Silverstone's MotoGP Weekend Round-Up

Thursday

The weekend began at the lovely early hours of 5:40 in the morning in order to hopefully avoid most of the chaotic travel of work. It didn't take a long time for me and my friend to double check our supplies and we were speedily off on my longest car journey, a terrifying fact as I've previously been put off any sort of 'fun driving' due to a car accident knocking my confidence just over two years ago. Turns out, driving is pretty easy! And in just over 3 hours we had arrived not only to Cartmel Fields, but to the accreditation centre. This race weekend happened to fall very nicely on my friend, Sophie's birthday and what better way than to surprise her with paddock passes for the day? (I'm imagining an applause so thank you, thank you.) Once these were collected, it was perfect timing to comfortably set up camp for the weekend with some time to spare before driving to the pit lane, one of the most surreal moments in life that makes you feel too important!

Even though the wait lasted for about 2 hours, the weather thankfully held on to the joy of my Bezzecchi hand-painted trousers, and it was time to walk past the iconic riders poster which you see in every MotoGP post where Quartararo flaunts his fashion. Luckily only 500 tickets were sold for this event and that may sound like a lot but the number couldn't have been more appropriate as it didn't feel cramped at all. And meeting riders was a must! We managed to find Luca Marini, Aleix Espargaro, Fabio Di Giannatonio and Ai Ogura pretty early on, although the number 72 painted on my trousers was waiting for only one.

As the day got on, I slowly lost a little bit of hope but was desperate for something almost ridiculously too expensive to eat before heading back in. It only took a few more moments of waiting before Marco Bezzecchi was standing almost by himself out of Aprilia hospitality. I did what I had to and asked for a photo before I think he even noticed the apparel to which I asked 'Do you remember me from last year?', jogging his memory just enough for him to question 'Jacket?'. I would have been so embarrassed if he didn't remember. After politely asking if he would signed them, he questioned whether they were comfortable or not and surprisingly, these are the most comfortable thing I have painted so far, even more so than the jacket. I was extremely grateful of course.

The great thing about this new event organised by Two Wheels For Life is the pit lane access for around an hour to get a sneak peak inside the garages. Although not all of the garages weren't open which was slightly disappointing, it was still great to see the goings on of everything in the sport including the Pramac Yamaha employees that were taking a cheeky look into the VR46 Ducati garage as they fired up the engine. But when you place your mind into their shoes, this is their job and they're not there to showcase for the fans when important data must be collected. I'd actually say one of my favourite moment was seeing Suzi Perry conducting interviews, something I know I'd love to be doing in the future.

It was at this point where I think many people had left for the day and space became more apparent but I was determined to stay for just a tad longer. Thankfully as we had continued to see Alonso Lopez, Celestino Vietti and MotoLu! Now MotoLu isn't a famous rider, but I am a huge fan of her on TikTok so please do check her page out! It was actually when I was speaking to her that Bez came past us once again with a team member and a small hello was exchanged. He then brought the attention of the trousers to the Aprilia member and said 'i pantaloni' with a small chuckle before heading to the VR46 hospitality. That must have been the highlight of my day.

7 pm was slowly looming and as much as we didn't want to leave, it had been a long day and it was time to complete the 'VIP car journey' as I'd like to call it back to the campsite for the night that was slowly filling up. Now it was time for the real weekend to begin...

Friday

The morning of Friday came and even though Silverstone isn't the most well attended race on the MotoGP calendar, there is certainly a buzz no matter what event is being held. Staying at the campsite for long didn't bother us and we were straight into the circuit as soon as possible with my half-Pecco, half-Bez outfit for some needed coffee. There was also an important mission to tick off on the list: merch. Now I know this seems like a rookie mistake of buying merchandise on a race weekend but I have my reasons! Firstly, I wanted to get an Aprilia hat and now, I would have bought this along with my flag and scrunchies but they weren't made available until a moment where they wouldn't have arrived in time. Secondly, an Aprilia polo shirt, one piece of merch which is hardly available online and the only place I could find it didn't even sell to the UK. Thirdly, Sophie tried to get a Yamaha hat but that never arrived in time so this was the only option for us. Besides, we didn't think the prices were inflated too much and it didn't bother us.

