Hopefully going up early Sunday morning, by car as mates Panigale has failed to turn up again, buying rovers on the gate so it'll be an expensive, long day and I expect there will be the usual rain. still if the sun shines I may get to air the forum tee shirt.
Great day out at Silverstone today. The weather played ball which was a real bonus. It was a tad windy but apart from a few drops of rain it was mainly dry and bright. Was good to have a look around without the crowds of tomorrow too - bought a bit of merch, had a sit on quite a few Hondas, BMWs and Ducatis, and enjoyed the music and entertainment on the Riders for Health stage (James Toseland's Crash, the Rain Band with the SuperSic song). The highlight of the RfH stage was the couple of hours spent watching Julian Ryder and Matt Roberts interview practically every MotoGP rider over the course of a couple of hours! Started off with Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards, Rossi, Pedrosa & Stoner, Lorenzo & Spies, Ellison, etc etc. I wanted to do the Day of Champions this year but couldn't make it, so this more than made up for it (particularly as it lashed it down on the DoC on Thurs!). Couple of pics & vids: (poor quality as didn't take the proper camera as was saving that for the better weather tomorrow - d'oh!) Part of Rossi on stage: View from Woodcote A:
looked a lot busier than than last year, couldnt find todays attendance but it was 74.000 last year. wish i,d went now.
Also just back. Fantastic day out, great atmosphere, beautiful weather and amazing racing with the Brits doing us proud - what more could you want?! Not sure about empty stands - the Woodcotes and Luffields were rammed. The roving grandstand on the old pits straight was empty though, so maybe that made it look emptier if the camer picked that up rather than the full stands? Definitely busier than 2 years ago and think that was 78,000?
Cal done amazing! He must be getting close to a factory ride... 78k+ is certainly busier than it looked on tv, most stands either half full or empty!? Glad you guys had a good day though, good race and decent weather so all good!!
last year i also thought it looked a bit empty, couldnt believe there was 74.000 there, read on web that f1 attendance on sunday last year was 122,000. think there will be a decent crowd for wsb at silverstone this year.quite cheap tickets and great racing.
Just watching it back and can see what you mean about the empty stands. The empty ones are the roving grandstands - of which there are many to cater for the large F1 crowds. Abbey, International Pits Straight, Club and Becketts all look full. They usually put the attendance as part of the official MotoGP graphics but didn't see it this time. They've done well with the resurfacing too and the track itself looks amazing and grippy as hell. Wouldn't mind doing a TD there, or maybe the next CSS level... *checks bank balance*
Btw, the Moto2 race was a real nail-biter. Scott Redding rode his nuts off and played a blinder to grab the 2nd spot. It's a shame the Beeb don't show the Moto2 races. It could be a great 2-2.5 hour programme if they showed both Moto2 then MotoGP races live.
Hmm, MotoGP say attendance was 66,000, which is very surprising so I stand corrected. Just checked 2010's figure and it was 70,000 and that definitely looked quieter than today.
How much were they charging? I would have gone but only got back from my trip on sat... Perhaps they were charging too much for the current climate? The facilities looked awesome and track amazing! I'll be doing one there soon for sure. Done assen and Barcelona and they are crazy busy, such a shame to see it quiet on comparison today that's all...
