91Èȱ¬

The 1979 British Grand Prix, eventually won by Roberts, was actually one of the few events in the iconic Cockney racer's illustrious career to be witnessed by a live television audience and while Murray's inimitable interpretation of events may never be bettered, media coverage in general has thankfully moved on since the grainy early days of Grandstand.

Indeed, with every race broadcast on terrestrial television and now in glorious HD, as well as qualifying, practice and the Moto2 and Moto3 races available online and on the Red Button, British bike fans have never had it this good.

At the 91Èȱ¬ we are all very excited about our home race and we have some pretty cool plans for it, including an unusual opener that we hope will get to the heart of modern British culture as well as tipping a metaphorical bowler hat to our own legends of this amazing sport.

Sheene, the 500cc World Champion in 1976 and 1977, will be the face you are most likely to recognise (if only for those brilliant aftershave commercials he filmed with Henry Cooper. "Splash it all over," anyone?) but look out for our five other premier-class title winners: Leslie Graham, Geoff Duke, John Surtees, Mike Hailwood and Phil Read.

These legendary names give our country an unrivalled heritage in two-wheeled sport that we can be extremely proud of, even though the silverware has been in short supply over the past few decades.

The time for a new British hero is long overdue but this weekend we have nine contenders across the three classes looking to move a step closer to filling the void: Cal Crutchlow and James Ellison (MotoGP), Scott Redding, Bradley Smith and Gino Rea (Moto2), Danny Webb, Danny Kent, Fraser Rogers and John McPhee (Moto3).

Leading the charge, of course, is Crutchlow, our most realistic and genuine chance of a premier-class podium finish since Jeremy McWilliams secured third behind Kenny Roberts Jr and a young Valentino Rossi at a soaking wet Donington Park back in 2000.

Poor Cal must be bored of being reminded of that stat, not to mention talk of the last British winner: you guessed it, Sheene - back in 1981 at the Swedish GP at Anderstorp, four years before Crutchlow was born.

It is unfair to expect him to pick up Sheene's mantle just yet and nobody wants to raise expectations too high but yesterday I did a series of pre-recorded interviews for regional 91Èȱ¬ radio stations to use this weekend and the question I was asked the most was: "Can Crutchlow win?"

The truthful answer is that he has an outside chance. His performances so far this year at circuits he had no knowledge of prior to last season suggest as much, especially with the uncertain weather forecast.

Crutchlow and the rest of the British boys are down in London today, meeting the national press and filming for various television crews. On Thursday they will be at Silverstone and you can meet them there by buying tickets for Day of Champions - an annual fundraiser in aid of the official MotoGP charity, Riders for Health.

As well as getting the rare opportunity to wander around the paddock and mingle with the teams and riders, punters are also treated to entertainment throughout the day on the main stage and an auction, which this year includes an incredible star lot: a pair of MotoGP grid passes. Hopefully I will meet plenty of you there (tickets are still available at www.silverstone.co.uk).

There will be plenty more serious activity going on within the paddock fences at Silverstone, as the rider transfer market picks up pace following Yamaha's announcement this week that Jorge Lorenzo has signed up for two more years.

It was a big statement from Yamaha because there was definite interest from Honda and it will be interesting to see who both factories turn to next in the post-Stoner shake-up.

There will certainly be no shortage of rumours, with the early season form of Crutchlow, Stefan Bradl making adapting impressively to MotoGP in his rookie season, an uncertain future for Rossi at Ducati and the likely graduation of Marc Marquez from Moto2. Amid all the romantic hype, Andrea Dovizioso's podium in Barcelona also provided a timely reminder to factory team bosses that he remains one of the true class acts in the field.

Whatever transpires at Silverstone it promises to be an entertaining weekend both on and off the track.

To quote the magical Murray Walker once again: "Anything happens in Grand Prix racing, and it usually does."