Got an email from Suzuki earlier today about a chance to win tickets for next weekend’s Silverstone GP. Not thinking much I filled in the form and forgot about it. Arrived home and received an email saying that I won 2! Must be the first time in my life when I’ve actually won anything
Is anyone else going? If yes then how are you getting there? I’ve got tickets for all 3 days so if I’m bored I could go alone on the Saturday (can’t do Friday, working). I offered the other ticket to a friend of mine and he’s keen to go but he doesn’t ride a bike. Our options are: 1) we take a train 2) we rent a car 3) he takes a train and I ride.
Maybe a silly question but is it safe to ride a bike to Silverstone? I’ve heard stories of bikes being knicked and damaged while parked there during the session. Out of the first two options, which one makes the most sense? Is it far to walk to the track? Is it hard to find a parking space and get out after the quali/race? Is it expensive to park there?
Apologies for so many questions, haven’t been there so not sure what to expect.
Bikes get stolen from every Race meet accross the country all the time, unfortunately its something they can’t stop. my advice is to take a big chain, a disc lock and a bike cover, they scout the car park for bikes they wan’t if they can’t see it they will move on to one they can see as it’s quicker.
Bike is the best way to get there as you get in and out quicker, but be careful on the way out of the circuit as there will be 50,000+ vehicles trying to leave at the same time and it can be pretty chaotic, i will be Driving and your welcome to jump in with me but i have to be there for about 7am on the saturday and won’t be leaving till the track is completely clear on the Sunday night.
Thanks for the info and the offer! There’s two of us and the other guy doesn’t have a car or a bike, plus, he lives near London Bridge so I guess it’ll make the most sense to rent a car. Will get stuck in traffic either way and I’d rather queue for a bit than worry the whole race that my bike won’t be there when I return.
cypher, if you go by car, park in the lower car parks (fields)
Reason being is on the way out you have to go up and come back down (you’ll see what I mean), if you go in the top parks, you will get stuck for ages, lower one you come out and is easier to go up then down all done in a couple of minutes (hope that makes sense)
@Sleeper - Thanks for advice! I’m sure it’ll all make sense once I get there @Groovy - Thanks for the offer, I’d take it up but unfortunately my insurance policy doesn’t cover pillions. Would cost me £50 to get it added. Also, I suspect a 6 foot guy wouldn’t be too comfortable on the back of a gixxer
We’re still thinking on how to get there. We’re going with him on Saturday as he wants to do something else on Sunday. Another friend of mine might come with me on Sunday, if not then I have a spare ticket if someone wants to join me.
I went by car, and yes it takes a while to get out.
But better than worrying is the bike still there. Having the car means you can also take a picnic as like most of these places, it can get expensive to eat and drink.
I’ve now booked a car for Saturday and will be going in friend’s car on Sunday. All sorted apart from one thing - parking. Does anyone know where I can buy it? The “Parking at the circut” section on http://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/2015-motogp/getting-here says it’s £17.50 but I don’t see any links to actually buying it.
@Sleeper - would you be able to post a link to Google maps with a pin on “the lower car parks”? Not sure what you mean. One site says “official circuit parking is located on the Luffield and Abbey side of the circuit”. Is that the one you mean? Thanks in advance!
Doesn’t the tickets you won include Camping? i would recommend Camping that way you won’t have to pay for the parking as you will take the car onto the camp site and the ticket will cover the cost
Contacted the lady who sent me the email about the prize and got an out of office reply. Then another lady replied saying she doesn’t know anything about it and I should call Silverstone :duh: All I asked was whether the ticket includes parking/camping or not…
Returned from my first day at the track and all I can say is I’m well chuffed I won those tickets. Well worth the time to experience the atmosphere (god damn the MotoGP bikes are loud!). Already thinking of going next year on my own just because it’s so close and cheap (at least comparing to F1).
Getting there is much easier than I thought and the amenities on the track are actually very good. It almost got the feeling that getting a general admission ticket might be a better move than getting a grandstand ticket as there are lots of places on the trackside where you can get rather close to the track (30 yards or so comparing to grandstands which are much further away). Traffic wise - there were no queues to get in or, which was a nice surprise out but I’m yet to see what it’ll be like tomorrow on the race day.
Driving there is probably not as fun as riding so will most probably go on my bike (maybe someone else will be going too for a company).
All in all, if you haven’t been to a racetrack and aren’t sure whether you should go, I’d say it’s definitely something you should experience just to see what it’s like in real life.
P.S.
Sam, which corner are you marshalling on? We walked around the whole track but I didn’t know where you were. Wanted to pop down and say hi
