Silverstone MotoGP

Sunday 17 June 2012  - MotoGP number 3 – Silverstone UK

Day 65 and 94 to go

Knowing that we had a trek ahead of us we were up and out by 8pm and on the road to the GP track by 8.30am. We were lulled into a false sense of security with the initial drive really easy up the M1, unfortunately when we were 20 min from the track and turning onto the A43 things went pear shaped.

The number of people heading to the track was immense and we joined the crawl. All the while hundreds of people on bikes zipped past us through the gaps in the traffic. Grrr. I know Paul was just wishing he had his bike so we could leave the crowds behind. Instead we sat in the car park traffic wondering if we would make it to the track in time for the first race.

We were hoping we would be able to park where we had yesterday but today that was solely for bikes, instead we were directed further away and into a paddock. It was now 10.30am, a one-hour drive that took us two hours to complete.

Our next concern was getting to the stand we wanted to sit in and positioned in front of the big screen. So we had to leg it as quickly as we could. We could see that the stands were fairly full and our hopes of a seat were diminishing but we entered our chosen stand anyway and walked up the stairs in the hope we would find something. By now we were sweating through our thermals and gumboots.

The sea of heads and some spaces were laid out in front of us, unfortunately many of the spaces were filled with bags, however with a little persistence and asking the punters we found two free seats in a spot facing the screen. Phew!

We made ourselves comfortable and shortly after the Moto2 race began.  The race was closely contested with the British crowd happy that Scott Redding came in second behind Pol Espagaro and in front of Marc Marquez. 

Between races Paul went for a wander while I watched the stunt planes as they entertained the crowd. When he returned we brought out our Aussie flag, much to the disgust of the pommy crowd. The English rider Crutchlow had fallen off yesterday and broken his ankle but was still riding today after being positioned at the back of the grid.

Casey got off well and was in second for a couple of laps before he took the lead. Much to our delight as we waved our flag and cheered him on. We could hear the collective groan of the crowd as we did. Unfortunately Jorge Lorenzo was snaking his way through the pack and was soon tussling with Casey before taking the lead and winding away. Bugger. However the English crowd were well pleased that there was a rider in front of Casey and were willing others to pass him too. Much to our disgust. 

We continued to cheer loudly just to let them know we didn’t care and Casey maintained his position to take out second behind Jorge and in front of Dani Pedrosa. Yeah. Crutchlow managed to pick up 7^th even with his injury, giving the English fans something else to cheer about.

With the conclusion of the race we decided to get up and go for a wander. We picked up a burger and then jumped on the green public bus around the circuit stopping at Club Corner where we found another spot to sit and watch the Moto3 race.

This spot gave us a good view of the final corners and the back of the start finish grid, straight and the podium. The race was nice and tight with Vinales, Salom and Cortese crossing the line first.

With the final race completed by 3pm we braved the crowds and wandered back to our car where we joined the queue of sitting cars again. We were directed through the forest along a dirt track that took 45min to clear before we made it onto the road finally. By now we were desperate for fuel and were glad to see one as we crossed a round about 8kms down the road.

With the tank full we skirted cross country rather than getting on the main roads where it was likely the traffic would be backed up. It was a good decision as we made it back to Chell’s by 5.30pm with little traffic to disrupt us.

Chell wasn’t home but the garden looked neat and manicured.  He’d obviously spent his day in the garden.

We sat around for a bit before Chell and Dario both came in. We caught up on the day before heading out at 7 looking for dinner.

After heading to 3 pubs we finally found somewhere suitable to eat in Baldock. The meal was delicious and I enjoyed the banoffee tart that I had for dessert. With full bellies Dario drove us home and then left us to it.

We watched the final minutes of the Portugal v Netherlands match with Portugal ensuring that the Dutch did not have a single win in their group with a 2-1 win.

With the match complete it was off to bed again.