Picture this. It’s almost two decades ago, and I’m sat on the floor of the living room whilst my dad is watching a motorcycle race. I’m not really sure what’s going on, but I like watching the action, and when my dad asks me to pick a favourite, I choose Valentino Rossi because, and I quote my younger self – ‘he’s got a cool name’. Younger me was really onto something with that one, wasn’t she?

Fast forward to the present day, and twenty-four year old me receives a flurry of texts from my best friend because paddock passes just went on sale and they managed to snag some for the both of us. So, much to the jealousy of my dad, I imagine, off we went to the Silverstone Grand Prix weekend, armed with a huge tent, our paddock passes and a dream.

“But Kee,” I hear you say, as you read that last paragraph, “how did you get paddock passes?”

Well, you’re in luck, because I’ll tell you exactly how. The GP of Champions, Thursday’s event in the lead-up to the on-track action, gave normal fans such as you and I the opportunity to get up close and personal with all of our favourite teams, riders, and even some of the broadcasting team – we love you, Suzi!

Hosted by MotoGP’s official partner charity, Two Wheels For Life, us fans could also get our hands on exclusive memorabilia through auctions happening at the main stage throughout the weekend, with all proceeds going to the fantastic work that Two Wheels For Life does in Africa. By funding two-wheeled transport for healthcare professionals, they ensure that their support can reach even the furthest corners of Africa.

Pretty cool stuff, right? The charity raises money for their amazing cause, and us fans have a great time. It’s a win-win.

In all honesty, it didn’t really hit me that this was all real until we were having our passes scanned in whilst making intense eye contact with the poster at the paddock’s entrance containing this season’s riders. Suddenly faced with the prospect of meeting the familiar faces that make this sport what it is, I figured it was inevitable that my brain was going to short-circuit and when faced with my first rider of the day, I’d be rendered speechless.

But speechless I was not. We’d barely been in the paddock for half an hour, taking everything in, when down the side of one of the trucks we saw a small crowd forming. This was where we really had to lock in. Squeezing ourselves into the makeshift queue – because us Brits love a queue – we managed to meet our first rider of the day, who was none other than Brad Binder. A solid start, and things would only get better.

Other riders we were fortunate enough to meet were Fabio Quartararo (I have my best friend’s incredible Fabio flag to thank for that one), Franco Morbidelli, Fabio Di Giannantonio and then my personal favourite; Marco Bezzecchi (and in case you wondering, yes, I did cry when he won the Grand Prix later on in the weekend).  

Later in the afternoon we were also treated to a pit lane walk, giving us quite the insight into the team’s garages whilst collecting as many rider cards as we possibly could, whilst also fangirling over Suzi Perry and watching her do her thing in front of the camera.