August 31st will find the MotoGP grid at Silverstone for the Hertz British Grand Prix . This is stop 12 for the season. After this, we will only have 6 more races before the race year is closed out.
Introduction:
With more than 60 years of history Silverstone has become one of the most prestigious venues dedicated to motorsport. Completely revamped in recent years, a multimillion pound investment saw the completion in 2010 of a first phase of works to greatly improve the venue, making it one of the fastest tracks on the MotoGP calendar and earning high praise from the World Championship riders who enjoyed the new layout. The ‘Silverstone Wing’, a state-of-the-art, multi-million pound complex, became a new landmark at the circuit from 2011, thus adding to already breathtaking facilities at Silverstone.
CIRCUIT INFO:
Length: 5.900 m / 3.666 miles
Width: 17m
Left corners: 8
Right corners: 10
Longest straight: 770 m / 0.478 miles
Constructed: 1948
Modified: 2011
Laps: 20
Distance: 118.0 km - 73.3 miles
MotoGP.Com preview:
With Pedrosa having won the Czech Grand Prix, Honda has now established a new record for the longest sequence of successive wins by one manufacturer since the MotoGP class was introduced at the start of 2002; although Marquez may have narrowly missed out on becoming the first ever rider to win the opening 11 races of a season, his team still holds a 100% win record for 2014 so far.
Last year at Silverstone, the Northamptonshire circuit witnessed one of the most memorable duels in living memory as Marquez went head-to-head with Jorge Lorenzo, a battle which saw the Yamaha rider beat his rival by less than one tenth of of a second. The two-time World Champion rider will now be looking to follow in the footsteps of Pedrosa by claiming his first victory of the campaign, while in the process searching for an 80th podium finish in the top tier of Grand Prix racing; only Valentino Rossi, Mick Doohan, Dani Pedrosa and Giacomo Agostini have more…
As for Rossi, the Italian is set to officially become the most experienced rider to have ever contested the 500cc or MotoGP class. He will start his 246th Grand Prix this weekend, surpassing the 245 starts of Alex Barros; ironically, this will happen exactly 17 years to the day since Rossi clinched his first world title in the 125cc class at Brno in 1997. He debuted in the premier class in 2000 and since then has amassed a remarkable 80 Grand Prix victories, 154 podium placings, 49 pole positions, 68 fastest race laps and seven world titles. Although he has never won at Silverstone, ‘The Doctor’ triumphed at Donington Park on no less than seven occasions between 1997 and 2005, including his first 500cc win in 2000.
From a British point of view, there is a lot to shout about as five home riders will line up for the race. This time it will be Cal Crutchlow, Bradley Smith, Scott Redding, Michael Laverty and Leon Camier, whereas in 1996 – the last time as many riders contested their home British Grand Prix – the names in question were those of James Haydon, Chris Walker, Eugene McManus, Jeremy McWilliams and Terry Rymer. And could Silverstone perhaps witness a local name on pole position? Only the late, great Barry Sheene has ever done that, in the 500cc Grand Prix of 1977.
Opening free practice for the 2014 Hertz British Grand Prix will start at 9:55am local time (GMT +1) on Friday, with Sunday’s race starting at 1pm local time.
SCHEDULE
29 August 2014
Moto3 FP1: 09:00 - 09:40
MotoGP FP1: 09:55 - 10:40
Moto2 FP1: 10:55 - 11:40
Moto3 FP2: 13:10 - 13:50
MotoGP FP2: 14:05 - 14:50
30 August 2014
Moto3 FP3: 09:00 - 09:40
MotoGP FP3: 09:55 - 10:40
Moto2 FP3: 10:55 - 11:40
Moto3 QP: 12:35 - 13:15
MotoGP FP4: 13:30 - 14:00
MotoGP Q1: 14:10 - 14:25
MotoGP Q2: 14:35 - 14:50
Moto2 QP: 15:05 - 15:50
Moto2 FP2: 15:05 - 15:50
31 August 2014
Moto2 WUP: 09:00 - 09:20
MotoGP WUP: 09:30 - 09:50
Moto3 WUP: 10:00 - 10:20
Moto2 RAC: 11:20
MotoGP RACE: 13:00
Moto3 RAC: 14:30
POINTS SO FAR THIS SEASON
1. M. Marquez 263
2. D. Pedrosa 186
3. V. Rossi 173
4. J. Lorenzo 137
5. A. Dovizioso 118
6. A. Espargaró 85
7. P. Espargaró 78
8. A. Iannone 73
9. S. Bradl 65
10. B. Smith 65
Lorenzo in 2013:
DIFFICULTY FOR THE BRAKING SYSTEM:
LIGHT
The Silverstone track is considered one of the fastest of the MotoGP calendar and one of the least demanding for brakes. The circuit is characterized by long straight stretches and by not very demanding braking, which allow the braking systems to cool properly. Quite often the rain and the use of steel discs in place of carbon ones.