Aussie watch ahead of the 2024 British MotoGP™

As MotoGP™ gets set to awaken from its northern summer slumber this weekend for the British Motorcycle Grand Prix (August 2-4), it’s time for a blast from the past.

The motorcycle world championship celebrates its 75th birthday this year, and while Silverstone hosted its first race as recently as 1977, the maiden event in the championship’s history was the Isle of Man TT in June 1949, one of just six rounds in that inaugural season.

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While modern-day calendar lengths, global travel and technology have changed the game beyond recognition, this weekend offers a nod to what’s come before, with the teams set to run one-off liveries and other touches to a bygone era to commemorate the milestone – and provide plenty of social media fodder with evocative paintjobs from yesteryear to give the here and now a nostalgic hue. 

The past nine races at Silverstone have, remarkably, produced nine different winners after Aleix Espargaro came from 12th on the grid to pass Pecco Bagnaia in a last-lap thriller 12 months ago; what does Round 10 of the season have in store, and what about the prospects of the five Aussies in action?

Premier-class duo have different objectives 

Where, when – or if? They’re three questions that have followed Jack Miller around ever since Pedro Acosta was named as his 2025 successor at KTM in June, with Aussie fans wondering where the 29-year-old will end up on next year’s grid and when, or – with other riders snapping up seats linked to the Queenslander – if he’ll get one at all. 

That’s all for the future, but Miller’s recent past includes a trip back home to Townsville in the mid-season break and a motocross outing in Toowoomba, all of which would have taken his mind somewhat off the rider market merry-go-round that has spun for months. He’s picked a good track to return to as well, with three front-row starts at Silverstone on his past four visits, and a podium (third) in 2022. 

After his last-minute stand-in appearance to deputise for the injured Alex Rins at Yamaha in Germany, Remy Gardner is back in the saddle this weekend, this time as a replacement for Cal Crutchlow, the injured Yamaha test rider who was set to wildcard at his home GP. 

Throw in at the deep end last time out at the Sachsenring, Gardner will be better for the run at a track where he won in Moto2 in 2021 – and if there’s a candidate for best facial hair to pay homage to 75 years of the world championship, we reckon Remy’s ready to pull it off. 

Kelso keen to kick on

Like Miller, Joel Kelso ventured back Down Under for some home cooking in the break; the BOE Motorsports Moto3™ rider’s form has slipped a little after a strong start, but he’s still on track for his best season yet, sitting in 10th in the standings. The 21-year-old was just 2.2secs off the win at Silverstone last year … and finished 16th, a sign of the type of wild race over 15 laps we can expect to see in the lightweight class. 

Fellow Moto3™ Aussie Jacob Roulstone trails Kelso by 11 points and two places in the championship, and the Tech3 GasGas rider has his sights on achieving something no Australian has before in the smallest class – win rookie of the year. He’s 16 points behind fellow Red Bull Rookies graduate Angel Piqueras after nine rounds, and will be keen to bounce back from his first DNF of the season in Germany. 

In Moto2™, Senna Agius conceded he paid for his inexperience in the category at the Sachsenring, a tyre choice that looked right for the majority of the race going awry and seeing him fall away to a frustrating 11th. The 19-year-old has come on strong of late – 21 of his 26 points have been scored in the past four rounds – and converting Saturday pace into Sunday points will be his aim.

The moment that shaped the season? 

If Bagnaia goes on to win this year’s MotoGP™ crown – and with four wins in a row coming to Silverstone, he looks hard to beat – you have to wonder if we’ll look back to the German GP as the time the tide turned, after Jorge Martin’s penultimate-lap crash handed the Italian another win and 10-point series lead, a 30-point swing the result of the Spaniard’s Turn 1 tumble. 

Ducati’s reigning world champion came within eight corners of ending the Silverstone repeat winner hoodoo last year before an inspired Espargaro barged past, but at least has some form in the UK to draw upon; Martin, his chief title rival for a second straight year, only has a premier-class best of fifth (2022) in England. 

The last rider to win four races in a row before Bagnaia was Bagnaia himself (Assen to Misano in 2022), and while challenges will likely come from Martin, Aprilia duo Espargaro and Maverick Vinales and perhaps Silverstone 2014 winner Marc Marquez this weekend, you’d be a brave person to bet against Ducati’s number one taking P1, especially given the marque’s record of eight wins from nine Grands Prix this year.

The 2024 British Motorcycle Grand Prix will be available to watch live on Foxtel and Kayo. See our What time does the 2024 British MotoGP™ start for Australians? article for timings.