As this was the first time Sophie had been to the track, I thought it was extremely important for her to walk around the whole of the circuit as a pre-weekend ritual. Due to the fewer merch and food stands at MotoGP than Formula 1 previously, it took us considerably less time to walk the entirety of it alongside stopping at Becketts to watch the first free practice session of the weekend. Now I'm no expert in where to watch the race at Silverstone by all means but out of all of the stands we visited, this was definitely up there and is a fine contender for next year in our opinion. By all means feel free to leave a message on this page to tell us where you like to watch MotoGP (with possible recommendations!)

It was only lunch time by the time we'd done a full circle and as much as I wanted to watch the support series, my four-wheeled brain was drawn to the Silverstone Museum as I knew they'd had a 75 Years of F1 exhibition and I had no idea what was added. Food was bought and it was time to head in via the Scalextric track that was massively impressive by the way, even if I came 4th out of 4th but I blame the car!

MASSIVE SPOILERS if you're planning on making a trip anytime soon. Shockingly, it wasn't the F1 cars that impressed me but rather the JOTA Hertz cars from over the years, especially the 2024 car that part of me wishes was the number 38 as I know that's Jenson Button's car. The artifact that shocked me the most was the Reynard with 'Eddie Jordan Racing' on the rear wing since if you know me, my family has a very strong connection with the late great and it was comforting to see his name again. Of course, Sophie was ecstatic about Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull car and the Aston Martin Safety Car.

The second most exciting thing for me is the gift shop as I'm sure a lot of people say about museums, but mine is for a very good reason! The one thing that I praise about the museum is their collection of books and biographies. Even if I go into my local bookshops a million times, they will never have what Silverstone offers since their variety is insane. Ultimately I had to limit myself to a Casey Stoner and Jason Plato biography and no doubt will I be there in the future for more.

We'd just about managed to get out in time for the MotoGP practice session which we chose to watch from Abbey A, originally for the practice starts although this was missed by our decision to head early over to the fan stage for auctions and interviews. It was great to watch all of the action inside the garages once again and be able to study exactly what happens within a semi-busy session to try and get each of the riders into that crucial top 10 for qualifying and luckily for us, that's exactly what happened with our favourite riders.

Like I said, we wanted to make our way early for the auctions as I knew that from last year, they sometimes sent some of the riders into the floor to sign and take photos. Due to our early departure from practice, we were able to watch the rest of the session from the stage where people went crazy over Fabio going fastest and the atmosphere felt as if X was lying about how the circuit was, quote-on-quote, 'dead'. Once again, I was very excited to see Alonso and Cele again however disappointed that delays meant none of the riders came down including Bez and Sava, Jack Miller and Miguel Oliveira and Marc Marquez (I could never see the latter coming down either way due to his popularity!)

Two riders who broke this protocol was Eddie O'Shea and Max Cook of Moto3 (technically BSB for Max) who we had attempted to win a bid on their merch, split two ways obviously between the two of us but prices went too high. Eddie made the comment that when he came to see us that we were out-bid, justifying our decision by the fact that we are "two broke university students". He then went to joke how he was broke too, although I struggle to believe that!

Time was getting on again and before you knew it, the evening entertainment of MistaJam was starting, some of the best music of the weekend in our opinions. We also couldn't spare the opportunity to miss a chance on the Michelin Wheel either, something I couldn't get around to at F1 in 2024, and I think I perfectly captured the vibes in the pictures below. For the second time during the weekend, it was time to head back to the tent to try and get enough sleep for the most important moment of the GP so far: Qualifying and the Sprint Race.

