"Britain Backs Two Wheel Racing!": The 2026 MotoGP British GP Saturday and Sunday Round-Up

Saturday - Now is When Racing Begins!

Now one thing that I came to realise this year at the circuit was that unless you had General Admission and needed to get a good spot early, there was actually not much point in getting through the gates at the exact moment they open. It was great to have a bit more sleep so we probably headed into the the circuit at around 9am this day. We walked around the merch stands for one more time as Sunday would be completely dedicated to enjoying all of the action they had on track.

But this would also involve heading to the Main Stage as they launched a chance to win two tickets for a paddock tour. We thought why not? We made our way over as did a lot of people, requiring us to grab the microphone if we knew the answer. I would say that all of these questions were quite easy but I said 'Hockenheim' for what German circuit hosts the German GP for MotoGP. Not a proud moment I must admit, but I saved it when being asked 'which rider moved over from WorldSBK in 2026?' I managed to win that one just because I was able to pronounce Toprak Razgatlioglu. They did around 10 questions with two tickets given for each, something I didn't even know was available to win for a weekend. So we got our names recorded by a Silverstone official and thankfully it was timed to be just after our Moto2 and Moto3 Hero Walk.

We decided to make our way back to Village A to watch the end of the Moto2 sessions and the start of MotoGP Free Practice and Qualifying since it was so close to where we were and we were loving the views we had there over the weekend. Unfortunately because of our Hero Walk and paddock tour, we had to leave after Q1 to get the best possible place for some signatures. We decided in advance that we weren't going to do the Hero Walk but made a last minute decision on the Thursday night.

As it turns out, I think a lot of people decided to do this even though tickets weren't sold out. We were surprised on arriving that the queue was particularly long and people must have watched the entire qualifying session from here, which is completely understandable as you get the great view of the pit exit. We must have been about 100 metres from the front however when we got in, we did manage to find a small section of the barrier where we slotted ourselves in. Time to get started as we watched Jorge Martin get pole.

The Hero Walk room is surprisingly bigger than you would think and busier than last year by a mile. In 2025, you could easily count how many people were in the room but there were even people crowding around the back of us to get some photos and signatures. I was happy that Manuel Gonzalez, Senna Agius and Eddie O'Shea came out but it was Alonso Lopez that shocked me. I am a huge fan of Alonso and I have his t-shirt from his Alonshow 2024 range that has to be the most comfortable piece of MotoGP merch that I own. Only problem is I wasn't wearing it, I didn't even pack it, since I really thought he wouldn't be racing this weekend due to his injury. As he came around I asked how he was feeling and I even told him about the piece of merch that I have and how it's up there with one of my favourite items of clothing, which I like to think made him proud as we had a good chat about it.

Not everyone comes out for the Moto3 and Moto2 Hero Walk rightfully so as riders aren't obliged to, but I was happier this year with the riders that showed than last year as the turnout did seem to improve.

Then it was time for our paddock tour that we had won, conveniently starting in the exact area that we had been in for the Hero Walk. We waited for a bit as there seemed to be so many of us, but they did end up splitting us up into groups of around five each so there wouldn't just be a hoard of us swarming any riders or personnel. I cannot remember the name of the lady that showed us around but she was so lovely and I think the best tour guide we could have got!

We got given our yellow passes where we would then take lots and lots of photos with them, then headed towards the paddock just as we did on Thursday. This was just the case of being somewhere (at the Main Stage) at the right time! As we entered, we immediately got a picture with Jon McGuinness and Peter Hickman which was great. I met them back at the London Motorcycle Show in 2025 and they are an awesome pair of guys!

Out of MotoGP riders, we only got Pecco and Ogura as they quickly needed to get to certain parts of the paddock but I wouldn't complain. Bez did wizz past us once on his scooter as well as Joe Roberts and Aron Canet but sometimes it's nice just to see them without actually stopping them. We had an Irish family with us and someone actually went and got Casey O'Gorman so he could see them which I thought was very sweet of him. Although I must admit my highlight was seeing and getting a picture with Uccio from the VR46 team, I am such a huge fan of him!

The 45 minutes ended up going so quickly and these were about the only riders that we got, but it was still an awesome experience to head into the paddock on a different day other than Thursday when it was packed. It was a much more laid back experience and it was almost like watching the paddock 'working' this time around. But even though we had spent around 2 hours at this part of the circuit, it was time to head back for some lunch and just in time for the Sprint race.

