Best place to watch MotoGP this Sunday?

Hello,
My wonderful wife has bought my son and I tickets for Silverstone this
weekend. Having never been there, what's the best place to watch the
racing from? We have roving grandstand tickets so should be able to
find a good space, I hope!
Many thanks
Mark

 

The things a woman will do to get the family out of the way and arrange a
shagfest

 

The straight answer is "on the tv"

I've not been there as a spectator but I reckon Brooklands or Woodcote
would be a good spot for some extended knee-down viewing,
Maggots/Becketts for left/right flip-flopping or somewhere on the
infield for things getting wiggly.

Failing that, I think the roving tickets give you access to the
start/finish straight, so you could just watch from there.

I'll be there to see qualifying on Saturday, so might have a better idea
of where's good to watch from after that.

 

Last time I went (quite a while ago), I was annoyed to find all of my
favourite places now have hospitality suites built on top of them,
blocking the view. Gits.

 

Does anyone think it's about fans?

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I did think the start/finish straight
would probably be acceptable but it would be good to see some knee-
down viewing as well!

Thanks again
Mark

 

I was there last w/e for the FIA GT meeting, and the new layout is
pretty un-spectator-friendly, unless you're happy just finding your seat
in a grandstand and watching from there. The limited access makes
getting from one part of the circuit to another involve a lot of
walking, and there's security guards and fencing everywhere.

Anyway, the Becketts grandstand is supposed to be good for seeing a lot
of the circuit as well as having some good action in front of you. I
couldn't be arsed to walk all the way out there so ended up in the
grandstand on the inside of the new complex (Village is it?) before the
Wellington Straight which gives a good view of that section and some
idea of what's going on elsewhere too.

New Start/Finish area is pretty useless as you can really just see that
one straight as the Wing building is in the way.

Be interesting to know whether enough spectators bother with a 13-rider
MotoGP field (or whatever it is) to give the place any atmosphere -
Silvestone's really just too big and corporate now for anything other
than the F1 GP.

 

I think it's quite a way back from the track though, there's a lot of
runoff out there. That said, it's Silverstone, there's a lot of runoff
everywhere so all the grandstands are pretty far back from the track.

I've got seats in the Club grandstand for the F1, which should give a
reasonable view down the new start/finish straight, into the pits, and
up past Vale towards Stowe.

Mind you, for the money it should give me a fucking good view of Alpha
Centauri and Brooke Lee Adams too.

And Donington's a bit of a shithole. Tough call.

 

<fx:Googles>

Oh, it's a star...

 

One thing that suprised me about the Catalunya circuit is how close you
can be to the action on some sections.

 

I've not been to Donington for a while now, but it was definitely
headed towards pushing spectators back away from the action.

I used to enjoy watching at Redgate, until the big hoardings went up
that meant you had to stand way back on the slope behind, rather than
up close and personal by the fence. At least you then got to see
Holywood & the drop down Craner curves I guess.

I still reckon Brands is the best "big" track for spectators,
notwithstanding Foulston's meddling.

 

Spectators only get to see the bit that makes up the Indy circuit
though. The rest of it's out in the forest with not much by way of
viewing opportunities.

 

Oh sure, but I think that the fact that you can see all of the Indy
circuit in the natural "bowl" more than makes up for the fact that the
GP section is out in the Boondocks.

It also means that that is where 90% of the spectators are, and so you
can get a great atmosphere, as in when Niall MacKenzie went so well[1]
at a WSB round back in the late 90s.[1] I've never known another race
to have an atmosphere akin to a football match.

[1] My Google mojo has failed me on the exact result.

 

Glad to hear that. I met 3 Germans on the road to Plymouth who had an
extra ticket. They tried to talk me into it. I
_almost_ went for it.

 

I'm going, though only for qualifying tomorrow. And I'm going back for
all three days of the F1.

 

Eh? It rained a bit overnight, but both Sat and Sun I topped up my tan
and didn't need my rain coat. Cracking atmosphere being sat next to the
"official" Viñales fan club.

 

Thanks for all the comments and advice, chaps. I don't know whether to
be disappointed that I'm going! Anyway, son and I will enjoy the
experience, I'm sure, and it was nice of the missus to buy the tickets
for us. Don't know how to tell her not to do so next time!

Mark

 

Ignore the whinging, it's just the UKRM way. Get yourself a spot
overlooking the grid and you'll enjoy just being that close to the
spectacle.

One tip, take earplugs. Good ones. You have *no* idea just how loud the
800cc bikes are.

 

1997 3rd[0] to finish in race 1, DNF in race 2
http://www.wsb-archives.co.uk/RaceReports/1997/BrandsHatch.html

[0] Niall Mackenzie's finished third in race 1 only to be disqualified
later for a fuel infringement. His supplier, Carless[1] Fuels, had
accidentally provided him with petrol with an octane count marginally over
the limit
[1] missing a vowel it seems

 

Well I'm in the Luffield stand now and the view's great, clear all
the way from the entrance to Brooklands round to the exit of
Woodcote.

Knee-down a-plenty.