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This event took place 03/05/2009
See event results from motogp.com
Guest Speaker
Julian Ryder
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Julian Ryder has been a motorcycle racing fanatic since the early 1960s. Few areas of the sport have escaped his insightful scrutiny; but he is best known as the Eurosport commentator (with Toby Moody) on MotoGP since 2000. His effervescent reportage on MotoGP became an iconic staple of English-speaking fans world wide. He is also one of the star writers in the sport: the author of the official MotoGP season reviews since 2004, the history of the World Superbike Championship and contributor to many magazines and web sites (including USA and Japan)
Julian will be launching our special edition of the 2008 MotoGP Season Review. |
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| Jerez - 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 |
| Jerez - Fun we had in 2008 |
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Event report
Gran Premio De España 2009
Gordon Howell
Jerez is always a most satisfying event, and this weekend was no exception. Superb weather, great racing in all classes, brilliant company and non-stop entertainment meant that probably all attending needed a day off following the event just to catch up on sleep!
The event was a month later than usual this year, and this really helps. Perfect shirt-sleeve weather made swimming in pool or beach a real possibility.
Thursday saw many of the guests arrive - including our big group from the Red Bull Rookies out for their first two races of the season. Some of our lucky customers came up with us to the track for a wee wander around the paddock. This gave us a great opportunity to drop in on the launch of Dr Costa's new book 'Grand Prix College'. We got a couple of copies, and had Nicky Hayden sign one that ended up in the hands of our lucky (talented, he would say) 'Pole Position Prize' winner Saturday evening. He correctly predicted the top four positions of the MotoGP qualifiers...!
Happy hours at a pub between our 2 Jerez hotels got our very multi-national group together and set us down a somewhat alcoholic road for the weekend... The same happened at our rural 'Estacion' package...
We were originally worried about the cutting of half of Friday, but this turned out to be an opportunity rather than a problem. Friday we took several of our Estacion customers to Seville where a major international fair was taking place. Food, drink, dance, and a general tour of the city where everyone was in costume was a blast! Several Jerez customers went for a tour of the gorgeous & historic town of Cadiz. Of course, the 'hard core' of the group did hit the track for the afternoon; catching the 3 practice sessions, and the Red Bull Rookies qualifiers.
Belgians Bart and Steve were our first guests to attend our new San Carlo Honda Gresini team experience, and had access to the MotoGP paddock, watched the MotoGP practice from the hospitality unit; and got a chance for a pit tour and a 'hello' to the riders Alex de Angelis and Tony Elias; not to mention see virtually all the other riders...
Friday evening we all got back in time to catch the coach up to the stunning 15th c Hacienda for our opening party; collecting speaker Julian Ryder on the way. Julian gave a plug for his MotoGP 2008 season review - all guests received a copy of our special edition of this superb book. He also answered all questions put to him - giving great insights into the Dorna move away from Eurosport. Julian is still working his magic on the 250 and 125 class; but it remains to be seen how especially UK fans will get his superb commentary on the MotoGP events (except of course in review from his book). He shared many insights into other riders and teams as well; his talk was very well received. The evening wore on till late, with plenty of food, drink and good times by all!
Saturday with perhaps less than clear heads, we made it up to the track early to catch all the action. The afternoon qualifiers brought a few surprises - everyone expected Lorenzo to do well, but only a few of our people predicted him on pole! With all three Brits in the 125 class in the front 2 rows, this was shaping up to be an exciting race for our British customers; alas JTs position in the MotoGP grid was less inspiring. Here's hoping he can improve soon. The Americans were happy with Colin's start; Nicky unfortunately is clearly struggling. Or to quote someone: "Only Casey and God can ride that bike; and I haven't seen God do it yet..."
n.b Technically there are 4 Brits in the 125cc. Alas, Matt Hoyle, 2008 BSB 125cc champion and a very fast guy, failed to qualify on the new Haouje machinery - he has yet to start a race. Lets hope they get the bike competitive for Le Mans!
The highlight of the day was the first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies race. We have been with the kids (13-17 yrs old) through the pre-season testing, and of course for many we were with them last year (we have been the official Travel Partner for the Rookies for 2008 and 2009); so we have an idea who to watch, and of course were expecting some pretty exciting action! We were not wrong on this count -- the race was perhaps too exciting. In the heavy wind, several riders binned it, including favourite, Norwegian Sturla Fagerhaug; and clear leader South African Matthew Scholtz. But it was the awful crash from Brit Harry Stafford that red-flagged the race and left us all with our hearts in our mouths as he was ambulanced away unconscious. The race restarted for 6 laps, with Sturla in the last grid position. Iin what was one of the most awesome performances I have ever seen, Sturla fought his way through the entire grid to take the lead in the last lap, and take victory - yes, going from last to first! I will say it again: the Rookies races are about the most exciting in motorcycling!
To see this (and all the Rookies races) check out http://eu.redbullrookiescup.com/videos.php
Gillian and Scott from Scotland were our guests of the day at San Carlo Honda. Apart from lunch with the team and private tour of the pits; they were invited to stand AT the pit wall during the MotoGP free practice. We have taken the rare step of publishing her entire comment on our endorsements page, but of the pit wall: "When we were told about the pit wall trip I thought I was going to cry with excitement." Made meeting the riders over coffee at the end of the day a bit of an anticlimax?!
