What Silverstone lacks in elevation changes and surrounding scenery, it more than makes up for in outright speed, history and occasion.
“It’s my kind of circuit: quite fast, flowing and technical,” says Pramac Ducati’s Scott Redding. “To be honest I like all of it.” Moto2 title contender Sam Lowes is no different. “I think it’s my favourite event of the year,” he adds. “The circuit I like and I enjoy it, but the whole event is my favourite GP. It’s not my best track but I look forward to it. The track suits me. It’s nice.”
For MotoGP machines, the circuit’s bumps and fast changes of direction provide a hearty challenge, while for a 600cc Moto2 bike, finding the grip on a surface that’s often used in car racing can present the biggest obstacle.
Possessing a host of fast, flowing bends, the art of a quick lap can depend on sacrificing speed through the first in a succession of corners, to ensure you maintain momentum through the others. As Redding says, “The circuit leads into different corners. If you f**k up the first one then you do the same with the second.”
For Lowes, ensuring grip is at your disposal – even in low temperatures – is paramount to finding speed over the 18-corner lap. “It’s flat. It’s not the hardest place to find a good setting. It’s more about finding the grip. If you’re missing grip in a certain part you can be a second off.”
Both men have proven pedigree around the circuit, with Redding winning a famous Moto2 bout in 2013, and Lowes placing second in a bruising World Supersport contest in the same year. So who better to ask for a tour of the famous Northamptonshire circuit than both men, who talked BikeSport News through a lap of the 3.6-mile Northamptonshire venue.
Turn 1 – Copse
Scott Redding
Normally I think it’s third gear on a MotoGP bike through Copse, because it opens up.
Sam Lowes
The first corner is really bumpy. It’s like that on the way out, so when you don’t have much angle the bike’s difficult to control. On a MotoGP bike that’ll be a right bastard! You always feel like you’ve not gone in fast enough because it really opens up. Then when you go in too fast you don’t get it turned, so you run off track. It’s one of them, where you think, ‘Faster the next lap’, because you pick the bike up and drive out. If you go in more, you run out of track. It always pulls you in and you never feel like you get it right.
Turns 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 – Maggotts/Becketts Complex, Chapel
Scott Redding
Then we’re up to fifth gear as we go into Maggots. Sometimes you’re back into second, sometimes third. If not you have to backshift through there. You’re in second through Chapel, then from second you short-shift into third, and hit sixth down the back straight.
Sam Lowes
You take a lot of kerb on the left [turn two] and go straight, you’re hitting the limiter. If you’re too fast on the right [turn three] – and I always am – the left’s more tight and you’re on the wrong side of the track. That’s another reason I wasn’t great in that split last year, because I was messing [turn 2] up. It’s quite bumpy. On Supersport the bike absorbs it. But in Moto2 you really notice it. Bit of chatter on this left. It’s so important to be fast through there and then set yourself up for Hangar Straight.
Turn 7 – Stowe
Scott Redding
You’re back into second into Stowe.
Sam Lowes
To be fair we’ve got new forks [for Brno] which will be loads better for Silverstone. They have more support in the braking. It’s just a normal corner here. You can back it in a bit. All the way around here the kerb is a little off-camber. You have to stay out a little bit or you just never get a nice feeling. Then it drops away big time on the straight. It’s not a difficult corner but you can lose a lot of time there.
Turns 8, 9 and 10 – Vale and Club
Scott Redding
Shift to third and then down to first into Vale. Short-shift into second and third into Club. In 2012 [when Redding pipped Marc Marquez into second with a thrilling move through Club on the final lap] Marquez made a little mistake out of Stowe and I took advantage. I almost went a bit deep but I held a good line. He was a lot tighter but then it was putting my balls on the line for the last corner. I thought, ‘It’s my home crowd. If I go down now I’ll go down in style.’
Sam Lowes
The first three or four laps in FP1 you’re shit into Vale. It takes a bit of time to get up to speed. I never felt good here, because it’s downhill. Remember a few years ago when they were having problems with the Bridgestone fronts closing into there, there’s a different bit of Tarmac that you cross over. As you do that the front goes light for a second. And you’re on the brakes [motions a lack of front feel]. I’m not so good into there. It’s something I need to work on this year. Sometimes I’m too fast into Vale because I’ve not the confidence on the brakes. Then it makes the left tight, the right tight and I lose speed [on exit of Club, T10]. I need to be smoother with my gear shifts into Vale and really dial the braking in there. But when I say it’s bad, I’m losing a tenth of a second.
Turns 11, 12 and 13 – Abbey, Farm and Village
Scott Redding
Out of Club I’m in fifth. Then back down to third through Abbey and keep third gear through there. I backshift to first. Here is quite tight and you really need to keep the drive. Also the first gear helps you hold a good line. And then short-shift out of here from second to third. I did my celebration there because it’s like an arena, there is always a big crowd.
Sam Lowes
This bit isn’t too bad. You’ve just got to respect the left side of the tyre. Lots of people crash there [Farm] when it’s cold. You have to respect it but you can also give full gas there on a Moto2. If you have a good setting and a good front feeling, you’ll be solid.
Turns 14 and 15 – The Loop and Aintree
Scott Redding
Here we get quite a bit of crosswind normally. The front is quite light. You’ll see a lot of guys going quite wide there.
Sam Lowes
On the World Supersport bike you could just point and squirt it out. The electronics would do a lot of the work. It’s quite tight there. In Moto2 you have to carry a lot more corner speed, so you’re wider going in.
Turns 16, 17 and 18 – Brooklands, Luffield and Woodcote
Scott Redding
Then you hit sixth here before going back down to second for Brooklands. It’s quite difficult under braking here. If you’re deep into the first part then you’re deep into the second. Then you’re into Luffield. My family are always in and around the grandstands here. They’re getting a bigger group there every year. Always after the race I stop in there. I always stop here after the race. My family are here. There are more people, more fans. My dad’s here, mainly because he doesn’t like to be in the paddock. He likes to be out on track, with the fans and people that enjoy watching the racing. It’s all there. The flags are always there. this year it will be big. Second, third and fourth and you just try and hold it on as much as possible through Woodcote.
Sam Lowes
Last year I was 0.2s faster than everyone. I was really on it. It’s good to be fast here. You always want to be fast at the end of the lap. It normally comes down to the last lap. You want to stop good into the left [Brooklands] and the last complex. There are so many cars there it seems every year it’s getting a little more sharp. The grip’s not fantastic. It’s really bumpy here but if you can stop the bike early, get tight on the exit so you can go really aggressive into Luffield. If you’re too wide on the exit then it’s really bumpy. Luffield is a tight corner anyway. If you can be faster into there then it’s better for the run to the line, especially on a Moto2 bike as there’s not so much power.