This weekend, 27th - 30th August, the MotoGP heads to UK shores for round 12 of the Championship at the historic Silverstone circuit. The OCTO British MotoGP will get under way as always, with the ever popular Day of Champions, on Thursday 27th August.
The action will start from 9am on Thursday morning and riders from all classes, MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 will all appear on stage at some point to sell off items and raise money for the Riders For Health Charity. Last year they raised just under a stunning £200,000 and will be looking to better that this year with some fantastic prizes up for grabs - tickets can be bought here - RIDERS FOR HEALTH.
The track action begins on Friday 28th August at 9am with the Moto3 class. After another brilliant race in Brno it will sure to be another great weekend for the Moto3 riders, included in that this year will be British wildcard riders Taz Taylor and Luke Hedger. Danny Kent will be looking at taking a win in front of his home crowd and extending his Championship lead even further. Youngster John McPhee will also be looking to add to the podium finish he secured at Indianapolis.
The MotoGP riders will take to the track at 9.55am and with Yamahas of Lorenzo and Rossi showing their true form this year. Will Marquez or one of the Ducati riders of Iannone and Dovizioso fight for the win at Silverstone? And the anticipated huge crowd will be cheering on the Brits of Bradley Smith, Cal Crutchlow, Scott Redding and Eugene Laverty, urging them towards a podium.
Sam Lowes is the British favourite in the Moto2 class and despite a mechanical problem in Brno during qualifying the Brit showed true grit and fought his way from 15th to 5th. He is now lying in fourth place in the Championship standings and will be hoping for more British success.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE As well as the action-packed schedule on track throughout the three days the Silverstone/Circuit of Wales organisers have arranged some thrilling entertainment for the Friday and Saturday evenings.
As Friday's practice and track action finishes around 7.30pm Europe's best Elvis tribute, The Rebel, will have his 90-minute show rocking the central entertainment zone.
Saturday's red-hot qualifying action around the 3.6-mile circuit will lead to MotoGP pole position being won around 2.50pm and as the circuit closes for business so pop legend Adam Ant will take the main stage to entertain from around 7.30pm.
This year sees the revival of the much heralded Yamaha Pro-Am series and some top names from the past will be competing for top honours, on board identical LC250 Yamahas. The list of riders includes Dave Heal, Geoff Crust, Curt Langan, James Haydon, Geoff Fowler, Ivan Gray, Kim Barker, Derek Crutchlow, Kevin Mawdsley, Donnie McLeod and Niall Mackenzie. The race has been highly spoken about and it will be action-packed and talk is of who will take the win after all these years?
Warm-ups begin at 9.00am on Sunday with the three key races at; 11.20am - Moto2, 1.00pm - MotoGP and 2.30pm - Moto3. Those are followed by the Red Bull Rookies, featuring young Scotsman Rory Skinner, and the Pro-Am race to conclude the mammoth festival.
And Silverstone's Formula One Wing will play host to a Classic Village with a two-wheel Concours d'Elegance of more than 100 race and road machines.
