The year was 1992, yet I still remember the excitement of that day clearly. I’d only just started riding and decided to take my Suzuki RG125 to Donnington Park with a few friends for the British Motorcycle Grand Prix. It felt like a proper adventure, riding there rather than simply turning up as a spectator.

Watching MotoGP from the famous Redgate Corner

Having parked our bikes, we headed into the track viewing area and settled at Redgate Corner, the first bend after the start–finish straight. It was a perfect place to watch. Bikes arrived flat out, braked hard and tipped in right in front of us, close enough that you could feel the speed as much as hear it. All day the racing was relentless, with tight battles across every class.

When the 500cc race began, everything stepped up another level. These were the bikes everyone had been waiting for. The noise, the pace and the aggression were intense.

The race was shaping up to be a classic. Wayne Gardner was out front on the Honda, setting a strong pace, with Wayne Rainey close behind on the Yamaha pushing hard. My favourite rider at the time, Kevin Schwantz was right in the mix on his Suzuki RGV500, riding n his typical aggressive style, while riders like Juan Garriga and Eddie Lawson added to the sense that the field was packed with experience and talent.

From Redgate, you could see just how physical the bikes were, bucking and sliding under power, and how committed the riders had to be just to stay on the pace. That was certainly a lot less technology back then, and these 500cc bikes were simply ferocious.

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Oil on the Track at Redgate

As the race went on – and without much warning – things started to go wrong right in front of us. A mechanical failure on one of the bikes caused oil to be dropped onto the racing line at Redgate. From trackside it was obvious something wasn’t right, but no warning flags were shown immediately. Kevin Schwantz, was running near the front when he hit the oil and crashed heavily. Around him, other riders including Carl Fogarty and Doug Chandler also came off on the oil at Redgate. For a moment it was chaos – crashes and confusion where split-second reactions meant the difference between staying upright and sliding off.

Kevin Schwantz Takes Action

What happened next is the moment that’s stayed with me. Schwantz got to his feet in the gravel, clearly furious. Instead of walking away, he went to a marshal post, took hold of the oil warning flag and began waving it himself at the oncoming riders. Bikes were still circulating at full speed, and he was doing everything he could to warn them of the danger.

It was an extraordinary sight. A top-level grand prix rider, fresh from a crash, stepping in because he felt the situation hadn’t been dealt with quickly enough. Needless to say the crowd cheered him on.

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A Lasting Lesson from My First MotoGP Memory

Eventually the situation was brought under control and the race moved on, but what stayed with me most was the intensity of having witnessed it all first-hand. Standing at Redgate, so close to the action, you felt completely immersed in the sport – the noise, the speed and the emotion all unfolding in real time. It was a reminder that watching racing in the flesh is a very different experience to seeing it on a screen. Everything feels sharper, louder and more immediate.

Looking back now, that day stands out as one of my earliest memories of elite motorcycle racing not because of the result, but because of how alive it all felt. Watching from the trackside with my 125 parked up behind me, I realised just how special it was to be part of that atmosphere. It cemented my love for the sport and gave me a lasting appreciation for what grand prix racing looks and feels like up close.

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