The 2024 Day of Champions at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix was a huge success once more as the event helped raise a fantastic £246,000 for Two Wheels for Life.
The annual event, held on the Thursday of the British Grand Prix, kicked off with the traditional Ride In, which saw 150 riders join former GP stars Niall Mackenzie and Randy Mamola ride to Silverstone, via the Super Sausage Café before being led on a lap of the 3.6 mile circuit.
At the famous Day of Champions auction, every rider from the MotoGP™ grid joined hosts Michael Hill, Suzi Perry and Gavin Emmett on stage where they offered a unique selection of money-can’t-buy experiences and memorabilia donated by the MotoGP™ paddock community and friends of Two Wheels for Life. A roaring success, the on-stage event raised £80,000 on Thursday evening.
A unique offering of VIP tickets to the end-of-season FIM gala dinner sold for an incredible £4,400, which will see the winning bidder rub shoulders with all the motorcycle World Champions from all disciplines at the end of the year.
Six-time MotoGP™ World Champion Marc Marquez kindly donated a signed race helmet, which raised £4,200 with the buyer able to meet the eight-time World Champion himself backstage as he personally handed over the lot before posing for a photograph.
Highlighting the type of rare and exclusive opportunities on offer at the Day of Champions auction, three winners were able to purchase the chance to be on the MotoGP™ grid for the build-up of either the Tissot Sprint or Sunday’s Grand Prix – with these experiences collectively raising over £11,300.
Triumph Motorcycles kindly donated the crankshaft from one of US star Joe Roberts’ Moto2™ machine, presented beautifully in a bespoke presentation case, which sold for £3,000. Money can’t usually buy an experience on Ducati’s MotoX2 two-seater, but with a ride for Friday donated to the auction, one lucky fan jumped on the back of the electric machines having paid £3,000 for the experience.
Other top-grossing items included a special, 75th Anniversary of MotoGP™ Michelin tyre signed by the whole MotoGP™ grid, which brought in £2,400, a bespoke Two Wheels for Life Oil Drum Seat also raised £2,400.
One MotoGP™ fan rubbed shoulders with the podium finishers in the post-race press conference, having won the bidding with a donation of £2,200.
A fantastic £26,000 was raised by a second Two Wheels auction on stage on Friday evening.
And Ducati UK again supported Two Wheels for Life at their Thursday MotoGP™ dinner hosted by TNT Sports’ Neil Hodgson and with appearances from Pecco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli. This event raised over £11,500 for the charity, taking the total raised by auctions at this year’s Grand Prix to over £110,000.
A further £120,000 was raised through ticket sales for the event, including Thursday, paddock passes which this year included the chance to see the unveiling of the stunning 75th Anniversary retro liveries.
With further fundraising throughout the remainder of the Grand Prix still to be counted, it’s hoped that the overall total from the weekend will nudge towards £250,000 to mark yet another super-successful Day of Champions event.
Two Wheels for Life, CEO & founder Andrea Coleman said: “All of us at Two Wheels for Life would like to thank everybody who came to Day of Champions and who got involved over the weekend. We are so grateful to Dorna, the teams and riders who bring incredible items as well as their energy and enthusiasm to the auctions. We are very proud of this sport and its fans, and the money raised will have such an impact on the world.”