Stoner all the way at the Assen TT Woo Hoo!

Saturday 30 June 2012 - Stoner 3 firsts and a second. Are we the lucky charms?
Day 78 and 81 to go

6.30am Grrrrr.... Alarms Grrr..... Having to get out of bed Grrrr........
Ok there is my grip to start the day but it did get better thankfully.
We were up dressed and having breakfast at 7am. The breakfast room was full of other MotoGP followers quickly stuffing themselves full of breakfast treats before making the trip to the track. WE were first cabs off the rank. With food scoffed we returned to the room, grabbed our bags and then hit the road. The back roads from Doldersum through to the track were awesome with clear and easy driving, not like Silverstone at all. We had very limited traffic to deal with.
We navigated back to where we had found an entrance yesterday arvo, only to end up back where we were. Grrr.
We parked and then began the hike to our seats. It wasn't too painful though we did have to go in one entrance then out another before coming in again. :( We bought some water and then parked ourselves in our seat just as the Moto3 practice was occurring.

The stand was fairly quiet during the practice sessions, but filled up as race time drew closer. Between the practice and the Moto 3 race they had stunt bikes on to entertain the crowd and Randy Mamola doing the two up. The Moto3 race began at 11am. IT was a tightly contested event with a few spills as well. In the end it came down to a photo finish. It was the tightest ending we have seen so far with Vinales being deemed the winner in front of Cortese and Danny Kent.
At the end of the race we had one of our sandwiches. The young group of idiots in front of us went to get drinks giving us room to stretch out as it had become so crowded we couldn’t move back in our seat as there were knees there! I kept having my bum felt up every time the bloke behind me went for his bag.

The Moto2 race began at 12.20pm with the crowds returning to fill their seat to watch. Unfortunately the more who came in the smaller the window became through which I could view the racing. I was so glad we had the screen in front so I could keep up. Espagaro was the early leader but through it away in a spectacular crash leaving it open to the other riders. This race proved to be another great one with more spills in the corners we could see. Marquez was the eventual winner in front of Iannone or Crazy Joe with the English rider Scott Reading coming in third.
With the race complete I braved the exiting crowds to go to the loo and get drinks. The first task was easy but getting a drink was impossible so I returned to Paul who then went off instead. He was more successful with the drinks and returned with a couple. We settled in for the race hoping that we would again see a Stoner victory, our Aussie flag proudly on display.

The first corner proved to be Stoner’s windfall and Jorge’s downfall with Jorge Lorenzo being taken down by Alvaro Bautista as he slid out of control taking Jorge to the gravel and out of the race. WOO HOO! While we had secretly hoped for something like this to happen we couldn’t believe it actually had. Casey will owe Bautista a drink tonight.
With Jorge gone Casey wasn’t particularly challenged. He sat behind Pedrosa for the majority of the race well ahead of the rest of the pack and with 9 laps to go cruised into the lead and didn’t look back. The challenge came for the remaining podium spot and while the American Ben Spies held it for most of the race, Andrea Dovizioso snatched it with only a lap to go. It was a perfect race and makes it 3 wins and a 2^nd that we have now seen from Casey.

With podium presentations in progress we flew our flag and sung the national anthem loudly. I was so glad to hear it as I am over the Spanish one. The tune has been stuck in my head for long enough. With presentations complete we started the hike back to the car wrapped in the flag.

By 4 we had reached the car and we joined the precession of cars pulling out of the paddock. Once we were out though it was clear driving down the country streets passing people lining the streets obviously wanting to catch the parade of bike riders leaving the GP.

We were home by 4.30pm and veged out in the room. I bought a beer for Paul and grabbed a glass of ice for my warm coke. We had the drinks in our room before deciding to go for a walk around to the other pub and passed all the farm animals. We had a drink while chatting to Colin and Jordan, a father and son team, competing in the Red Bull Rookie cup. It was very interesting listening to what they get to do. When they left we took a look at the parrots that were kept in a giant aviary at the back of the pub. They had Australian parrots and a golden pheasant that was just spectacular in colouring.
We returned to our room and had a shower before heading back to Smilde where we stopped at the local Chinese Buffet for all you eat and drink dinner. The meal was quite nice though I didn’t have a lot but Paul certainly got his money’s worth.

With dinner complete we went for a walk around the town. Wandering next to the canals and crossing over a couple of times. The ton was busy with spectators from the GP. With our lap complete we returned to the car and drove back to the hotel passing a herd of Highland Cows meandering from their paddock and onto the road. I settled our account and then we sat in bed watching the tennis from Wimbledon. I read some more of my book before calling it a night.