You can probably guess where I'm going to say we watched the Sprint Race from. Yes indeed it was Village A. Once again we made sure to get there early and this time it was getting to the point of reaching full capacity and they had Racemakers at the top of the stairs directing people. I was so excited to finally see all of the bikes come around in such a large group as we didn't get this by sitting at Club Corner last year, but it also seemed much livelier in my opinion. What was disappointing was seeing Cal Crutchlow crash into The Loop but everyone cheered once they saw he had remounted and continue in the battle for at least a few laps until he eventually retired. The only problem with a Sprint Race is that it seems to be over so quickly, but we had a game plan.

We made sure to sit on the edge of a row and right by the stairs, so once the victory lap was over towards the end, we rushed once again down our 400 metre sprint of our own. Being the Sprint Race, it was much easier to get right to the front of the barrier and watch the interviews from there (of course, I was very happy with Bez getting a podium even with such a significant injury). Michael Hill was already ready at the Main Stage for the second round of the auction and all-around brilliant entertainment. And whoever you were in the duck hats, we were in stitches looking at your group in the crowd! It was unfortunate that no riders ended up coming down to sign anything and missing out on Bez being there for extremely valid reasons, but this is when @thefreshfocus was absolutely brilliant.

We had seen Nathan all weekend and he was actually the photographer that helped us get Pedro Acosta's signature last year. He could see that my friend was waiting for Fabio Quartararo to come down so she could get her hat signed, something that she tried last year but missed out on it over three occasions. He took the hat off my friend and disappeared for around 3 minutes before coming back looking defeated, only to turn the hat around to reveal that he did in fact get the signature she had been desperate for. I was extremely happy for her as I would be in this situation and he snapped the great photo below, so do make sure you check him out on Instagram right now!

Either way, the auction was great and I am very tempted to set a small budget for next year. I wouldn't nearly have enough to get a grid or pit pass, but I reckon I could end up obtaining a piece of memorabilia. I was so jealous to whoever got the Austin 1st place Pirelli hat signed by Bez, Martin and Acosta as that would have fitted great in my collection! And at the end of the day, it is all for charity and I absolutely love and support what Two Wheels For Life are campaigning for. Hence why I also entered the raffle for a more reasonable price in my budget.

As last year, Saturday was the one day of the weekend that we do like to head back to the campsite early to get freshened up. We probably made it back at 7:30pm, making sure to get a garlic bread and snacks for dinner before showering and getting ready for an even more, exciting, jam-packed final day.

Sunday - Savouring the Moment!

Sunday morning usually ends up being a mad rush to get as close to the front of the queue as possible for the Hero Walk. Yes, you can probably tell from the photos that the room is extensively large, but there's always a doubt in your mind that you won't get the front row. We made it to the main entrance gate by the museum and let's just say that it was quite busy with the 4 different queues going on. We waited about 30 minutes for the gates to open and made a quick rush to enable us to grab the second bus that was heading to the Wing. Last year, we got pretty lucky by being third in the queue, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this is going to get harder every year as we were probably around 30th in the queue this year, right in front of the large LED screen. But as were quite far back for Moto2 and Moto3 yesterday, I think we could say we were safe.

We watched the British Talent Cup from our queue and the MotoGP Warm Up was starting before they packed us in the room a lot earlier than last year, but we were able to have a choice of where we stood. It was a great atmosphere as everyone watched the Warm Up on the big screens and I was soon being interviewed by MotoGP TV which I must admit I've been looking back at and cringing.

We were hopeful to see most of the riders which thankfully we did, although it was perfectly understandable that Bez didn't attend due to the pain in his shoulder. It is luck that you don't end up catching a pile of riders at once but it did occur with us, meaning my VR46 Racing hat will retire with just a 2025 Franco Morbidelli's signature as Fabio Di Giannantonio moves on next year to KTM. Makes it up though that we got a photo with the Michelin Man and nearly every other rider for just £30.

What happened next surprised us, probably the most out of the whole weekend. A guy in a regular looking button shirt came up to me and my friend and asked us to film some content with Meta glasses. We didn't complain and said sure since we had nothing to lose, and at least I wasn't the one navigating how they worked as my friend ended up being the culprit! We managed to get a few snaps with them on and just hoped it was good enough to be used. As everything began to wrap up, he came back over and asked if he could get some of the selfies I had also took. Again, already putting myself on social media, I didn't mind and I tried the best to send them to him in what seemed once again to be a dead spot within the circuit. It was then that I noticed he had TNT Sport written on his MotoGP pass, politely pointing it out to him when he explained he was the admin for the TNT Sport Bikes pages across Instagram and TikTok. Insane! This would be hilarious and so cool to see this on social media across the next few days! Eventually the photos sent and it was just a case of waiting to see when it would be posted which ended up happening on the Tuesday two days later. So this means I'd been caught by two admin this weekend!

