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This event took place 04/10/2009
See event results from motogp.com
Guest Speaker
Danny Webb
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British rider Danny Webb (99) is in his third year in the 125cc motorcycle world championship. Riding with DeGraaf team on an Aprilia RSA, he has put in some solid performances in 2009, including leading the race at Motegi, and several top 10 results. Prior to the 2007 season he was in the MotoGP academy participating in the Spanish 125cc championships which he entered after becoming the 2003 South East Junior mini moto champion. Danny's brother James participates in BSB Supersport. Danny will be joined by his father Jim Webb to give a perspective on what it is like to be GP family! |
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| Estoril - Fun we had in 2009 |
| Click to enlarge, mouse-over for captions. |
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| We welcome contibutions of photos and will link your galleries if you wish |
| Estoril - Fun we had in 2008 |
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Event report
Grande Premio De Portugal 2009
Estoril is just one of those events at which one can't fail to have a great time... Perfect weather, beach, super atmosphere, charming town, inexpensive, 15 minutes to the track (on new highway!), and great action - this year was no exception. With about 60 package customers and 150 ticketholders at the event, our group was partially responsible for creating this atmosphere! Well done all!
Thursday evening opened with our traditional happy hours at the hotel -- which keeping in tradition went several hours and many beers by the seaside! Those capable walked 5 minutes to our favourite hole-in-the-wall restaurant; whilst many others merely made it to the Irish Bar next door (this venue, as usual, would prove to be a scene of many a rendez-vous over the weekend!)
The Irish Bar (O'Neills) at Estoril is not only a great place to meet and chat, a lot of paddock denizens fetch up there and one can hear a lot of gossip about what's happening in the world of MotoGP. For example, we heard about Chris Vermeulen's pending move to Kawasaki (confirmed Monday), got an insight into the world of power generation at a motogp event, and Sunday had a long chat with one of Rossi's crew helping us to understand exactly what his issue with the bike was on the race.
Friday a group headed up to the track to catch the first practice sessions and the pit lane walk. This is a great day to see the track, as you are allowed to go anywhere with any ticket (this is the only day this is feasible -- although there were some irritating security guards who did not appreciate this fact and entrance was denied to some people to some grandstands. It is issues like this where our on-the-spot presence can be very helpful). The pit walk was excellent, although a little crowded. Most of the riders put in an appearance at one point or another - even Rossi; and despite the crowds it was pretty easy to get his signature if you were patient!
Friday evening we held our opening reception. Our featured guest was our sponsored rider Brit Danny Webb, his manager Marlon and Danny's dad Jimmy. We heard about a range of fascinating insights into the life of a 125cc racer, including some funny anecdotes from Danny's dad! He also helped us to understand some of the technicalities of the circuit (don't try to overtake on the treacherous uphill chicane - the slowest point in MotoGP - unless it is a do-or-die situation!). His favourite circuits are Estoril (where he had his career-best performance of 5th last year); Sepang and Phillip Island. Danny is getting closer to the podium, we expect to see him up there next year if he doesn't pull it off this year!
Seeing the video highlights of the 2008 MotoGP race, and also the incredible 2006 event really helped us visualise the action on the circuit! Needless to say, Jimmy and the entourage carried on with further insights while behind a Guinness or two at O'Neills!
Saturday was perfect weather; and we were rewarded with some great qualifying action. Danny's weekend was improving, pulling himself up from about 21st on Friday to a respectable 10th on the grid. On the 250cc side, our sponsored rider Jules Cluzel also fared well, taking the 9th position. No surprise on the pole for MotoGP - Jorge won here last year, and was top of the timesheets in the practice sessions.
Our great delight however was reserved for Casey Stoner. We saw him briefly on Thursday - even got a smile and a wave from him! - and it was clear that he was back on form. Friday proved this with some good times; and his qualifying was just 5/100ths short of Rossi; putting him still on the front row. He'll win another one this year...
Speaking of the paddock, a group of guests were the happy guests of our sponsored MotoGP team San Carlo Gresini Honda. After enjoying the hospitality, a trip to the pit box and then out to the pit lane were highlights of the day. Had a lot of opportunities to talk to one of our favourite riders, Tony Elias. Sadly Tony's qualifying session fell apart in the last five minutes; leaving him with some work to do Sunday.
With just a 20 minute ride back to the hotel, we had plenty of time to get ready for Saturday night fun... The town of Cascais really comes alive, pubs and restaurants everywhere were filled, and with the perfect weather and great company it was very hard to steel one's discipline to get enough sleep to make the 0730 departure! (many didn't bother! :-) Our frequent observation that motorcycle rev limits are best tested during the still hours of 4am was once again proven true... But if there is any sound waking us in the wee hours of a race day, what better to hear?
