![asphalt duell the challenge asphalt duell the challenge](https://images.motorsport-magazin.com/images/590/395/q_80/0825367.jpg)
“Looking at the data and analyzing the weekend the last two years we suffered a bit and didn’t expect the chance to win,” the Suzuki man told us. He had just a fraction more grip left over at the end of the race to snatch the win from Marc Marquez, and keep the Repsol Honda rider to just a single victory at the track. Rins had to work hard for victory, however. Given that there have only been four Grand Prix held at Silverstone from 2015, that is a strike rate of 50%. If you think the track sounds like a Suzuki track, you’d be right there too: since their return to the premier class in 2015, they have won twice, once in 2016 with Maverick Viñales, and last time out with Alex Rins. Since MotoGP returned to Silverstone in 2010, a Yamaha has won the race four times, with Jorge Lorenzo racking up three wins at the circuit, and Valentino Rossi adding one win at the track, in 2015. If you think that sounds like the Yamaha, you would be right. There are places to make up ground on the brakes – into Stowe, through Vale, and into Brooklands – but the surest route to success is by having a bike which carries corner speed and changes direction willingly. The way you make the lap time at Silverstone is very different to Austria.Ĭarrying speed through the fast, flowing sections such as out of Luffield and through Woodcote and Copse is crucial, as is negotiating the changes of direction at places like Maggotts and Becketts, or the section through Abbey, Farm, and into Village. Oh, and Spielberg has steep climbs and sweeping drops, built on the side of a mountain (the clue is in the name, SpielBERG), while Silverstone is pretty much flat as a pancake, built around an old airfield on the top of a hill. The Red Bull Ring is three fast straights with a bunch of corners holding them together, while Silverstone is a complex of flowing corners and combinations of turns which present a real challenge to get right. The Austrian circuit is 4.3km long, while Silverstone is 5.9 kilometers. Silverstone has 18 corners, where Spielberg has only 10. Sure, both have very high average speeds – Silverstone at 179.7 km/h is among the fastest tracks on the calendar, and Spielberg’s 188 km/h is the fastest of the season – but that is pretty much where the similarity ends.
![asphalt duell the challenge asphalt duell the challenge](http://s3.amazonaws.com/halleonard-closerlook/00868060/00868060_Page-3z.jpg)
![asphalt duell the challenge asphalt duell the challenge](https://www.myabandonware.com/media/screenshots/m/mini-car-racing-lhu/mini-car-racing_11.jpg)
It is hard to overstate just how different Silverstone is from Spielberg, where the last two MotoGP rounds were held.