We decided to walk back to the entertainment zone as the bus queue at this rate would take us longer, plus I did want to see more of the Moto2 race than I had done last year but there was no way we'd make it to Becketts in time. It made sense to get an early lunch anyways before walking down, and I was desperate to change out of my custom top and into my Aprilia polo before I got any more sunburnt. I am so glad that we did not miss out on this race either as I sat down with a brisket bbq sandwich after how quickly the race was changing over time, and I'm sure others would agree that it was equally as exciting, however gutted I may had been for Manuel Gonzalez.

I thought it best to start heading to Becketts as soon after this finished, but I must admit I wasn't the best at directions. I made us go all the way around by the museum and walked the entire length all the way to Becketts when I completely forgot there was a tunnel through Copse as I walked through this when I went to ELMS. Not a smart move from me and during a heatwave, this was the worst possible scenario but we live and we learn! We got seated around 20 minutes before the start of the race, unfortunately missing the sighting lap but we prepared for some of the best action of the weekend. I know some people have their doubts about Becketts by saying the action is too far away but you can't complain when you can see all of what we saw at Village A in the distance from where we were around seats 230, although you do miss the long straight from around here. We got caught in a lot of the action, Iker Lecuona came off quite heavily here and the sound of the bikes is amazing. What was great from last year too was that we could actually see the victory lap at the end, instead of being at Club Corner where the pit lane entrance is before then. There was me throwing up my 2024 Bez jacket which I used as a sun cover this year when he passed. I think this alone makes me prefer Becketts to Club but the walk down there is probably what sets them equal in my mind.

We also decided to stay for the Moto3 race as people started to head off but surprisingly not as many as we thought. I'm not a huge fan of the British schedule but we hung around just for Eddie and Scott, then ended up staying for Adrien Fernandez just to see if it could be a double Fernandez podium this year, in addition to the racing being so much closer in this series.

We decided to keep moving before Baggers and continue our way down to Stowe, impressed by just how big the Landostand is and how it must have felt a month earlier. This is so we could get to Vale once the track opened just before 5pm. The Baggers race was great to watch although I didn't understand who was where at certain points, we were just hoping for a good result for Andrea Iannone. Soon enough, track was open and it was my first goal to get some rubber, and there were some proper meteors this year! I think that now makes 3 lots of rubber in total from different races I've attended. I would have also looked for any signs of a tear-off but once again, the heat was blistering by now and I did not have the energy to fight someone for it.

What we've found is that a lot of people will run towards the MotoGP garages but finishing a lot earlier in the day, I have never seen a rider come outside. I'm not sure if others can prove me wrong but the closest I've got to someone is seeing Davide Tardozzi sorting the Ducati crew last year, hence another reason why we take it slow on the track. We stopped to take the all famous photos that you must do every year, especially now that MotoGP did in fact have a title sponsor this year which made them look extra flashy. After only around 30 minutes we decided to move on further down the straight and actually found that you could walk a lot further around than we had last year. But for us, the heat was exhausting and we just about only made it to take photos at the pit exit and if I knew we could walk the actual track, we wouldn't have walked the outer track!

As annoying as it is, the gates do close incredibly early on a Sunday, probably because most people end up heading home but we wanted to stay and enjoy our final night at the campsite. We headed back to the Main Stage for some questionable entertainment that isn't necessarily to our taste but thought it necessary to get something alcoholic to celebrate a double Bez podium and Luca Marini points over the weekend, and that deserves a toast! Plus churros for dinner since I had been desperate to have some over the weekend as we chilled for one final time. At around 6pm, we would be leaving the circuit for the final time and the weekend blues hit hard, similar to that feeling of going back to work on a Monday morning.

As we headed back, we made sure to make a game of spotting the trucks leave the circuit, so much so that we positioned our chairs by our tent to look out and just yell "truck!" everything something of any sort went past. It was the perfect summer evening temperature to end the weekend, the first time this had happened all day!

All in all it was a fantastic experience as always, but it was a terrible idea to put the British GP in the middle of May back in 2025. I think you could tell that the attendance was slightly recovering and that did show from a 6,000 attendee difference over the course of the weekend, and rightfully so. I absolutely understand people complaining about the price of food and merch at the circuit, it does take a chunk out of the bank account, but I do believe that there are ways around this and the weekend isn't as badly priced as it is said to be. I agree, it is not cheaper than an ELMS or WEC or BTCC weekend but it is only a fraction of an F1 weekend at Silverstone. Even now, I couldn't believe what I had spent on going to F1 back in 2024 and I've been essentially priced out for ever going in the future. So if I ever want to get my motorsport fix, it's going to come from being at the MotoGP British GP at Silverstone. That is until I ever gain the confidence to ever drive in a different country which, in my mind, is very slim. If so, San Marino GP, here I come!