The sixth race of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship brings the Honda riders to the Silverstone Circuit, one of the most iconic venues in the history of motor racing, but one where the notoriously wet British weather will almost certainly be a factor.

It certainly was last year, when Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner had the most dominant victory of his 2011 World Championship-winning season. The 26-year-old Australian led then team-mate Andrea Dovizioso home by 15.159s in a cold, wet race that claimed a trio of top riders and slowed many others. The Silverstone win was Stoner’s third in a row, and fourth in the first six races, and put him back into the MotoGP World Championship lead, a lead he would carry to his second MotoGP title and first with Honda.

Stoner returns to the circuit built on a former airfield now second in the championship following the race in Catalunya, where his podium streak ended at 19 with a fourth place finish. With the defending world champion having announced that he will retire at the end of the 2012 season, and only 13 races remaining, the 19 consecutive races on the box will be part of his legacy. That legacy will continue to be formed this weekend when he goes for his third win of the season and 36th of his career. Stoner current sits two wins behind Mike Hailwood in fifth on the all-time premier class wins list.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC213V) missed last year’s British Grand Prix after suffering a broken right collarbone in the previous French Grand Prix. His only experience at Silverstone came in 2010, the first year the race was moved south from Donington Park. The Spaniard qualified third before running into grip problems in the race.

Like Stoner, Pedrosa has been on every podium this year but one; he finished fourth in Le Mans. But he was second last time out in his home race in Catalunya, holding the lead for most of the race before finishing second to Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha). The race in the UK is something of a second home race for Pedrosa, who lived for many years in England.

Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V) showed his wet weather skills by coming home fifth in last year’s British GP, his best finish of the season. Now in his first year on the San Carlo Honda Gresini RC213V, Silverstone is yet another circuit he will have to re-learn. The Spaniard has been in the top ten in every race this season, with a trio of sixth place finishes, including the last time out in Catalunya from a difficult starting position.

The post-Catalunya test gave Bautista more confidence in the front end, which allows him to attack the corners with more conviction. Like most riders, Bautista is concerned about the weather, which is forecast to be wet and cool.

In his rookie MotoGP season Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP RC213V) has also finished in the top ten in every race this year, with a best of fifth coming two races ago in Le Mans. That race was plagued by the sort of inclement weather that could also hit Silverstone, which is problematic because of less than consistent surface. But the first year MotoGP rider has had very few crashes this year and has a proven ability to adapt to varying conditions.

Bradl won last year’s Moto2 race at Silverstone, his fourth win in the first six races that put him up a massive 62 points. Bradl would ride that early points lead to the 2011 Moto2 World Championship.

Sharing the 2011 Moto2 podium with Bradl was Michele Pirro (San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR-Honda). The Italian’s third place finish was his best to that point; he would go on to win the season finale in Valencia.

Following a slow start, Pirro has been in the points the last three races as he and his team continue to develop the Honda CBR1000RR-powered CRT machine which uses a British-made FTR chassis. In the unofficial CRT championship, Pirro sits tied for third and only a single point out of second.

Not only was the race in Catalunya successful, but there was more progress in the test that followed. With so little development time prior to the season, Pirro has been forced to develop the FTR-Honda on race weekends. Silverstone should provide him with the opportunity to put that work to good use.

The British Grand Prix moved to Silverstone in 1977 when the Isle of Man was deemed too dangerous for World Championship competition. The track hosted the best motorcycle racers in the world from 1977 through 1986, a period that included the debut of the oval-pistoned NR500 in the hands of Freddie Spencer in the 1981 British Grand Prix. Spencer is one of three Honda riders to win the final three British GPs at Silverstone; Randy Mamola (1984), Freddie Spencer (1985), and Wayne Gardner (1986).

Following Gardner’s 1986 victory the British GP moved to Donington Park, about 105Km north of Silverstone in the British East Midlands where it was held until 2010, when it was returned to Silverstone.

The track it returned to was far different than the one last raced in 1986. The former 4710m track, built on the site of RAF Silverstone, a World War II bomber base, was a very fast circuit that linked eight memorable bends. A flying lap would run to Copse, the first turn right that led to Maggotts and Becketts and down to Chapel and the Hangar Straight. Then a pair of 90 degree rights, Stowe and Club, followed by the fast left kink Abbey leading to the Farm Straight which ended at the Woodcote Chicane complex. The finish line was so close to Woodcote that riders were at well leaned over when they took the checkered flag.

In the years between World Championship races, Formula One safety considerations reduced speeds with the installation of a number of slow corners. And for MotoGP, an “Arena” sequence was added that furthered limited speeds.

When Wayne Gardner took the pole for the 1986 British GP, his average speed was 192.332Km/h. In 2011, the fastest average lap speed, set by Casey Stoner in practice (the race was run in the rain) was 171.697Km/h Many of the original corners have the same names, but there are now twice as many-eight lefts and ten rights. The additional corners have lengthened the track from 4.778k in 1986 to its current length of 5.900Km, though it remains one of the three fastest tracks on the calendar.


Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner says:

“I'm definitely looking forward to going to Silverstone, it's a track that I really do enjoy. I wish that we still went through the old part of the track. Unfortunately we don't go through there now and the new section is very, very tight. The rest of the track is fantastic though, it's fast and makes the heart beat very quick. The Monday test in Catalunya was a positive step for us, but we're still far from perfect. We definitely made some progress with reducing the chatter, but we will have to wait until we get on track on Friday to see if what we found also works at Silverstone. Again, we'll be hoping for dry weather so we can maximise every minute of track time to prepare for Sunday's race.”

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa says:

“I missed the Silverstone race last year due to my injury, so I'm especially excited to go back racing at this track. As I said after the test we did in Catalunya, we were working a lot on different settings on the bike, we had some improvements and I hope we can make another step forward in Silverstone. It's a fast track, with many changes of direction and we need an agile bike and a good setup for both the fast and slow corners. In Britain, the weather is always very unstable, but let's see if we are lucky this time and we can enjoy dry conditions.”

LCR Honda MotoGP rider Stefan Bradl says:

“Silverstone will be a difficult racetrack for me. Yeah, we will see how it is, because I remember the asphalt is changing there quite a lot of times. We will see how the weather is doing. Basically, the track is not bad. Hopefully, I can adapt very fast my riding style with the MotoGP bike there.”

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Alvaro Bautista says:

“Catalunya was a good race for us but it was a difficult one because of where we started from on the grid. I managed to pass some of the guys in front of us and set the same pace as the podium finishers, but we lost too much ground at the start and you can't afford to do that in this championship. It was a positive grand prix, though, because we proved that if we can qualify and start better then we have the pace to run at the front. Now we take that confidence to Silverstone, especially after such a good test. My feeling with the bike has improved a lot and I am able to tackle the corners with much more conviction. This is a nice, long, fast and wide track and I really like it. Obviously, everything will depend on the weather, which tends to be cold and wet in England. Anyway, I'm hoping to have a good race on a very different bike to the one I rode here last year. I am sure I can have fun on the Honda RC213V here and enjoy another positive weekend.”

San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR-Honda rider Michele Pirro says:

“We took a big step forward in the race in Catalunya and finished just behind the top CRT. We enjoyed a positive test after that and now we go to Silverstone feeling confident we can do well. I like the track and I hope the weather allows us to benefit from our hard work recently. We are working hard every available moment to make up ground and carry out the development we need. I scored my first podium in Moto2 at Silverstone last year and I hope that can be a good sign for us.”

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