Grand Prix 2018 British Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

After trips to 4 continents & a sub continent Oceania, Middle East, Asia, Europe, North America in opening 8 races. whether its 4 in Europe & 1 in Asia or 3 in Europe & 2 in Asia depends where you classify Baku. We are home, & doesn't it feel nice, although everyone at the 11 teams will be delighted for the week off after the very draining im assuming 1st ever triple header & not only are we home but so are Formula 1 as everyone knows the 1st ever Formula 1 race took place in 1950 at this very circuit.

Definitely taking inspiration from cider_and_toast because i wouldnt dream of blatantly nicking ideas.;) LOL thought I might give a bit of history lesson as well. Silverstone does have 1 of the best circuits in the world but its layout was only stumbled upon by accident. because RAF Silverstone was opened in 1943 but in a classic world war 2 triangle layout which brought the perimiter roads. Also the 1st ever motorsport event to be held at the Silverstone airfield as it was then was a extremely low key event in 1947. & was organized by a guy called Maurice Geoghegan. he lived in nearby Silverstone village and was aware that the airfield was deserted had been for a while (of course world war had ended 2 years prior) so he & 11 other of his friends got to together & raced over the 2mile circuit, although his race was ended prematurely when a few sheep had wandered onto the airfield & Maurice hit 1 of the sheep, which killed the sheep & wrote the car off. in 1948 The Royal Automobile Club took a lease on the airfield, to set out a more formal racing circuit. they hired An ex-farmer,giving him just 2 months to turn the site from a wartime airfield & farm into a race track for the inaugural RAC International Grand Prix On the 2nd October 1948 an estimated 100,000 people flocked to see Luigi Villoresi beat a field of 22 in his Maserati. the 1st 2 races were organized & held on the World War 2 runways, with long straights separated by tight hairpin corners, the track only defined by Hay bales & ropes that also protected crops in the middle of the circuit. Then the royal automobile club decided to move racing to the perimeter track for 1950 & 1951 F1 races. 1950 1 of most known winners of an F1 grand prix. which even though it was widely known as the British GP Officially it was the 1950 Grand Prix d’Europe & it was significant occasion for another reason as King George VI & Queen Elizabeth (queen mum) were in attendance, which is still the only time a reigning monarch has attended a British motor race, then in 1951 BRDC took the lease from RAC who didnt want it & rest they say is history

The drivers are going to get a shock with this heatwave, because like Belgium all the drivers turn up here most years expecting cold & wet weather. but we have been experiencing temperatures in the high 20's for a few weeks & with the forecast it looks like it going to continue all next week as well. but im probally biased but this is 1 of highlights of the season up with Belgium & Monza. because such a great atmosphere with stands are packed from FP1 & full of fans with great British humour down the years. always some of the best celebrations because when Brit wins at Silverstone its on a par with a Ferrari win at Monza. But unfortunately this is the 50th & potentially penultimate British GP. very nearly the final in its traditional place in July, because Sean Bratches has all ready confirmed that it was the 1st choice for hosting the 1000th grand prix in April 2019. but then someone told him about Easter 2000 & he was put off for some reason haha but as i said this the penultimate British GP because of the Mexican standoff between Bernie's contract, Silverstone's owners & Liberty Media. after BRDC confirmed the rumours & triggered the break clause in their contract on day of the 2017 grand prix all because of unsustainable 5% fee escalator built into the deal by Bernie, after the Donington park fiasco. which means that what was a estimated cost of £12m - 2010, became £17m - 2017 17.9m - 2018 19m - 2019 ,& by 2026 if clause hadn't been invoked would've been in excess of 27m

thought i would give some historic Silverstone facts. that you may or may not know & I couldn't shoe horn in
  • sundays race will be 50th race on 14th different configuration
  • the priest that ran across the Silverstone track at Hangar Straight in 2003. ended up being jailed for 2 months
  • 1955 was the 1st time a british man won a the british gp
  • the startline has moved counties in 2011, as half the track is in Northamptonshire & half In Buckinghamshire
  • Silverstone Annually on Race day, annually becomes the busiest airport in Britain
Evolution_of_Silverstone_Grand_Prix_Circuit_1949_to_present.png
 
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Meanwhile, what was all the griping about the track being bumpy? Now Silverstone has promised to resurface the track for 2019. Why? There won't be a race in 2020 or are they doing it to keep the Moto GP boys happy?

No - why? Billiard smooth tracks make for dull racing. Bumpy tracks lead to better racing, as they tend to accentuate mistakes! Let's have more bumps not fewer!
 
