MotoGP Slinks Off To Silverstone In 2010

As if MotoGP couldn't suck any harder, it has been announced that the series will dump Donington for 2010 and replace it with Silverstone. (Incidentally, that's not the first time the words Donington and dump have appeared in the same sentence).

Silverstone is a god-awful racetrack. Wide, flat, and featureless, it's generally hated by fans and photographers who would rather see something more dramatic. The last time the British Superbikes visited the F1-losing track, most of the excitement was generated by crashes at the moronically slow final chicane. Last time the World Supers were there, the excitement came from.... Uh.... Well, to be honest I can't even remember. Silverstone sucks that much. Luckily, both BSB and WSBK still go to the excellent Donington track. (I nearly said excellent Donington facility, but nobody has ever used those words in the same sentence so I'd better not.)

It's a major coup for Silverstone, whose blazer-clad board of directors have been sitting in their brand new trackside building, sipping G&T and quietly fuming about the loss of Boremula One. They allegedly lost F1 because the place was a tip but really because they couldn't pony up as much cash as the evil regimes of the Middle and Far East (OK, Singapore isn't evil, but it is pretty rich.)

Now, who is currently head honcho of the British Racing Drivers Club (BRDC) which runs Silverstone? None other than ex-F1 champ Damon Hill, a bike racer who switched to cars but still adores 2-wheeled machinery. He will have been fighting hard to steal MotoGP from Donny, pointing out to Dorna that they'll receive 5-star treatment and won't play second fiddle to the wonderful Max Mosely and the little one, whassisname. As a genuine bike enthusiast, Damon scores a lot of points over most circuit owners. He also merits respect for the way that he is far less of a tit than the average F1 champion.

Silverstone held the British 500cc motorcycle Grand Prix a fair few times in the past, including the legendary battle between Barry Sheene and Kenny Roberts. (I think Valentino Rossi's old boy Graziano was in that race, but I can't be bothered looking it up.) So there is plenty of bike racing history at Silverstone. Hopefully Damon can slap the circuit designers round for a while until they come up with a better final chicane. God knows how high Jorge Lorenzo would highside out of the current 5mph one!

BSB Silverstone: Shakey is Champion

Shane Byrne finally secured his second British Superbike title at Silverstone, while Leon Camier and Leon Haslam took the victories in a day of crashing on the flat, featureless track.

Race 1
Cal Crutchlow started from pole position, but it was his HM Plant Honda team-mate Leon Haslam who blasted off the grid and into the lead. Crutchlow slotted into second place in front of Rizla Suzuki rider Tom Sykes, while James Ellison came from nowhere to take fourth on his Bike Animal Honda, ahead of NW200's Michael Rutter in fifth.

Karl Harris was running well until he flew off the track across the grass, luckily finding some tarmac used by the F1 cars. He had already had a hair-raising moment as he launched past Ellison at the hairpin, hanging Rutter out to dry at the same time. Harris rejoined, but was a long way down the pack. In all the confusion, Michael Laverty took his Relentless Suzuki into fourth spot.

There was soon carnage at the idiotic chicane which leads into the final corner. This slow, slow left/right flick has no place on a major bike racing track, and this would become painfully obvious as Haslam turned left, only to be torpedoed by Tom Sykes. Haslam limped over to his bike, motioned to the marshals to pick it up, and rejoined the race. Tom Sykes also rejoined, but was delayed as he bump started his Suzuki. This collision was eerily reminiscent of the pair's crash at Oulton Park earlier this year, when Haslam was excluded from the race results for a kamikaze attack on Sykes. This time, with the roles reversed, Sykes was excluded from the results and suffered a swingeing 12 place penalty on the grid for race 2...

Read the rest of my British Superbike Silverstone race review at Motorbikesport.

WSBK Silverstone: Bayliss Stars in Downpour

Troy Bayliss was the only winner in the World Superbike round at Silverstone, with race 2 being cancelled due to torrential rain. The Australian had taken pole position, and was on top form in a 3-horse race with the two Yamaha Italia bikes of Haga and Corser.
There was action from turn one of the race, where Michel Fabrizio dumped his Honda. Very quickly it was obvious that the two Troys and Nori Haga were the only contenders for the victory. Championship leader James Toseland looked to be riding sensibly in 4th place until he highsided in the stadium section. As he picked the machine up, its right side was badly damaged and there seemed to be a lot of coolant pouring out, but Toseland remounted in 18th and charged back, finishing an impressive 8th to salvage a few points.
Karl Muggeridge was another victim of an early highside, and various other riders fell off to leave just 13 finishers, with Ruben Xaus among those who had fallen and restarted.
TV cameras showed Max Biaggi's eyes through his clear visor at the start of the race, with the Roman Emperor's expression seeming to verge on sheer terror, his eyes like saucers. He had a disappointing race to 6th place, with several scary slides showing how badly the Suzuki was handling on the soaking track, but stayed onboard to retain 3rd place in the championship and chip away a few points from Toseland's lead.
Regis Laconi had one of his occasional good days, with a decent ride to 5th, but was overshadowed by Roby Rolfo's 4th position. The young Italian has had two decent showings in a row now, and must be gaining confidence in the big Superbike after so long on the little 250GP machines.
Troy Corser had led for several laps, but finished 3rd, just behind Haga in 2nd and about three quarters of a minute in front of Rolfo.
Haga's 2nd place took a big bite out of Toseland's championship lead, and is now just 23 points behind the Englishman.
Troy Bayliss was the star of the day. After a great battle with Corser, who was as fast in the first half of the lap as Bayliss was in the second half, Troy number 21 managed to break away. There was a heart-stopping moment when his left foot slipped off the peg at high speed, dragging his trademark titanium toe slider along the ground and covering the following Yamahas in a huge shower of sparks. However, Bayliss kept cool as he lapped everybody up to Toseland and won the race in fine style.
Race 2 was cancelled as the conditions worsened. It seems to be a feature of WSBK riders that they are prepared to race in terrible conditions for race 1, but feel that doing the same again would be too great a risk. Since all of them have been flung over the handlebars a few times due to touching a white line or opening the throttle a tenth of a second too early, it's easy to see their point.
The conditions were freezing cold and soaking wet, thanks to the ridiculous weather the UK has had this year, with a scorching hot spring followed by a miserable start to the summer meaning that the stars of World Supers had much worse conditions than the BSB riders had at Silverstone a few weeks ago. Let's hope that things will improve when the WSBK championship returns to these shores.