Next weekend MotoGP returns to the United Kingdom, at the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire. After an exciting race at Le Man gave us a surprising victory for home hero Johann Zarco. But with Marc Marquez continueing in his pace on Saturdays with his 6th sprint victory of the season, the dominance of the 8 time world champion looks set to continue at the home of British motorsport.

Here are some of the big stories ahead of next weeks MotoGP weekend.

Jorge Martin to Leave Aprilia?

The reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Martin is rumoured to leave the factory Aprilia team before even finishing a single race for the Italian manufacturer.

This was after earlier in the week Motorsport.com reported that Martin had triggered a clause in his contract that allows the Spanish rider to explore his options around the paddock. With the favourite option looking to be the factory Honda team, who at this moment in time have one out of contract rider in Luca Marini.

There is also an available seat at the Pertamina Enduro VR46 racing team, with Franco Morbidelli being out of contract at the end of this season. But with Morbidelli’s solid start to this seasons championship, and a potential challenge to the seat from KTM’s Pedro Acosta this option may be more difficult for Martin to achieve.

Aleix Espargaro Returns to Silverstone

Last years pole sitter and 2023 British Grand Prix winner Aleix Espargaro will be back on track for another Wildcard appearance for the Honda HRC Test Team. This is his second appearance this season after last being on the bike at the Spanish grand prix in Jerez last month.

This will be the third time in a row the Japanese manufacturer has used a wildcard spot on the grid. After Takaaki Nakagami’s impressive performance in the French GP last time out. With Honda looking to continue their positive trend this season, with more testing for the manufacturer on a different circuit type to both Le Man and Jerez.

What happened last year?

It was a special weekend for the championship as all the teams celebrated the 75th anniversary with special retro liveries for the main race.

Last year was a weekend dominated by Ducati, especially the beast Enea Bastianini, who claimed the double, winning both the sprint and the Grand Prix in impressive style. It was almost a perfect weekend for the Italian manufacturer, but an impressive pole lap from the Aprilia star Aleix Espargaro in qualifying created a small speed bump in the weekend for Ducati.

And for the British fans their was joy as home hero Jake Dixon took the victory in the Moto 2 championship race which closed out the weekends action.