Tracks used for Moto GP have to be different to GP circuits though. Bikes need a smoother surafce and higher grip levels than cars (I got this from an interview with Herman Tilke some years ago) which is why it is better if the two series don't share race tracks. Anyway, Charlie Whiting is suggesting that it migt need to be redone and there is a "standard" for how many bumps per meter of track.

Silverstone F1 track may have to be resurfaced again - RaceFans
 
I never understood why anyone thought that MotoGP and F1 should share tracks - they have very different needs... There's no need for MotoGP circuits to be so wide - and the long straights don't add much.

If it were possible to make it safe, I'd love to see MotoGP round Monaco, for instance - it could be great racing!
 
There is a standard for how many bumps per metre of track? Wouldn't it be better if there were none? I guess that's too hard to achieve though.

Bikes would have more of an issue with bumps, they have less surface area on the tarmac for one thing and are much less stable.
 
Angellica - not sure of you've seen one of my previous posts (not in this thread) but there is an official size for the gravel used in the gravel traps. If you watch carefully in the cool down room there are always three 500ml, unlabeled bottles of still water and three white towels, along with the Pirelli baseball caps for the podium places. This is written in the regulations.
 
Angellica - not sure of you've seen one of my previous posts (not in this thread) but there is an official size for the gravel used in the gravel traps. If you watch carefully in the cool down room there are always three 500ml, unlabeled bottles of still water and three white towels, along with the Pirelli baseball caps for the podium places. This is written in the regulations.


Oh I understand the regulations are comprehensive, I did know about the water, towels and hats in the room behind the podium. It can be caps, Russian hats, Cowboy hats, Sombreros etc. and the drivers all have to wear them regardless. I even have a vague recollection about the size of the gravel as that can be important when it flies around etc. But I will admit the amount of bumps in the tarmac is a new one on me.
 
If it were possible to make it safe, I'd love to see MotoGP round Monaco, for instance - it could be great racing!

it would be butchery, a barrier next to the track is a death trap for bikers, you just have to consider how many nasty accidents happened at the old Rijeka track before they renewed it.

I'm not sure that Silverstone makes for a very good venue for MotoGP, I think that it's too wide
 
I'm not a bike man really, but looking at the calendar for the British Superbike Championship - which I gather is close to the world series on regulations/performance, and MotoGP - those boys are bloody brave to race at Oulton Park, Knockhill and Cadwell Park. :o
 
The bikes race at the Macau GP, which is as close as they get to Monaco, mostly the Real ROad guys, but racers from BSB and the asian series go there too.

Properly dangerous though.
 
We used to go to Esholt Park (Emmerdale) near Bradford for the motorbike racing. From the start the bikes came uphill to the first corner, a 90 degree left hander. We stood on the outside of the turn with only a sagging rope separating us from the track. In those days you could walk round the bit of field acting as a sort of pits and chat with the riders, most of them had a shall van or a trailer for their bikes, one exception who had a plush larger van was Denis Parkinson who had a dealership on Wakefield and rode factory supplied Nortons and won almost all the 350 and 500 races. He had also been a winner of the Junior, Lightweight and Senior Manx Grand Prix so was no slouch..

We also went to Brough airfield near Hull, they had cars as well there, real 500 cc engines (Norton and JAP were the most popular). The most popular cars were Coopers and Kiefts. You were a bit further from the circuit there since it was on an airfield where there was more space.

There was one visit to Oliver's Mount where once again you were on top of the bikes. The outstanding rider was a certain John Surtees who seemed like quite a promising youngster, he looked as though if he managed to survive he would go places.
 
British GP cancellation "direct result of track surface"

Thought i put this on here as its more F1 than motogp. As this potentially worrying for any wet races in F1 where they felt the new asphalt was too dangerous in rainy conditions, as it was not draining properly & causing standing water to puddle in multiple places. They need to ring spa ASAP as they got it sussed dry to full wets to dry within 30mins

Yes, it is a direct result of the track surface, We had a number of years of experience here in very wet conditions recently with the old surface & we've been able to run races. This year with the new surface is the 1st time we've encountered quite so much standing water in critical places of the track. Primarily it is due to water accumulated on the surface and I think you have seen the results of when we've been running here in heavy rain, that the circuit in some places is not safe because of the way the water does not drain from the surface
 
They need to ring spa ASAP as they got it sussed dry to full wets to dry within 30mins

While moving Silverstone to the Ardennes will make the circuit quick drying and infinitely more interesting to watch, there may be a problem with it still being the British GP.
 
While moving Silverstone to the Ardennes will make the circuit quick drying and infinitely more interesting to watch, there may be a problem with it still being the British GP.

Well we get as much rain as them. But they put shallow grooves in the surface to aid drainage. When spa resurfaced. I dont know how silverstone got it so wrong as being in england drainage should be top of priorities
 
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