MotoGP World Championship at Laguna Seca
Please click twice on the video to watch it on YouTube.
Thursday 19 July 2007
We left San Francisco at around 7:30 pm and headed down the 280 in search of an In-N-Out burger…the most interesting part of the drive consisted of a discussion about Wake Up Little Susie by the Everly Brothers.
M: So why are they still in the movie theater at 4:00? Wouldn’t someone have kicked them out?
G: Maybe they’re at the drive-in.
M: Then why would the people running the drive-in just leave one car in the lot without checking it? That doesn’t make sense. Plus, the guy told Susie’s mom that he’d have her home by 10:00, so they couldn’t possibly be at the drive-in because the movie would’ve still been playing – so they must be at the theater.
G: It’s just a song.
M: I know, but it doesn’t make any sense.
G: If you don’t shut up I’ll skip ahead to the next track on the disk.
Friday 20 July 2007
The GP riders had practice at 10:00 and 1:50, so of course we needed to be there to watch and spend the day buying lots of cool gear that will most likely be sold out by the time Sunday's race begins. We arrived at the track around 9:30am and found a spot near the fence by the Dunlop tire bridge to check out practice...and of course I forgot how LOUD these bikes are.
Think of it like this: the average decibels at a concert range from 85 - 100. The MotoGP bikes generate 130 (which is just a wee bit quieter than an air force jet), so when you're standing next to the track and the bikes fly past you, your bones rattle and your ears hurt. It's a good thing that Honda handed out free earplugs (given to me by a kind gentleman standing to my left). It's so loud that you can't have a conversation in pit row or even when you're standing a good 100 feet from the track. But then again, who comes to a GP to talk?
After the first practice we headed over to Ducati Island to check out the bikes and buy stuff -- I picked up a rad Ducati jacket with the 80s logo. We scored lots of freebies and ate poorly all day -- favorite food was Le Dog. It's a hot dog inside a baguette (they skewer the baguette and insert the dog and your choice of condiments). Yummy.
I really wanted to check out the corkscrew (turn 8) which drops riders 12 stories in 3 turns (I've tried to watch an on board camera on the corkscrew and it makes me dizzy). It was a great spot for watching and not too crowded on Friday. During practice, Alex Hoffman was hit by Sylvain Guintoli and broke his hand so severely that he now has a metal plate and 15 screws holding it together. That put him out of Sunday's race.
And we had weekend paddock passes...
Saturday 21 July 2007
GP qualifying was scheduled for 1:50, so we arrived at the track by 8:30 in order to stake out a good spot. We ended up near the beginning of turn 2 which gave us a good view of the straightaway from the start/finish line and all of turn 2. Sat there most of the day, then headed out for proper food (Italian -- to support Rossi) before going to the store to pick up the new Harry Potter book (I figured I would need something to do while waiting for Sunday's race).
Sunday 22 July 2007
The last time we were here, we arrived at the track a bit later than planned and it was already crowded. So this time we went through the gate at 8:30 and immediately headed to the same area we staked out for Saturday's qualifying. We set up our chairs next to some Brits and took turns finding food, etc. I read my book and enjoyed sitting in the sun.
The race started at 2:00 and was immediately exciting. If you watch the video (above - or you can just look at the pic, below) you can see the 1st lap where John Hopkins slides into Nicky Hayden (it happens around 58 seconds into the video). Hopkins was able to finish, but Nicky's bike was damaged and he pitted out on lap 22.
Casey Stoner was on pole and took off so fast that no one was able to catch him. He's now 44 points ahead of Valentino Rossi in the standings...but there are 7 races left this season, and I'm sure The Doctor has a few tricks up his sleeve to take the championship.
