312 The Aragon MotoGP

22nd September 2018  Miles Today,   92  Total Miles 2,795
This weekend we had looked forward to for some time. It was the Aragon, (Spain) round of the MotoGP, the Formula1 equivalent of the motorcycling world. Today, Saturday, was qualifying day and the morning was dedicated to practice so we set off later to see the actual qualifying runs scheduled for the afternoon. Fortunately, as we were coming back to the hotel later, we were able to leave most of our luggage behind.
The qualifying was due to start at 12 noon and we had a bit of spare time before that so we decided to get a beer. We went into the beer tent and I asked for a couple of small beers.  The young girl started to pour the beers from the pump and I noticed the numbers that stab fear into the hearts of mice and men, '0,0' (zero point zero, i.e nil.). Oh my God !
I realised that the beer had no alcohol in it. I screamed in a low voice "ZERO !!.....".
"Si, senor" came the reply. I faked bursting into tears much to the amusement of the Senorita doing the serving. It was going to be a long day.
Sadly, none of the British riders or Valentino Rossi, an Italian who is our favorite non-Brit, did very well.  We were in a grandstand that had no shade and the sun was merciless. It was 34 deg C and we were sat out in the blistering sun for about 3 hours. We were to do it all again tomorrow for longer, again with no shade.

Valentino Rossi being chased by Alvaro Bautista.

Bradley Smith.

Cal Crutchlow.

We left the circuit along with hundreds of other bikes and after about 5 minutes we were clear and on our way back to Valderobres, the nearest large village to the Katmandu Hotel. We stopped there and had a beer, intending to eat too. Sadly, the Spanish siesta was in full swing and the chefs were not due to start work again till 8 or 8:30. We decided to ride to a few more villages to see if we could eat earlier. We eventually found a place that had sufficient Tapas available to fill our bellies and ate on the terrace in the semi dark.
We rode home in the dark. It was the first time I had ridden in the dark for several years and it was nice just to roll left and right with the road markings and the stars. The last 2 km of dirt road was fun in the dark too.
There were two more couples in the hotel tonight.  They had all flown in via Barcelona and hired cars for the duration. One of the couples were two ladies about 30 years of age and both mad about bike racing. One of then was an Aussie who was like a walking text book of bike racing. She was a a two wheel groupie but was a charming young woman. She and her friend were travel agents who worked together and were both serious travelers. We shared a few beers and generally chewed the fat  about bike racing before retiring to bed, hot and all but sunburned from the grandstand earlier.

23rd September 2018  Miles Today,   126  Total Miles 2,921
Race Day.....
We arose early as getting into the course was likely to be a lot more difficult today. We packed the bike up, completely this time, said our goodbyes to the other guests and the hosts, and were on our way by 9 am.
We arrived and were in the circuit by 10 despite the monumental number of bikes doing the same thing. We regained our seats and sat waiting to be cooked again for the next 4 hours. It was already about 30 degrees C.
There were 3 races today (as is normal), the first was called Moto3. This is basically the 250cc class and the British interest is a Scot called John McPhee. He ended up in 10th position having started 9th. Not too bad but he has done a lot better previously.

First corner Moto 3. It was very loud.

Moto 3 is often the most unpredictable as the need to slip stream all the time and change place on each lap.

Jorge Martin the Moto 3 winner.

A photo of the TV screen showing the prize giving.

The second race is the 600cc class. The British interest is a guy called Sam Lowes, a likeable and positive Lincolnshire lad who we have mentioned (and posed with for pictures) in the past. He is a good rider but has trouble staying on the thing. This time he was up to about 10th position and then ran off onto the gravel and came back on in last position. He managed to gain 4 places before the race finished. His race speed after the run off was comparable with the fastest riders so he is still in the running.

First corner Moto 2. Not quite as loud.

Brad Binder a South African. Overtook the leading Spaniard, Alex Marcquez (Marc's brother) in the last few laps. Again the Spaniards around us were not happy. He he he...

The third race is the biking worlds equivalent of  Formula 1 car racing. It is the best of the best with bikes only weighing about 160 kg and pushing out over 250 BHP. The bikes are generally 1000cc.
We have 2 riders in this race, No. 35, Cal Crutchlow and No. 38 Bradley Smith who we saw many years ago winning the 250cc class at Jerez in southern Spain.
Wwe were watching the first corner which is often eventful in any race. We were not disappointed and the race started with a bit of a bang.  2 Spaniards were in front. Marc Marquez and slightly behind, Jorge Lorenzo. One the first bend Marquez ran wide and Lorenzo was on his outside with a different riding line. From our position it looked like they touched but it was shown from different camera  angles that they were 1/2m apart. Never the less,  Lorenzo crashed and as is the norm with Lorenzo, he blamed someone else, this time it was Marquez for forcing him out wide. Lorenzo has a reputation for being a cry baby so we were not surprised. Race direction viewed the incident and did not apportion blame. Needless to say, our surrounding Spanish friends were not amused.

The first corner. Marquez and Lorenzo in the lead, far right.

Same photo, close up, Lorenzo, at the back, is riding a different line (direction) to everyone else.

.... and Lorenzo crashes.

Same photo, close up. Looks like they contacted but no, other camera angles say not. Lorenzo airborne about to break his foot,

At least he has something to cry about  - and blame Marquez.

About half way through the race Cal Crutchlow decided to dump his bike on the deck right in front of us. He was running 4th at the time and we were distraught. Bradley Smith ended up in about 12th position.

A very disappointed Cal Crutchlow walking off.

Valentino Rossi finished 8th from a starting position of 18th.

At the end of the race there was an exodus the like of which we have never seen. We were in no particular hurry so we waited for the stands to clear and then went in search of Wallace. It took a while. There were thousands and thousands of bikes trying to squeeze through a gap a bit wider than a car. The Spaniards are manic about their biking and they were revving their engines against the rev limiters and spinning their wheels on the gravel. It was mayhem but for them I would say it was normal. We waited another 20-30 minutes and then saddled up and joined the queue. We eventually got to a road junction where a female cop was directing traffic. We were held there for a while by her, and the Spaniards were getting impatient and some were revving their engines and peeping their horns. The cop joined in and gesticulated for them to do it all the more before she would let them out. They did not disappoint her and we joined in. Karen did not see the cop so I got the obligatory bollocking. She saw the funny side of it when I explained what was happening.

We intended to drive direct to Zaragoza where we had a hotel booked and  knew where we wanted to join the road to it. It was a major road just south of the circuit. Sadly, the police had a different idea and initially took us 180 degrees in the wrong direction for about 6km. We were about to join the main road only to find that they had also closed that. We had a detour that meant out 103km journey was now 149km of back roads. We had been sat in the blistering heat for 4 hours and out 1 hour journey had become 2 hours. Our butts were already sore and this did not help. The temperature at the circuit had been 34 deg and it steadily climbed to 36 by the time we got to Zaragoza,

We found the hotel easily enough but found that there was a tramway outside the front door so we could not get Wallace anywhere near. We eventually found a back street behind the hotel and the receptionist gave a room close enough to it so we could pass our gear through the window, albeit with the use of long bungees and Karen hanging out of the window.

We rested for a while and cooled down with the rooms air con and then went out for some cooling beer and food. We found the main square which was actually oblong and the architecture was amazing. The main church was in full service and photography was not allowed, except for us of course.

Better not use the flash !