Saturday

I want to say that Saturday started at a semi-ok start. This was the night of the worst weather throughout the weekend with heavy wind and rain that woke me up at the early hours of the morning at 4 am. The rain had concerned me so I quickly checked around the tent for any water leaks and lo and behold, we had only a small leak by the entrance, purely due to me stupidly leaving a tiny bit of the tent open. All I could do at this point was zip up tight and pray for no more, although it was my 72 flag hung on my car I should've been more worried about; that was something I didn't realise until I stepped outside at 7 am. Today was also Sophie's actual birthday so of course I plastered my car with embarrassing photos and decorated the tent with banners, all made out of love which she appreciated.

Almost exactly a repeat of Friday morning, we were straight off the circuit to enjoy a lot of practice sessions in Club Corner which would be our home for the weekend. Personally I enjoyed the spot but I'm sure there are better places to watch from as I've heard Village is very popular! It was even better to see Bezzecchi stay in the top of the timesheets for a long time and interesting to watch the marshals help out Alex Marquez when getting his bike back into the pitlane. There were a lot of cheers when he eventually made it back.

Honestly, I don't have much to say about qualifying because we spent the majority of it travelling to the Hero Walk for Moto2 and Moto3. If you're somehow looking at this article for any advice or experiences for 2025 or beyond, personally we decided we wouldn't do this again because being so close to the other sessions, not all of the riders came out especially the ones that I was looking forward to meet. But positives is that we got to meet Jake Dixon, Max Cook and Eddie O'Shea again and huge thanks to the guys that did come out that we hadn't met before like Deniz Oncu, who could genuinely be the funniest guy in the paddock! Sophie was also frustrated that she missed Fabio get pole which is a valid reason as to why, but this may have a completely different schedule for future years to come.

After briefly being stopped by Michael who was advocating at the fan stage for Two Wheels For Life when he spotted Sophie's birthday sign, we quickly grabbed lunch and made our way back to Club Corner for the rest of the day, or just about because once again, we left early for the evening auction before the Sprint podium.

I think the Sprint itself was a brilliant one from our position. I was gutted to see Bez drop so early on as well as Sophie with Fabio but at least the Aprilia made up some places and made me wonder what would be possible for the Sunday (I was so naive about the possibilities!) All in all, the racing this weekend was something I fear I may never watch in any other sport, hence the reason why Silverstone is one of my favourite circuits due to its unpredictability, especially with weather and wind conditions. Huge congrats to Alex and Marc Marquez and Diggia of all people to climb their way through the grid.

And so we rushed to the fan stage to get us a good front spot again of all things. Perhaps you could call me an expert in these situations? At least today, many of them were coming down to sign and take photos which worked perfectly for us and our programmes for the weekend, although Sophie was incredibly sad when we missed Fabio by such a small margin. In my mind, I was happier that I got to thank Maverick Vinales for my signed poster I had won at auction last year and completely forgot to say thank you for (a full circle moment there!). We had also just missed Pedro Acosta too, however one of the security guards saw how annoyed we were that we missed Fabio and took our pages off us to get signed, and what a sigh of relief when he came back with the silver pen over the Spaniard's face!

There's almost too much to talk about within this evening: seeing Joe Roberts was great, karaoke from Ryusei Yamanaka, singing his rendition of 'Hey Jude', asking the Moto2 and Moto3 riders whether they wanted the race to be wet or dry and the highlight of probably everyone's day, Johann Zarco doing a backflip off the stage for £500 towards charity, while his media manager desperately tried to stop him. Some important memories were made that evening, although Sophie's disappointment of Fabio slightly ruined the mood on her birthday of all days. As it turns out, it was better to head back to the campsite and get showered while it was less busy plus enjoying a surprise birthday cake that I had bought and got everyone to sing happy birthday around us. Overall the best decision to make for an earlier start ahead of race day...

Come back tomorrow for a full race day breakdown!