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It's 1830 BST on Sunday and I've been sat in the back of my brother's T-reg Fiesta for two hours already.

With the traffic log-jammed all the way back from the M1 to the Silverstone car park and barely enough petrol to keep the heaters going, the condensation running down the window is the only thing certain to be in motion around here for a while yet.

Through the misted glass, a trader packs up his sodden surplus stock of Cal Crutchlow t-shirts - .

The 2011 British Grand Prix was one to forget for Crutchlow and his fans but there were shafts of light for the bumper 72,500 home crowd, not least Bradley Smith's stunning charge from 28th on the grid to the podium in a Moto2 race that was briefly led by fellow Brit Scott Redding, who finished fifth.

Danny Kent, Taylor MacKenzie, Danny Webb and teenage wildcard John McPhee all scored points in a treacherous 125cc race, suggesting that the foundations are in place for the stunning new Silverstone circuit to eventually recreate those gloriously hazy summer days of the 1970s when - Britain's last premier class winner - battled for victory with the legendary Kenny Roberts.

For a throwback to those men of steel from yesteryear, look no further than . The Texan Tornado blew away the black cloud hanging over Crutchlow's Monster Tech3 garage with an incredible performance on Sunday, guiding his Yamaha YZR-M1 to third place just nine days after it threw him to the tarmac in Barcelona, .

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