is also expensive. Very expensive. You can probably budget to spend £500 per person when you factor in travel costs, tickets, merchandise, food, accommodation, parking and any other sundries. Is it value for money? I’ve no idea how to measure that. Probably in my opinion yes. The best riders in the world on the best pieces of machinery. Three classes of racing plus the earthquake-causing Harley ditch pumps. A full 3 days-ish of primary action at a circuit you can get in and out of. Can you see it? Yes, it’s better every time with large screens in loads of places. Now we come a big question. Does it have the atmosphere? Sadly, the answer is probably no. But I suspect that only Le Mans, Mugello and Misano and Valencia in Europe have the atmosphere we’d all love. Unless you want to fly to Thailand or Malaysia.