The MotoGP World Championship continues its summer road show across Europe this weekend as the series lands in England for the twelfth round of the season. At 5.9km Silverstone is the longest circuit on the calendar and it is also one of the most demanding, with its fast, flowing and flat layout. Marc Márquez arrives at the British Grand Prix on top of the championship and with a healthy points advantage despite losing his unbeaten record for the season to his team-mate Dani Pedrosa in the last round at Brno. However, for Honda the 100% winning streak continues and their rivals Yamaha are running out of races to respond as the season enters its final stage.
After stepping in admirably for the injured Nicky Hayden at Indianapolis and Brno, Leon Camier has been rewarded with the opportunity to fulfil a childhood dream this weekend as he competes in a premier-class Grand Prix on home soil for the first time. The British rider defends the DRIVE M7 Aspar Team colours for the third race at a circuit he knows and loves, in front of a passionate local crowd that will give him all the support he needs to continue his excellent form since joining the team. Hiroshi Aoyama is also a man in form and after scoring points in almost every round this season the Japanese DRIVE M7 Aspar Team rider will be aiming to continue that trend and challenge for another strong result to match his top ten finishes at Indianapolis and Argentina.
Hiroshi Aoyama: “I am already looking forward to the next round at Silverstone. England has a strong motorcycling culture and racing there is always special. The track is long and technical, it’s hard to adapt to it and the weather is always unpredictable so we’ll have to wait and see. We found a solid set-up in the post-race test at Brno that we hope can be useful this weekend. We go into this race with plenty of confidence and if we can take another step here I think we can break into the top ten. Silverstone has some fast direction changes and even though I prefer slow corners I will try to adapt and get the best possible result on Sunday.”
Leon Camier: “I am really happy because we have made continual progress since I jumped on the bike and at Brno we managed to finish in the points. The aim this weekend is to work just as hard again and keep going in the same way. I love Silverstone and I know it perfectly – it is fast, technical and with a lot of direction changes, which should suit me well. I know it will be another tough weekend though so it will be important to stay focused. It is a dream come true for me to race a MotoGP bike in front of the British fans. We had a very productive test at Brno that has helped us to close the gap to the top guys and gain a further understanding of the bike, which we need to keep moving forward. We also improved our race pace and that will be important this weekend.”