We recently spent a hectic, sweat-inducing weekend at the Moto GP round held at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Accepting a press invitation to cover the two-wheeled equivalent of F1 was not an easy choice for CRM< as we’d attended a previous Moto GP race and had a lousy time of it. This 22-race, international series may represent motorcycle racing, technology and sport at his highest levels, but the knee-deep officialdom on display is enough to make me and many others opt to view this 220-MPH spectacle from the comfort of our air-conditioned living rooms.
Like Formula 1 car racing, the Moto GP paddock is a swirling, nonstop blend of celebrity sightings, loud electronic music, amazing motorcycle R&D and plenty of security guards pointing spectators from this forbidden viewing point to the next. Green wristband? Sorry, sir, you need to step back across this line and walk a mile to the orange wristband access area. need a bottle of water or souvenir T-shirt? Better be ready to fork over NFL stadium prices for ay consumables, but somebody has to pay the rider’s $10 million salaries we guess.
To actually view the racers from a comfortable viewing point, organizers demand payments north of $500 to watch from the covered grandstands; access to the actual rider garages to view the incredible, prototype racebikes up-close will set you back twice that for the weekend, though we understand refreshments and access to air-conditioned hospitality suites are included.
I was speaking about the experience with CRM friend and Canadian custom parts supplier Spero Floro, who shared our opinion that Moto GP is indeed a spectacle like no other and well worth seeing at least once, but he too found the experience tainted by too much heavy-handed officialdom and Beverly Hills glamor. “I went to the Ulster GP (public roads race) in Northern Ireland and the racing was even more exciting than Moto GP because it’s taking place three feet from where you’re standing and at 200 MPH on these tiny, Irish public riads. There was nobody stopping you from entering the paddock for a closer look at the bikes and the racers were just ordinary guys walking around with everybody else,” he said.
Amen to that.
Nevertheless, we managed to have some fun moments at the Austin GP round and the sights, smells and sounds of the fastest, most advanced motorcycles on the planet whizzing around at jet airliner speeds while leaned over at 55 degrees is a sight to behold.
But next time, we’ll be watching in the living room where the refreshments are free and nobody’s checking for wristbands…
