British MotoGP - Silverstone

4 - 6 August 2023

The highlight of the motorcycling calendar in the U.K. is the British MotoGP at Silverstone and is one of my must do events of the year. Not just to photograph but to spectate as it’s a great show.

Is it the best motorcycling event in the U.K? That’s very debatable as we have the British Superbikes and World Superbikes series to consider, plus the Isle of Man TT. 

In respect of entertainment, MotoGP takes some beating with lots of off track attractions like rock bands playing into the night, Monster Energy stunt shows and more merchandise and food stalls than you can shake a stick at. 

But it’s the bikes that make it for me. The bikes out on track ridden by the best riders in the world on the limit can’t be seen anywhere else but at MotoGP.

World and British Superbikes like the Isle of Man TT have production motorcycles at the heart of the championship and look the same as the manufacturers’ top sports bikes that they will sell you from your local motorcycle showroom. 

MotoGP bikes are unlike any other bikes, and are basically test beds for future two wheel sports bikes. Just like F1, the cutting edge developments in motorcycle design developed on the track will filter down to the showrooms, eventually.

However, there is a problem and quite a large one for this development process, and that is the whole sports bike concept. 

For the last few years the sales of sport bikes has been falling with the market turning to the large naked and adventure bikes. Will this have an effect on MotoGP? In the short term I don’t think so, but the rise of electric bikes in the next ten years will have have a huge influence on two wheel racing. 

At this year’s British MotoGP MotoE was back. There have been attempts to showcase electric motorcycles racing before but it hasn’t grabbed the average biker’s attention.

With an open mind I watched a bit of the qualifying and later the race, but yet again I was underwhelmed mainly by the noise. The speed and dynamics of the bikes look spot on but that Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee as they go past!

There is a reason just about every biker changes the stock exhaust on their bikes, and it’s not to make them quieter. Like it or not electric motorcycles are coming. You might not hear them but they are coming!

So how did our weekend go? Well we only went on the Friday and Saturday. Having experienced race day for the last few years we decided to give it a miss.

Unless you are paying for a grandstand seat or are happy to stay in one spot all day, you are not going to see much as there are so many people who will camp out at the best locations. Also there are usually lots of advertising hoardings at some of the best spectator spots.

All that was true for last year, but his year it was a little different. The advertising hoardings were less evident and the very annoying hessian sheets that obscured the view at some locations were gone.

It was like Silverstone had listened to the spectators, so as a spectator photographer I was very happy.

On Friday we were on a mission as soon as we entered the circuit because we knew Saturday was going to be wet, very wet. So the standard locations of Brooklands and Luffield were ticked off before we headed to the Village in the afternoon.

It was a bit of a pleasant surprise that you could walk all the way down to the International pits, and the restrictions on where you could spectate on this part of the circuit had been removed. I haven’t seen this happen for some time so we made the most of it.

As we were down this side of the track my shooting buddy decided to try and get in Stowe from the inside of the track which is accessible via a bridge.

Unfortunately, it was a long walk for nothing as the bridge was closed, and this is one of the issues with Silverstone, you never know 100% what’s going to be accessible. 

There is a lot construction going on at Silverstone which has meant that some areas you could shoot from have now gone, Club corner as an example. New grandstands and accommodation are popping up everywhere.

This is not a bad thing however, as I stayed overnight in the new Hilton at Silverstone a few weeks ago and although it still needs finishing off my stay was quite pleasant.

You get a great view of the start line from the mid-level balcony next to the restaurant but the best view is from the roof which unfortunately wasn't open on my visit. 

I decided to shoot Vale and Stowe on Saturday. The rain was very heavy for most of the day so I only got my camera out when I felt I would get a good shot. Club/Vale wasn’t too bad first thing, but later along Stowe it proved to be pointless as the wind was blowing the rain straight into my face. I tried my best to keep the lens free from rain but it was difficult so I gave up. 

I’ve shot a lot in difficult situations, standing on steep snow covered mountain slopes to blindingly bright deserts, and know what will work and what won’t.

Yes you can take pictures in low light with rain falling, and sometimes you can get a half decent shot. However, on that Saturday my pictures didn’t look that good as a set, and as the wind was in the wrong direction I was wasting my time trackside as a photographer, so I reverted to being a spectator.

On the upside, Saturday had a race to watch. It is a new format of a short sprint race with reduced championship points for 2023. This has had a positive knock on effect as practice and qualifying on Friday is now longer, with practice on Saturday and a race means you are getting more racing for your money than last year.

In the Saturday 20 minute Sprint race #73 Alex Marquez on the Gresini Ducati handled the challenging weather conditions well, crossing the line first. #72 Marco Bezzecchi was second, #12 Maverick Viñales third.

So to close off our visit to the 2023 British MotoGP, let’s take a look what happened on Sunday and at the riders. There are a few British riders in the various classes but none in the top class, and as we are not a results service I will keep this brief.

I will include some shots of the riders but best not to talk about how they got on, or got knocked off if you prefer! Let’s say it wasn’t the best home round for the Brits.

Aleix Espargaro #41 (Aprilia Racing) won the GP after qualifying 12th, taking the win on the last lap from #1 Francesco Bagnaia in a dry race.

In MotoGP Espargaro's win from P12 was quite an accomplishment. Brad Binder came in third by 0.070s, taking Aprilia rider Miguel Oliveira on the last corner who had started 16th on the grid.

So is the British MotoGP the best motorcycle event in the UK? If you take the Isle of Man TT out of the equation as it’s not really in the UK (the Island is a self-governing British Crown Dependency), for me the TT is the number one motorcycle event in the world never mind the UK. 

So yes the British MotoGP is the best motorcycle event in the UK. The best riders on the best bikes make this an annual event that is a must do for spectators and photographers who like their motorsport on two wheels.

Now if we could have a British or Irish rider in the top class next year to cheer on that would be the cherry on top.

Photographic Post Script

Nearly all of the images shot here are through the fence from the spectator side, a few were shot over the safety fences. Camera kit used by RPW Photography and myself was the same, Nikon D500 with the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200-400mm f/4G IF-ED VR II and a 1.4 teleconverter. The close up shots of the riders in the crowd the Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR came into action.

My thanks go to RPW Photography with helping out with this report.