There will be no room for error at the Silverstone site on August 25. On this date, in fact, a British Grand Prix will take place which had to be canceled last year due to torrential rain, highlighting a route with a resurfaced but failed track. His work had to be reworked, which was not free. And as Formula 1 is not yet guaranteed for the years to come, MotoGP has become a question of survival…
The general manager of the Silverstone track, Stuart pringle, is currently experiencing a few sleepless nights. Its site must indeed ensure its place as the long-term MotoGP venue in the United Kingdom, in the uncertainty surrounding the future of the British Formula 1 Grand Prix.
This year's F1 race at the track is the last under the current deal, while its contract with MotoGP was recently extended until 2021. The extension comes after the circuit committed to resurface after the cancellation of the 2018 MotoGP race at the venue, due to heavy rain and the track's inability to drain water.
« We will end up with a track that retains all the great traditional characteristics of Silverstone: fast, high speed, fluid, super overtaking, excellent design – but with much better drainage, state-of-the-art asphalt, fantastic grip and super smooth." the track's general manager told Autosport, Stuart pringle.
« Knowing that the BRDC circuit owner's inclination is to do things for cars, not motorcycles, this is a huge investment, seven figures more than we paid for previous work. We are still a company recovering from a difficult financial situation. In the absence of certainty about the future of F1, we acted in this way to preserve MotoGP”.
According to Pringle, Silverstone, which aims to make MotoGP an essential part of its calendar, has adopted a different approach to re-surfacing the circuit, entrusting the Tarmac brand with carrying out the work but delegating its design to specialist Jarno Zaffelli and his Dromo company.
Zaffelli designed an asphalt specification for Silverstone and Pringle is confident that this will help alleviate the problem of braking zone bumps, which is often keenly felt by MotoGP riders on the track. Mr. Pringle is also " completely sure » that the new surface will protect the track from a repeat of the 2018 debacle, after seeing how parts of the circuit cleaned up during heavy rainfall earlier in June.
The FIM safety manager, Franco Uncini, is due to hit the track after this year's F1 race and Pringle think that Uncini « greatly appreciated the reassurance of the team we put together to achieve this”. When asked about series promoter Dorna's position on the long-term future of the race, Pringle said : " Dorna is very happy with the work we do, she loves the track, the riders love it, IRTA [the team association] loves the practicality of the space in the paddock”. Enough to make us optimistic about the future of MotoGP at Silverstone.
