Raceday! Valencia GP '05
The race on Sunday was "the business". I got access to the track interior and placed myself at turn one to watch the holeshot. The crowd around the track in the stands was doing the "Wave" before the race. I started timing it and the wave took between 1:50 and 2:10 to circulate the circuit. I got some video but I don't know how to throw that stuff up on Barf. A couple laps after the start I knew that Gibernau's bike had quit so I took off running for the box. I got there just in time to see the bike come back in and watch a devastated team of mechanics rip into it. It was cyl 5 and no one was sure what was wrong. Literally the mechanics were tearing up and the two japanese guys representing HRC were looking horrible. If you can imagine grown men crying and looking like they had run over the family dog, that's what the feeling was like on that side of the box. Meanwhile, Melandri's crew was quiet and optimistic. There were gleams in their eyes and the contrast between both crews was as big as it gets. When Melandri won his whole team was cheering, jumping up and down, and yes, also crying. I teared up a little, too, but that's cause underneath it all I'm just a big softy.
Jeez, enough with the practice shots for now! One Sunday after the race I ran into Kat and Andre. They were beat but I convinced them to join me for a drink in the hospitality suite. While we were sitting around we had an opportunity to watch a press conference with Sete Gibernau with tv cameras, reporters, the works. He's incredibly soft spoken. We had something to drink and then it was back to net-WORK-ing for me!
Check out the Extended Entry!
We were lucky enough to get ahold of a couple of these. This was the BIG PARTY, and most of the team members and pilots made an appearance. Unfortunately it was too crowded and full of people not really invested in the sport. You can see my ticket is number 1205, and I assume there must've been a couple thousand made up. Luckily I finagled my way into the inner sanctum of the festival. . . .upstairs in the VIP!
They had the strangest bartender I've ever met! Sorry for the poor pic quality, at this point I was a walking zombie after working hard for four days and talking with hundreds of people. Add to that the celebratory drinks and, whew, what a night!
Voo Voo (Kat) got a chance to sit on MJ's lap. His bodyguard kept blocking my shots with his arm so this is the only one I got. Total ass. Oh well, it was still a nice night to remember.
Kat and Friend. . . . . and that's all I'm gonna show!
Comments
hiya, its tasha, from the plane journey to Doha, if you remember me. sorry i havn't been in contact, i have just been so busy doing revision and seeing my parents. i hope the race and everything goes well and you have a great time in Doha. talk to you again? well my email adress is jasons_angel_666@hotmial.com. see you. xxx
Posted by: Tasha | April 6, 2006 11:29 PM