Day of Champions returns
The Day of Champions is a MotoGP institution.
Held on the Thursday before the British GP for decades now, the event is back in full swing for 2022 after some Covid interrupted years.
The event is one of the few opportunities to get up close to the MotoGP stars. There’s a mass ride in, including a chance to lap the track, pit and paddock access, entertainment including from trials icon Dougie Lampkin, stage shows, rider interviews and exclusive auctions to win MotoGP memorabilia.
Better still, all funds raised go to Two Wheels for Life, the charity supporting medics in Africa offer support to remote areas through the use of motorcycles.
Big name acts
While MotoGP is mainly about the racing, there’s plenty of activity away from the track to create a packed weekend of entertainment for the whole family.
The festival feel runs throughout the campsite while in Silverstone itself there’s a whole host of activity from BMX displays, through to bars, quality cuisine and trade stands.
And at night the main stand comes alive on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with a number of well known acts including Tom Grennan, Stereo MCs and Basement Jaxx – all of which is included in the MotoGP ticket price.
Next gen Brits
There may not be any Brits racing in the premier class at the MotoGP this year, the first time since 2010, but there are plenty of young hopefuls on show over the race weekend, with eyes on being the next big thing in the premier class.
In the run up to the Grand Prix, the British MiniGP riders (between 10 and 14 years old) will battle around the Silverstone Stowe circuit, while the Honda British Talent Cup (BTC) riders (13-17) will showcase their talents with two races around the full Grand Prix circuit as part of the support programme.
The BTC teens will have plenty of encouragement seeing 2019 champion Scott Ogden making his British GP debut as part of Michael Laverty’s VisionTrack Racing Team Moto3 squad, while 2018 BTC champ Rory Skinner makes his GP debut in the Moto2 class. The 20-year-old Scot, who is a British Superbike Championship frontrunner, will make the first of two wildcard appearances for the American Racing Team.
Can Jake break his duck?
This year’s British Grand Prix marks the fifth anniversary of Carole Nash backed Jake Dixon’s Moto2 debut.
Since then the now 26-year-old has competed in 58 Grands Prix and is having his best ever season with two pole positions and a pair of podiums, including last time out in Assen.
With a first win looking like it is on the horizon, can the GASGAS rider do it in front of his home crowd at Silverstone this weekend? We spoke to him ahead of the event to find out.
Aprilia takes it to the big boys
Of course, the reason we go to MotoGP is to see the world’s most technologically advanced motorcycles, not to mention the best riders in the world, tackle the fast and demanding Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.
Valentino Rossi may have hung up his helmet but there’s still plenty of excitement and story lines to keep things exciting in this year’s MotoGP championship.
World champion and last year’s British GP winner Fabio Quartararo takes a 21 point advantage to Silverstone, despite failing to score last time out in Assen, while his main rival is surprise front runner Aleix Espargaro on the resurgent Aprilia. Espargaro gave Aprilia its first MotoGP podium at Silverstone last year, and with the package even more competitive in 2022 we fancy it could be the package to beat. Add some very fast Ducatis into the mix and the racing should be red hot and unpredictable in 2022.
If you can’t go to Silverstone to see the racing live, all three Grand Prix races will be broadcast free to air on the ITV network, while the Carole Nash sponsored BT Sport programming will bring in depth analysis and live coverage of every practice, qualifying and race session throughout the weekend.
