Silverstone posts big MotoGP spectator drop, attendance slips overall
The 2019 MotoGP spectator figures reveal the British MotoGP at Silverstone suffered the biggest drop of any other event this year
Silverstone paid the price for the debacle that led to the 2018 British MotoGP being cancelled after posting a sizeable drop in spectator figures for the 2019 season.
Newly released attendance numbers for each of the year’s 19 grands prix show MotoGP suffered a minor 0.7% drop overall compared with 2018, though as many venues enjoyed decent increases year-on-year as those which suffered a downturn.
Once again it was the Thailand MotoGP round that topped the standings as one of three events to break the 200,000 people mark over a weekend. Encouragingly, the Chang International Circuit actually welcomed more spectators in its second year on the MotoGP schedule with 226,655 representing a 1.85% increase.
Next year, however, Thailand will move from a late year slot into a much earlier calendar position, hosting round two of the 2020 MotoGP season
The ever-popular French MotoGP retained similar numbers while Germany’s Sachsenring enjoyed a sizeable 4% increase to move it ahead of Austria on the charts, the Red Bull Ring going the other direction with a 4% drop.
In all, nine venues posted increases versus ten that suffered drops, the biggest improvement coming from Jerez with a 4.66% gain, closely followed by the Argentinian event at Termas Rio Hondo, which became the sixth best attended round after Brno.
However, there were sizeable drops elsewhere, most notably Silverstone, which shed 11,000 spectators year-on-year in an 8.63% decline, no doubt influenced by 2018’s cancelation when the newly resurfaced track proved too treacherous in wet conditions.
Motorland Aragon, Twin Ring Motegi and Mugello posted similar drops as they slipped towards the bottom of the charts.
As usual, the season-opening Qatar MotoGP welcomed the smallest number of spectators at 32,252, though this was up on 2018 and represented its largest figures since joining the calendar. Next year’s round will be held on back-to-back weeks with WorldSBK in what will no doubt be an attempt by Dorna to package up the events and lure more spectators.
For 2020, MotoGP will increase the schedule to 20 events with Finland’s KymiRing slated to join, while proposed rounds in Hungary, Brazil and Indonesia are also in the pipeline as Dorna strikes for 22 grands prix a year.
2019 MotoGP Spectator Figures vs. 2018
| Event | Circuit | 2018 Att. Figs. | 2019 Att. Figs | |
| Thailand MotoGP | Chang International Circuit | 222,535 | 226,655 | 1.85% |
| French MotoGP | Le Mans | 206,617 | 206,323 | -0.14% |
| German MotoGP | Sachsenring | 193,355 | 201,162 | 4.04% |
| Austrian MotoGP | Red Bull Ring | 206,746 | 197,315 | -4.56% |
| Czech Republic MotoGP | Brno | 187,348 | 186,793 | -0.30% |
| Argentinean MotoGP | Termas Rio Hondo | 171,604 | 179,551 | 4.63% |
| Valencia MotoGP | Circuit Ricardo Tormo | 170,708 | 176,826 | 3.58% |
| Malaysian MotoGP | Sepang International Circuit | 169,827 | 170,778 | 0.56% |
| Dutch MotoGP | TT Circuit Assen | 167,170 | 167,500 | 0.20% |
| San Marino MotoGP | Misano World Circuit | 159,120 | 158,300 | -0.52% |
| Catalunya MotoGP | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya | 155,401 | 157,827 | 1.56% |
| Spanish MotoGP | Circuito de Jerez | 144,771 | 151,513 | 4.66% |
| Italian MotoGP | Mugello | 150,129 | 139,329 | -7.19% |
| US MotoGP | Circuit of the Americas | 125,127 | 120,545 | -3.66% |
| Great Britain MotoGP | Silverstone | 125,434 | 114,607 | -8.63% |
| Aragon MotoGP | Motorland Aragon | 114,057 | 104,390 | -8.48% |
| Japanese MotoGP | Twin Ring Motegi | 96,425 | 88,597 | -8.12% |
| Australian MotoGP | Phillip Island | 86,250 | 82,850 | -3.94% |
| Qatar MotoGP | Losail International Circuit | 31,618 | 32,252 | 2.01% |
| 2,884,242 | 2,863,113 | -0.73% |
