Silverstone celebrates storming MotoGP™ festival weekend
Silverstone is celebrating a stunningly successful GoPro British Grand Prix MotoGP™ event which saw incredible racing, huge crowds and lap records smashed in every class.
The event marked another high point for the Northamptonshire track in 2019 with 114,607 fans visiting the track over the Bank Holiday weekend.
A completely new track surface was laid in June this year ahead of the sell-out Formula One race and the two-wheel international licence was renewed for another year after a successful safety inspection the day before qualifying began on Friday.
Added to the great racing was entertainment across the weekend with award-winning Clean Bandit playing to a massive crowd on Saturday night and Toploader keeping the fans entertained on Sunday evening once the racing had finished.
It was immediately clear riders were happy with the new track surface completed by new contractors Tarmac and lap times were fast from the first free practice session on Friday morning.
Reigning MotoGP™ champion Marc Marquez said: ""As soon as I went out I felt like it was another track! I enjoyed riding it a lot more and I think so did everyone else. Last year we complained, but this year we have to say congratulations to the circuit because they did a great job."
Nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi said: ""It's a great pleasure to ride here in Silverstone because they make a very good job.
"The new asphalt has good grip, but the biggest difference is a lot less bumps, so you can push more and ride the bike more at the limit. You can also use the perfect line because in the past Silverstone was very, very bumpy.
"We need to 'use' the track this year because maybe in the future come some more bumps, but this year – I don't want to say perfect – but it's close to perfect."
Silverstone Managing Director Stuart Pringle said: "The success of this weekend's MotoGP™ racing, the incredible lap times, the atmosphere, and the great racing are testament to the incredible hard work by the Silverstone team. Seeing a race finish where the winner is separated from second place by just 0.013 seconds is something special.
"The work we have done on the new track surface has allowed us to rebuild trust with the fans. We know they endured the most miserable of days last year, but we have demonstrated today, Silverstone is back to being a world-class track. "
Tickets for the 2020 Silverstone MotoGP™ event will go on sale in an exclusive online pre-sale next week for those who bought 2019 tickets and on general release on September 10. To make sure not to miss out on exclusive offers sign up at the Silverstone website for the newsletter.
Sportscar racing extravaganza roars into Silverstone this month