Silverstone [ Oct 2007 ]

Silverstone track day, October 2007

Silverstone, on the border of Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, is the home of British motorsport. Built on a former Second World War airfield, it hosted the first round of the Formula One World Championship in 1950 and now hosts the British Grand Prix for both Formula One and MotoGP.

The circuit is fast and open, with long straights and high-speed corners such as Copse and the Maggotts and Becketts complex on the full Grand Prix layout. Shorter National and International layouts are also used for track days, so the same venue can feel quite different from one visit to the next.

Silverstone's wide, flat layout makes it easy to see the track ahead, but the high speeds demand accurate braking markers and confident, smooth inputs. As the home of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone also carries a sense of history that few venues can match. Riding through the same corners and past the same grandstands as world champions is a memorable experience, whichever layout is in use on the day.

The circuit's size means that track days rarely feel crowded, and the long straights give plenty of time to think about the next braking point. Its wide run-off areas and modern facilities make it a good place to build speed gradually, even for riders visiting for the first time.