Saturday night after drinks on the terrace, the group at the Estacion were treated to a brilliant paella dinner (some guests even helped cook!); and live Gypsy music and dancing.
The evening was tense until we received news on Harry's condition: thankfully he had only a broken collarbone and a concussion; will see him off the next few races; but nothing permanent.
Sunday our crack-of-dawn starting policy held us in good stead as we beat all the traffic in; and Eric and Heather from Australia got in early to San Carlo for an espresso and a pit tour. Our 'team experience' packages in general are provided to our best customers under our new ClubGP programme; since Eric & Heather are coming to the next 3 events, they kindly permitted others in the VIP Village to sample the Gresini experience. Needless to say, this was hugely appreciated.
Speaking of the VIP Village, I am always reminded that this is one of the best of the tournament. Great views in two directions; a good long pit walk on each day, and private grandstand seating on the infamous final corner really make this a special experience. Virtually every one of our customers 'won' a service road tour; and the spectacular weather made the outdoor open bar an insanely decadent luxury. Yes, they are expensive; we recommend you save money on hotels and get the best track experience!
With four races in the day, it was going to be non-stop action. The 125cc opener was a cracker -- British Bradley Smith finally got his long-overdue maiden victory in a decisive performance right from his dominating start. We caught up with him, his dad and his new mentor Randy Mamola just after the event. (See photo in our gallery, note Brad's dad in park ferme with feet about 6" off the ground) If we could only have harnessed the energy in the delighted smiles all around; world petrol prices would drop significantly...
I have been predicting the 250cc class would be the most exciting this year; and Jerez was no let-down! 3 seconds between 1st and 4th with two duels decided in the final straight; this is racing! Hiroshi Aoyama took favourite Bautista at the last possible moment; and Simoncelli beat Barbera in a dramatic final corner pass. On our part, our sponsored team and rider Frenchman Jules Cluzel proved his 2nd place podium at Qatar wasn't the fluke everyone thought it was - his very respectable 8th in this highly competitive field leaving him standing 5th in the championship is too hard for us to believe! Way to go Jules!!
The MotoGP race saw a classic 'Dani hunt' by the master himself in action - the Doctor. Pedrosa got off to a great start and put a good gap ahead of the pack. Rossi had a several-lap shoot out with Stoner, Lorenzo not far behind, giving Dani a great opportunity to put some air between him and the following group. However once Rossi finally got the advantage of Casey, in vintage fashion he stalked Dani for several laps, shaving a few tenths of a second off the gap each time. The inevitability of it was awesome - there was no one at Jerez who didn't think The Doctor would finally catch his prey; when he did at lap 18 (once again making his move out of the Dry Sack corner - re-inforcing my belief that the R9 grandstand is a great value for money spot) there was such a roar of approval, despite the local boy being relegated, that we all knew we had just witnessed the work of a virtuoso This was not nail-biting edge-of-your-seat action; but as a showpiece of a masterclass performance it was deeply satisfying. The Spaniards love to see their countrymen win, but first and foremost they love good racing!
If so, it was a shame so many of them left before the second Rookies Cup race. For me, this was the race of the weekend. The virtually invincible 17 yr old Sturla Fagerhaug demonstrated once again his age and experience advantage: he quickly fought his way up from the middle of the grid; and worked past Frenchman Marino and Japanese Daijiro Hiura (both 15). Brief leader Swede Alex Kristiansson (also 15) slid off early in the race; leaving a classic duel between Sturla and 15 yr old Englishman Danny Kent. For several laps these two fought it out axle-to-axle, changing leads many times. In the last corner, Danny dramatically out-braked Sturla to take the lead and hold it for a stunning victory. The second British winner of the day!
After an intensely satisfying day of racing and perfect weather; no one was ready to wind down Sunday night! At the Estacion, following our usual wine and beer on the terrace, a visit to the local village pub was essential; followed by a classic Andalusian meal (rumour was that more beer and wine were consumed). In Jerez we enjoyed a very classy Spanish tapas by the poolside - classy that is until the 3rd bottle of champers started making its effects known; and the following vintage sherry tasting was likely to be the most rambunctious ever experienced by the sommeliers! The Jerez brandy was out of this world, as were most of the guests. A good time was had by all as they say!
For Europeans, most of whom do not make the 'side show' fly-aways at the start of the season, Jerez is like quenching a prolonged drought. For atmosphere both at the track and in town, it cannot be beaten; everyone needs to make this even a 'must attend'. Even the obligatory 4am extended redline test of one of the thousands of bikes parked on the all-night party down the street did not feel like an annoyance - just a reminder of why we are all here!
We loved every minute of it!
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![We were very unhappy on one of our minibusses home... :-) [we tend now to use more smaller vehicles to get a better group experience]](http://images.ec1.com/events/89/gallery/0903jerez-57_600.jpg "We were very unhappy on one of our minibusses home... :-) [we tend now to use more smaller vehicles to get a better group experience]")
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