The demise last year of the Friday morning practice session means that day 1 in Qatar doesn’t start until well into the evening, and with one practice session per class we were done and heading back to the media center just before midnight. BMW is a series sponsor of MotoGP, and Losail has the nicest media shuttle vehicles of any event on the calendar: brand new 730 LI sedans with full leather etc etc line up outside the media center to take the sweaty photographers around the track. There is a paucity of scooters here this year, no doubt part of the endemic cost-cutting efforts by the teams. So the shuttles come in very handy and thus are harder to find available. Last year I don’t think I ever waited for a ride, but this year we arrived at the pick up spot just after the start of MotoGP to find no BMWs waiting for us. Only took a few minutes, though, for one to arrive back to base and take us away.
Before the bikes went out, the MotoGP riders lined up for the group photo. The earlier two sessions of 125 and Moto2 riders were delayed by the late arrival one or two riders for whom the entire mass of media, Dorna organizers, and fellow riders waited with varying degrees of patience. Two MotoGP riders arrived before Lorenzo, and then the rest of the field was late as a group. The most genial was Colin Edwards, who offered handshakes and smiles to the rookies, while Simoncelli looked uneasy the entire time.
Though I usually get chills the first time the bikes take to the track on a race weekend, the first howl of bikes approaching from the pits on the season-opening night is definitely something special. The 125s were first out on track and they approached like a swarm of angry bees, their high-pitches engines whining in the night. The teenagers who ride them looked all grown up on the small bikes, and it’s easy to forget that they are just kids. Next came the world premier of the new Moto2 class, with a field of 40 riders, and if the 125s were a swarm of bees, the 600cc Moto2 bikes sounded like screaming banshees. They look quite nice though, and there sure were a lot of them. The field just kept coming, and seemed more like WSBK than a grand prix field. The 800cc riders who ended up in the new class this season will have their hands full as there is a lot of talents on the spec engine bikes.
(I’m typing this while we’re driving to the Islamic Museum for a little culture amongst all the noise of smell of racing fuel. It’s a bit hazy today and Wheeler just observed that this place reminds him of the desert for some reason. He’s a shrew observer, no doubt.)
Wheeler and I were in the pit lane for the start of the MotoGP session, a benefit of my tenuous grasp on an orange Dorna card. I’m getting spoiled by that, as being in front of the garages while the bikes come and go is an even more immediate way to experience this event than being at the edge of the track. When shooting in the corners, it’s similar to the fan experience, you’re just a lot closer. That’s very cool, don’t get me wrong. But being in the pit lane with Rossi, Stoner and Lorenzo going about their business, you really feel like you are in some rare air indeed. I have to say, that was the neatest thing about last night. In the past I’ve had to sneak into the pit lane as my blue card is not allowed when anything is actually going on. And due to the low numbers of people here at Losail, the area is not crowded, relative to the bigger races.
So after a late night, we left the apartment a little after 1 PM for a visit to the Islamic Museum. Once again the art was fantastic, the building itself, designed by I. M. Pei, still gorgeous and full of geometrical puzzles and wonders. It was very fun to see the exhibits with Andrew. We are now looking for a parking spot in the Carrefour parking lot, which is a kid of test to determine if you are worthy of groceries. It’s hotter today than it was yesterday or the day before, and the last time we were here it was about 20 degrees hotter in this parking lot than it was outside. So I’m not looking forward to getting out of the car. But as we’ve been driving around now for about 10 minutes, we not have to worry about it.
Tonight will be the most we see of the bikes on track, with an hour practice session then an hour of qualifying. This time I’ll hit the pit lane with fresh batteries in my flash, so I’m really looking forward to this evening and some photos I didn’t get last year.
