Jerez MotoGP

Day 1

Easy drive from Ronda to the airport in Jerez where we dropped off the rental car and caught a taxi to our hotel. After checking in we walked into the downtown historical district for lunch. There were plenty of cafes open but virtually no stores. Even the tourist information office closes daily from 3-4:30 p.m. This is a town that takes siesta time seriously. It's also not a touristy town; there isn't a lot to recommend. (Which means the rest of this blog entry is about the races rather than sights and travels.) The streets were very empty and everything was pretty quiet. Southern Spain is also apparently a bit economically depressed right now so there are a lot of empty storefronts. 

7pm welcome drinks and overview of the weekend.

Afterwards we had dinner in the hotel restaurant which was pleasant and a bit odd since we were the only people there.

Friday Track Day

Buffet breakfast at the hotel. This a much larger hotel than where we were in Madrid but their buffet isn't much larger. Still it is impressive. 

9:00 a.m. shuttle out to the race track. Today is all practices but it's a good chance to check out all the vendor booths and wander around the track since there are fewer people today. It was lightly raining but cleared in the afternoon. We had umbrellas but forgot other rain gear. We tried to walk all the way around the track but about halfway we were trekking through mud and bushes and really couldn't see anything interesting worth continuing for, especially since it was still raining. So we turned around. None of the grandstands are covered but there is dry area in the back so we hung out there for a bit until the rain stopped. Mostly sunny the rest of the day. Serena read a fair bit of Harry Potter on her ipad and Jeff took many many pictures practicing with his camera and lenses. 

4:30 p.m. shuttle back to the hotel. We showered then went out to find a shop recommended by the hotel staff for Serena to buy a replacement for her travel fanny pack - the zippers have been wonky and today they failed completely. HiperAsia was in a nice non-touristy mall with other shops that locals would need (hardware, florist, knitting, supermarket, fruits & veggies). Can't really describe HiperAsia but it was a large store with pretty much a little bit of anything you could want (and everything we were looking for). We were pleased and it's only a couple of blocks away from the hotel.

We got back to the hotel at just the right time to proceed to tonight's hosted dinner. Tasty and a lot of food (4 appetizers, soup, main and dessert). Also plenty of beer and wine. There were two speakers - Neil Spalding (motorcycle technology guru) and one of the Moto3 riders, Jakub Kornfeil. There are three classes of MotoGP races with MotoGP being the most prestigious. Moto2 and Moto3 are younger less experienced riders who may someday get a MotoGP slot. One of the people at our table is a man named Richard Martin who is from Texas and owns M4 exhaust. He sponsors a MotoAmerica team, Suzuki Team Hammer. He and Jeff had things to talk about and after dinner went to the bars on our corner for a beer. There are several bars and they have all set up sidewalk service for the weekend. Many many people and bikes are lining the street in this area which is why we get to hear the engine revving and tire burnouts in our room. They weren't out very long at all. (We'll see Richard again this weekend and probably in July at the World Super Bike Races at Laguna Seca.) 

Despite tonight being Friday, the motorcycles are quieter compared to last night.

Saturday Track Day

Breakfast and 8:30 a.m. shuttle out to the track. It was a lovely sunny day and none of the track grandstands (including ours) have shade so it got warm in a hurry. By the afternoon we were retreating between events to the shade behind the grandstand. Today was more practicing, some qualifying (Serena's favorite rider, Dani Pedrosa, got pole position), and a short rookie race. Really nothing very exciting but still cool to be at a GP race.

Back in town Serena did a quick store run so we have adequate snacks and water for tomorrow's race day which will be longer. We spent some time lounging on our deck then went across the street to check out the bar scene. It was crazy crowded with people and motorcycles. Also incredibly loud because on one side the sidewalk bars are each blasting their own music and the motorcycle riders are revving their engines on the other side. We wandered through and retreated back to the quiet bar in our hotel for dinner. 

Sunday Race Day!

It was louder last night and went much further into the night. We were woken before our alarm which was set for 6:15 a.m. After breakfast Jeff wandered out to see the aftermath from last night and there were still some people hanging out on the sidewalk. The amount of trash is quite astounding but cleanup was well underway by 7:30 a.m. and the sidewalk bars were being dismantled and the people were gone. I guess that means that tonight will be quieter. We don't fly out tomorrow until early afternoon so hopefully a good nights sleep and we'll arrive in Venice well rested. No regrets about the lack of sleep; we chose this experience and it's been interesting. 

The morning was warm up sessions and the two less prestigious races then a lunch break and the main race immediately afterwards at 2pm. It wasn't a super competitive race but there was some passing action. Dani Pedrosa won (who Serena was rooting for) and all the top three racers were from Spain. The former king of Spain (father of the current king) helped hand out the trophies.

Went out tonight for dinner with quite a crowd from our tour - though most of them have been doing the VIP version so really we hadn't seen/met many of them. Back at the hotel it's quiet and warm and we're looking forward to a good nights sleep before we fly to Venice in the early afternoon.

White hill towns in Andalusia southern Spain

Photo of our grandstand. The different colored seats spell out Circuit de Jerez.

 

Party scene on the sidewalk on the corner across from our hotel.

Marc Marquez won the Championship last year.

Dani Pedrosa won the race.

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The Red Bull jet squad flew over several times just before the race. Their smoke trails mimic the flag of Spain.

Sea of humanity exiting the track on Saturday through the food vending area.

Some of the very large and fancy trailers the racers live in when they are doing the continental races.

Video of the bar scene on Friday night. Saturday was more crowded and louder. We couldn't hear the people or the music but the motorcycles were revving their engines almost constantly and until late in the night. Sleeping pills were necessary.

Video of the bar scene Saturday early evening.

The same area at 6:45 a.m. the next morning. The street cleaners were on their way and shooing the remaining people away.

Trash area behind our grandstand. But there was still a ton all over the ground since you can see that these bins can't hold anymore. Littering doesn't seem to be considered a problem here and the streets and sidewalks are often quite a mess at the end of the night. But by morning they are clean and tidy again.

Spanish ham flavored Pringles. Yummy!