A group of VIPs hit the lovely town of Sintra for a dinner at a top restaurant. After a meal of fantastic local fish and wine, that port really makes a perfect finish! The Portugese really know how to put a meal together.
Sunday dawned with a fog and a small threat of a wet day. We saw Steve Parrish in the paddock in the morning, and given that he is from the BBC we requested his prognostication on the weather... Fortunately his promise to arrange it so that the sun came out in time for the opening 250cc race proved true! However the morning sessions were a bit weird with a slightly damp track and low temperatures.
The racing started with a thrilling 250cc race. Simoncelli put it in front and stayed there; following the crash of Bautista owing to an engine seizure. He has once again proven his strength in the back half of the season; however Marco's surge of four wins in six races are unlikely to be enough to defend his title, but with 28 points to make up in 3 races there is an outside chance... However the truly remarkable duel was for 2nd place between Barbera and di Meglio, who finally crossed the line at the exact same instant. (This means the timing devices, accurate to 0.001 second, could not distinguish them.) The place was then awarded to di Meglio on the basis of the fastest personal lap time of the race. The last this happened in any class was Qatar 2004!
The MotoGP race lacked the usual Estoril white-knuckle-ride; however from the point of view of keeping the excitement of the season up the results could not have been better! We were predicting Lorenzo/Stoner/Rossi/Pedrosa; we got Lorenzo/Stoner/Pedrosa/Rossi; thus narrowing Rossi's lead to just 18 points; and guaranteeing the season will not be decided before Sepang! Jorge simply continued his dominance of the weekend - overcoming Dani's usual hole shot at the start (is Pedrosa the world's best starter?) to take the lead and stay there. The interesting duel was Casey v Dani, and while we are fans of all the riders, we were absolutely delighted to see Casey silence the critics by taking Dani and going on to the second step. For us however the real race was our man Tony Elias pulling his socks up and battling from his poor grid position of 13th to a stunning 6th. Did we ever mention that Tony's win here in 2006 was the most exciting MotoGP race we have ever seen!? Another fine performance from Colin Edwards as well.
One very sad note from the paddock: this was the first event where it was confirmed that James Toseland would not be returning to MotoGP. We saw him briefly on Friday to express how gutted we were. More than perhaps any other rider, James brings a lot to the sport beyond the track. He is consistently friendly and warm to his fans, always finding the time to stop and say hi, pose for a photo or give an autograph. At many events when other riders are resting, training or just goofing off, you can find James playing a concert. His work for Riders for Health will be sorely missed. If they gave championship points for off-track success; James would be close to world champion! We wish him all the best back in WSB and hope to see him back on the MotoGP grid before too long!
The racing ended where we started - with the 125cc race. The 125 cc race at Estoril provided hair-raising action, with groups of up to five riders barrelling into turns together throughout the race. This really brought the fans to their feet with excitement. These youngsters really have no fear!
Our attention was torn between following Danny's progress and the stunning race being put in by Bradley Smith. Danny had a poor first lap, got caught up in traffic, and dropped to about 19th. He then gamely fought his way forward and by the final lap was amongst the leaders of the second group, battling for 5th -- his best result of the year. Tragically, half way through the final lap his engine failed and he was forced to retire. This pitifully bad luck was caused by a broken rotor, and you can imagine his & the team's frustration at losing a top position of 5th in what would have been the 2nd year running at Estoril. The bittersweet result for team de Graaf was Danny's teammate Randy Krummenacher putting in his own best result of the season (10th). At the front of the pack it looked like another Simon victory in hand, when he put it in the gravel, and rejoined the race to an eventual 12th. This left Espargo, Cortese and Bradley Smith in the fight for the podium -- at one point with 2 laps to go Bradley was winning, and we were hopeful of seeing his 3rd GP victory; however Espargo pulled it out on the last lap, with Brad taking a very respectable third. A great nail-biting final lap (despite the "where's Danny" moment after the finish!). And by the way - check out the grid girl for Team Loncin's replacement rider - Czech Rookie Cup world champion Jakub Kornfiel. Keeping him in the shade was none other than our customer Kelly Bugler! (She's the Toseland fan with the Union Jack top in the photos!)
Sunday night, all in a great mood, a group went to one of our favourite local Portugese restaurants where copious quantities of wine and port were consumed. The weekend ended where it had started -- with us closing down O'Neills...
With the staff taking a now-traditional two day break after the event, staying at a stunning guest house on the windswept Atlantic coast, we were reminded of just what a great weekend this is. Of all the destinations in MotoGP, as somewhere to go and spend a few extra days, we rate Estoril as number one. This feeling is shared by most of the customers, fellow agents, and others we meet at this charming spot. While the track facilities leave something to be desired (we are talking to them about this!); it is more than made up for by the warmth of the people and the beauty of the place. There will be a MotoGP here until at least 2011; lets hope it carries on well past then!
Gordon Howell
Oct 2009
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