Welcome to Silverstone 

The protagonists of the world championship MotoGP head to Silverstone for the resumption of hostilities after a five-week break.

A little bit of history

Silverstone made its first appearance on the world championship calendar in 1977. Before that, the British event was the famous Tourist Trophy on the Isle of Man, a track which was then more than 60 km long. For security reasons, the paddock therefore set down at Silverstone. 

#BritishGP STATS 📊

The first Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1977 was the first motorcycle Grand Prix to be held on the British mainland 🇬🇧

The British round of the world championship had previously been held on the Isle of Man since 1949 🏁 pic.twitter.com/5Hh4ByMjAo

- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) August 21

In 1977 and 1986, the British GP was held at Silverstone, then at Donington Park between 1987 and 2009. This weekend will therefore mark the 12th GP at Silverstone since its return to the program in 2010. In 2018, if the GP took place, the races were canceled on Sunday due to track conditions. In 2020, the event was not on the calendar due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Some figures to know… 

Of the 20 premier class races held at Silverstone since 1977, there have been 15 different winners.

Jorge Lorenzo and Kenny Roberts are the drivers with the most victories in the premier class at Silverstone, three successes each: 2010, 2012 and 2013 for Lorenzo and 1978, 1979 and 1983 for Roberts. 

Yamaha is the manufacturer with the most success at Silverstone with eight victories, including five since 2010 with Lorenzo (2010, 2012, 2013), Valentino Rossi (2015) et fabio quartararo (2021) 

In 2016, Maverick Viñales gave Suzuki its second victory in MotoGP (since the advent of the category in 2002) after that of Chris Vermeulen in the rain in France in 2007. Since then, the Hamamatsu factory has won four additional successes (three for Alex Rins, including one at Silverstone in 2019, and one for Joan Mir). 

Last year, Aleix Espargaro took third place, giving Aprilia its first MotoGP podium (since 2002). Since then, the Noale firm has recorded six more Top 3s including a victory in Argentina this season with Espargaro. 

Ducati has only won once at Silverstone with Dovizioso in 2017. Note that apart from this victory, the Borgo Panigale factory only has two more podiums, in 2015 with Danilo Petrucci, second, in front of Dovizioso.

Last year, the six manufacturers were in the first six places at the finish. This is the first time that there have been six different brands in the Top 6 in the premier category since the 1972 Yugoslavia GP. Since then, it has happened in Portugal this year.

Since 2010, Jorge Lorenzo is the only rider to have taken pole position at Silverstone on a motorcycle that is not a Honda: 2010 (Yamaha) and 2018 (Ducati, but the race did not take place) . Last year, Pol Espargaro recorded his first pole position with Honda (his teammate Marc Marquez suffered a heavy FP1 crash after setting the first benchmark of the weekend)

Who will take pole position on Saturday and who will win on Sunday? The race will take place at 14 p.m. (Paris time).

🚨 Session interrupted after the fall of Marc Marquez! #BritishGP 🇬🇧

▶ https://t.co/6vTgdTN2gP pic.twitter.com/RszfWtYL5J

- CANAL + MotoGP ™ (@CanalplusMotoGP) August 27