Why Silverstone should be regarded as MotoGP's rightful UK home

There wasn’t much to look forward to about British summertime last year, courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of its heavily revised calendar, MotoGP didn’t pay a visit to the UK in 2020. But, a year on, much of the country is double-jabbed with the vaccine and this weekend Silverstone will throw its gates open with glee as it welcomes fans back to its grandstands to witness MotoGP’s return to this troubled island.

There’s much to look forward to for UK MotoGP fans in 2021. Despite there being no full-time Brit on the premier-class grid at the start of 2021, circumstances in recent weeks mean fans will have two home heroes to cheer on. The ‘retired’ Cal Crutchlow was originally drafted in to replace the injured Franco Morbidelli at Petronas SRT, but will now mark his factory team return with Yamaha as the ousted Maverick Vinales’ replacement. 

And, at SRT, former British Superbike star and SRT Moto2 racer Jake Dixon will make his MotoGP debut in front of his home fans on a satellite Yamaha. Add to that Valentino Rossi’s final UK appearance in MotoGP, unsold Silverstone tickets are a rarity.

MotoGP’s last visit to Silverstone delivered one of the best races of all time, when Suzuki’s Alex Rins battled hard with Honda’s Marc Marquez and beat him by just 0.013 seconds in a thrilling photo finish. The excitement of that race lives fresh in the mind.

Inevitably, however, a good portion of the UK crowd will be viewing the 2021 British GP weekend through rose-tinted glasses – as will an even bigger portion watching the action live and free on ITV. Without fail, conversation during British GP weekend will turn to whether MotoGP should return to Donington Park when Silverstone’s current deal expires.

Donington hosted 23 events consecutively from 1987 to 2009

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

When the Circuit of Wales project crumbled to nothing back in 2017, Donington’s name came back into conversation about staging MotoGP again. Dorna Sports subsequently signed a new three-year deal with Silverstone to continue hosting MotoGP.

MotoGP raced at Donington from 1987 to 2009, playing host to a number of memorable moments, such as Rossi’s first MotoGP win in 2000 and Ralf Waldmann’s heroic ride in the 250cc race that year, when he came from miles back in last to snatch victory at the final corner on the last lap on a wet track. 

Silverstone hosted the British GP from 1977 to 1986, before returning to the calendar in 2010 on the new layout and has remained ever since. That brings Silverstone’s total MotoGP races to 19 (plus two cancelled scheduled visits, in 2018 and 2020) versus 23 for Donington. Presumably because its 23 events were consecutive, Donington has wormed its way into the fan zeitgeist as ‘the true home of MotoGP in the UK’.

But if there’s one thing that truly elevates Silverstone above Donington as a MotoGP venue it’s the fact the former is the only circuit where Marc Marquez has jumped off his Honda and admitted to being genuinely scared out on track

But the fact of the matter is Silverstone is a vastly better circuit for MotoGP than Donington ever was or ever will be. Between 2010 and 2019, three MotoGP races at Silverstone were decided by a victory margin of less than 0.150s, while two – 2013 (0.081s) and 2019 (0.013s) – were decided by less than a tenth. The number of races decided by less than a tenth is three when you include the iconic Kenny Roberts victory over Barry Sheene after an epic duel to the line in 1979 – deep in an era of massive winning margins.

Donington, by contrast, has never had a premier-class race decided by such fine margins. The smallest winning gap at the Leicestershire venue was 0.231s between Mick Doohan and Tadayuki Okada in 1997. Silverstone is fast, flowing and wide, the perfect recipe for close racing. Donington is much narrower and really isn’t helped by the section from the Fogarty esses through to the final corner.

By modern standards, Donington is problematic for MotoGP. Barrier proximity is a big issue and work required to rectify this would be very costly. Silverstone is top grade for both FIA and FIM competition, though this has inadvertently led to the main complaint UK MotoGP fans have about Silverstone: big runoff areas have pushed stands further away and sapped atmosphere. 

Many fans still regard Donington, pictured in 2008, as the best place to watch MotoGP in the UK

Photo by: Motorsport Images

Having visited Donington for World Superbikes twice, I’d hardly say the atmosphere there was buzzing. But this is a nonsense argument anyway, because a circuit doesn’t create atmosphere – fans do. Pandemic times have proven this. Races without fans have felt like glorified test sessions, but you wouldn’t say a track like Mugello was boring just because no fans were in attendance for this year’s Italian GP.

A good race is a good race, irrespective of the atmosphere. About three people and a dog attend MotoGP’s Qatar GP every year, yet we tend to end those races out of breath after some stunning action.

But if there’s one thing that truly elevates Silverstone above Donington as a MotoGP venue it’s the fact the former is the only circuit where Marc Marquez has jumped off his Honda and admitted to being genuinely scared out on track during a particularly windy session a few years ago.

Silverstone is yet to secure its MotoGP future beyond 2021, but it’s time to accept that it is the right home of MotoGP in the UK. Besides, if we want to get technical, MotoGP’s true UK home is its 1949 birthplace – the Isle of Man…

Rossi will be making his final appearance on UK soil as a MotoGP rider

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images