It was interesting at best to watch the pack (for the most part) take to a new track. It was an eye opener to see these riders learn a rather technical track as quickly as they did.
We showed up early to the track to miss out on as much traffic as we could. Since I ended up with a VIP parking pass, I was granted access to the main entrance (as I will all weekend). This is nice, as the main entrance will be for shuttles, deliveries, and VIP parking passes. This will cut down on the amount of traffic I will need to deal with each morning.
Within five minutes of parking, I ran into a tuner that works on my RS250. He was there working for a 250 shifter kart racer. They are doing a "Race Of Champions" during the weekend which are 250cc 2-stroke race bike engines put into karts. These things are insane fast. Roland also worked for Rothmans Honda in 94, so he has some knowledge about 2-strokes.
Walked through the vendor area, and the manufactures row. Honda had Freddie Spencer's NSR500 from 85, as well as Doohans NSR500 from 95. Those bikes were absolutely amazing. Definitely not "show" bikes, these were the real things I am guessing.
Yamaha has Rainey's 500, as well as Lawson's 500 from early 90's. Not as impressive as the NSR500's, but still nice to look at. Suzuki has Kenny Roberts Jr's RGV500 from 01 under their tent. That thing was really nice. The expansion chambers are really cool with all the hand welds.
Onto the MotoGP practice. Started out in the turn 4 grand stands watching the riders learn the flat turn 3/4 area. You could tell most of them were not liking it. The riders who had spent time on the track were much faster right off the bat. After watching this section for a while, we decided to walk up through turn 5, and 6 area. By this time the riders were getting use to the track, and their speeds through turn 6 were getting up to race pace. It's interesting to listen to the bikes, and how little time the riders are off throttle even in turn 6.
More walking up to the corkscrew, and watched the remainder of the practice from there. Nicky was running some good times through there, as was Hopkins. The Proton team was having some negotiation issues, and ran the curbing a couple times. As the session went on, the riders started carrying more speed down the cork screw and into turn 9.
With the session ending, Bayliss was fastest, with Hayden, and Hopkins behind. Sete was fourth, Edwards fifth, and Rossi sixth. Kenny Roberts was ninth which is interesting for a local boy (or is it?).
The second practice session was even better. The riders were finally finding their setup, and getting their groove on. Nicky was pushing real good, as was Rossi, and Biaggi. John Hopkins was doing well, but Bayliss, and Barros went past him in times. Rossi must have been holding back, as he ended up 10th in the second session.
Kenny Roberts was back in 12th. It's really interesting with him. The guy doesn't suck, he just doesn't seem to give a sh*t. I really don't understand why Suzuki has kept him on? You can tell just by watching that he isn't even close to pushing, and has an attitude of not giving a sh*t. I really think Suzuki could do better, and with a big name like Red Bull now on their fairings, I would expect a new rider in the future. John is on the same bike, and you can just see in his riding that he is really trying, really pushing it, and really doing his best. Kenny looked like he was on a Sunday ride up in the hills. Kind of sad if you ask me.
Anyways...
The bikes are loud. I took warning, and brought my ear plugs with me. Good thing, as my ears would be bleeding by now. Tomorrow should be fun with qualifying. I'll see what time I get back home tomorrow night, and hopefully have more to report on. With an open bar all day, and shade to sit in, I am sure there will be more
thanks
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Charles Gallant
Last edited by cgallant on Mon Jul 11, 2005 3:15 am; edited 2 times in total