The British MotoGP - Round 12

Silverstone

5th - 7th August 2022

The best motorcycle riders on state of the art machines in the world assembled at Silverstone last weekend for the British round of the 2022 FIM World Motorcycle Championship. The Pistonclick team were there for the full three days of racing and this is our review from the spectator/photographer's view point.

The very hot weather we have been getting for the last month or so helped with our decision making process on how to get to Silverstone. By that I mean our mode of transportation. If you have been a visitor to Silverstone you will know that car parking charges can be an unwelcome addition to your admission ticket, but if you arrive on a motorcycle it’s free to park.

So as the weather was playing ball, and therefore no risk of our camera gear getting soaked, bikes was the order of the day.

All of this hot weather is fine for biking and watching the action but it’s not great for taking photos. Heat haze and shiny fences play havoc with getting a nice clean shot so we spent a lot of time looking for areas of shade, rusty patches and the odd piece of fencing that had been painted black.

I would like to see all of the fencing at the larger venues painted black since, as a photographer, it helps a lot and as a spectator in bright sunshine you are able to see the large TV screens easier through the fence. Here,  in some locations it was impossible to see the screens because of the glare.

To be fair this year we were able to move around and get a decent spot to view from quite easily as the crowd wasn’t as big as last year. 67,000 turned up in 2021 on the Sunday compared to the unofficial figures numbers I have seen online of  41,000 in 2022. I have no reason to challenge the 2022 attendance numbers as it felt less well attended than last year.

Why is that? Well last year Rossi was racing in MotoGP for the last time and a lot had turned out to see him. There was yellow as far as the eye could see last year, there was still Rossi merch for sale this time and the odd fan but not as many. Marc Marquez is still recovering from his latest arm surgery so wasn’t able to race and he is always a big crowd pleaser. 

The economic down turn could have something to do with it. Fuel and hotel prices have rocketed and probably put a few off, but for me it could be the amount of racing which didn’t really give me a feeling that I was getting value for money. MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 and the British Talent Cup.

In all five races over three days, two of which were the Talent Cup. A few more domestic race series on track would be have helped like they do at the British World Superbike round. People getting passenger rides on bikes and safety cars hold no interest for me and are a waste of track time.

So let’s take a look at the racing, specifically at MotoGP which is what most had turned up to see. The first thing I will say is that it is always a pleasure to watch and photograph the best riders in the world taking these machines to the limits.

The skill levels on show are amazing and as no two riders will control their machines in the same way, they can look quite different in the same corner or even on the straight. 

The Village/Aintree is a classic example. I watch from the inside and outside of the track here depending on where the sun is. Remember I’m taking photos, shooting into the sun is not conducive to taking good pictures.

The bikes can get crossed up, pull small wheelies and drift out of the corner. In previous years the angles that riders and bikes would get to were a lot more extreme than they are now.

Better tyres, suspension, chassis and of course the electronic riding aids have put paid to that, but it is still great to watch when practice or qualifying is going on. 

To be fair it’s the same around the whole of the circuit,  but everyone has a favourite place to spectate and my second is Club opposite the Silverstone Wing. There are multiple places to watch from here, the grandstands give a good view for the spectators and the fence is not to far from the action if you want to get a little closer.

On race day you are hard pressed to beat Luffield to watch the action. I think I’m correct in making that statement as a lot of people had the same idea, and it was packed on race day. Standing at the back of the concrete viewing area we used our small steps, which are a must at large well attended events and enabled us to look and shoot over the tops of people's heads without blocking anyone's view

The race was set up to be a fast one, with great riding conditions. After practice and qualifying, eight riders were all under Marc Marquez's standing lap record with Johann Zarco on pole, Maverick Vinales and Jack Miller on the front row.

Zarco led the field and looked in control until crashing from the lead on lap 5. Alex Rins then passed Jack Miller taking the lead shortly after Zarco hitting the tarmac. With nine laps to go Francesco Bagnaia took the lead and held it to the finish line in a great battle with Maverick Vinales and Jack Miller.

In Moto2 the home fans had someone to cheer for with #96 Jake Dixon, and #33 Rory Skinner who was making a wild card appearance after his great performances so far this season. He is fourth in the British Superbikes championship.

#22 Sam Lowes, who I was looking forward to seeing race in his home Grand Prix, crashed out in free practice one, dislocating his left shoulder, and was not able to take part in any on track activities for the rest of the weekend.

#37 Augusto Fernandez put it on pole, with Jake Dixon starting from sixth after initially posting the fastest time in free practice. Back in 21st would be where Rory Skinner would make his Moto2 race debut.

The race was a cracker, with Fernandez dropping back and Dixon moving up with some close racing. A last lap pass saw Fernandez take the lead from #21 Alonso Lopez, with Dixon taking the last podium place as he did in the last round a Assen.

#7 Dennis Foggia won for the second time this year in Moto3 Grand Prix class with Jauma Masia second and Deniz Oncu third. The race was the usual very close action with a lot of slipstreaming overtakes and many riders going down in the close action.

The British riders who kept their machines shiny side up were #17 John McPhee 7th, #19 Scott Ogden 12th and #70 Joshua Whatley 21st.

To finish off this report we will look at Harrison Mackay who we are following as part of the True Heroes Racing Team. He is an associate rider with the team.

Harrison is racing in the super competitive Honda British Talent Cup, the development race series for future MotoGP stars which was run alongside the Silverstone MotoGP last weekend.

Mackay looked good in the two races over the weekend, knocking 2 seconds off his personal best lap times while running mid table. 

As a spectator, it appears that qualifying as close to the front and making an early break away seems to be the recipe for success in this class. Watching Mackay battling with 10 other bikes of similar performance was excellent as a spectator, but not conducive to him making progress as they all swapped and battled for position.

However, this is where the stars of the future learn their race-craft.  Hopefully a few of the racers in this series will progress through and we will be able to cheer a British rider in the premiere MotoGP class in a few years.   

Thanks to RPW Photography and Olithephoto for helping out with this report which you can share with your friends on Social Media by using these links.