I’m sitting in the Frankfurt airport, in the same area as when I was waiting to go to Qatar, this time waiting for my flight to London and next weekend’s British GP at Donington Park. The announcer just called for the flight to Doha to board, and though I hope to go back to Qatar next year, I’m very glad I have a short flight to the UK this afternoon instead of that 8-hour trip south.
What a great weekend! The Sachsenring offered several amazing moments, but I think the most memorable was seeing first hand what Nicky Hayden called the best turn in MotoGP, now that Turkey is off the calendar. The German track comprises many changes in elevation, the degrees of which are simply not apparent on TV. But even on screen, you can tell that the back section which begins with a fast right-hander as it drops downhill to the penultimate turn is very steep. Again, you can’t tell just how steep until you stand there in person. But as I was taking the above photograph of Nicky about to race off the cliff, I got chills watching the riders go by. That turn is very fast, and it would be a bad place to make a mistake. But there was something about hearing them approach from my right, flash by before tipping it in for that right-hander and then simply disappearing as they descended that makes that one of the most thrilling spots I’ve visited. I can only imagine what it must be like to take that turn at 130, 140 miles an hour.
The crowd at Donington last summer was impressive, but similar to Laguna Seca, where there are a few grandstands, most of the fans are spread out across rolling hills. At the Sachsenring, most of the fans are in grandstands, so when they react to some veent they see on one of the many large TV screens around the track, a huge roar of noise erupts to add to the atmosphere. With all the crashes on Saturday, and the exciting races on Sunday, this added a fantastic element that simply did not exist in Qatar. At Laguna Seca we had a total attendance of 105,000 for all three days. In Germany we had 94,000 on Sunday, and a total of over 200,000, which they said might have been large had it not rained all day Saturday. I don’t know about that—the German fans certainly didn’t seem like the kind to be discouraged by a little rain. Most came prepared and while some sought shelter during the frequent showers, most stayed beneath ponchos and watched the show.
Ironically, just as the rumors about the demise of the 800s are getting more and more believable, we had a great race with the top four riders in the championship battling for most of the race, and the finish being decided by less than a second. Those who braved the weather saw another display of The Doctor’s race craft, and as I’ve said before, I believe this will be an historic season in his career, whether he manages to win his 9th championship or not. Personally, I fully expect him to do just that.
