Catalunya MotoGP

Friday, June 9th - Travel and Arrival in Montmelo

This morning we leave Italy and fly to Barcelona. Everything went smoothly and from the airport in Barcelona we caught a train to Montmelo which is near the race circuit where we'll be watching our third and final MotoGP race of this journey.

Serena really can't remember all the criteria that led her to pick the MotoGP hotels but again she thought this one was closer to the track than it is (45 minute walk from hotel to our seats). But unlike the last one, here in Montmelo, there is a bus that goes to the track and it stops right across the street from our hotel. 

After we checked in and had lunch at the restaurant downstairs from the hotel Serena took a nap Jeff went out to explore the track - there is a pit walk opportunity at 5:30. But Jeff didn't do the pit walk; too many people lined up. As Jeff walked back he wandered through town a bit and discovered a tapas bar only a bit off the main drag but far enough to be quieter - Nou Tropical was our go-to every night we were in town. Tonight downtown is a bit of a crossover between the other two races we've been to. There are families and kids and it's not too crowded. But there are also sidewalk bars (some with loud music) and motorcycles sounding off. The street is blocked off to all but motorcycles but they can't go roaring through due to numerous pairs of off-set K-rails that force them to swerve and slow down. Along the road just outside of downtown but in the area where people walking from the track are, there is is a row of food trucks/stands; it sort of looks like a carnival food court. 

Saturday, June 10th

The motorcycles weren't sounding off as much as in Jerez but our room is closer to the action here. But we seem to be acclimating and actually got a decent night's sleep. There is no breakfast at this hotel but the coffee from the vending machine in the lobby was good enough.

It's warm here and our seats do not have shade but it's not as hot as it was in Jerez. We watched some practices and qualifying (all the races are tomorrow)and in between we were in a shaded picnic area.

After showers and dinner at Nou Tropical we wandered the scene on the main street of town which we can see a bit from our hotel room. Though it's Saturday night, it's still not crazy out. People, with kids and strollers, are lining the street between the sections of k-rail. Motorcycles come through and most just pass but a few do tricks - stoppies, wheelies and a little bit more if they are skilled. The motorcycles rev their engines partly because the little kids (predominantly the little boys) make a hand motion to encourage them. There are fewer tire burn outs compared to Jerez. However, once the sun went down it got louder.

Sunday, June 11th

Again we managed to sleep well enough though the motorcyclists were making noise with their bikes until at least 4am. 

Alarm went off at 7:45 and we were out the door an hour later. Already all the k-rails are cleared out of the road and the streets are clean. The bus out to the track was quick but the lines through security were longer. They are very serious about security here and search the bags pretty thoroughly. They have some odd rules though and they are not universal. For example - no glass, no cans (even a metal water bottle or a metal spray sunscreen), plastic bottles are okay. BUT if you buy a plastic bottle of coca-cola from the on-site vendors they will sometimes give you the bottle and sometimes not. For certain they WILL NOT give you the cap and signs say this is for security reasons. But if you bring in your own plastic bottle of soda or water, the cap is okay. And this is a dry track. No alcohol AT ALL inside. They sell coffee, water, soda, juices and non-alcoholic beer.

It's warm again today but like yesterday a nice breeze came up in the afternoon which made sitting in the stands more tolerable. Serena's rider, Dani Pedrosa, led nearly half the race but ended up coming in 3rd. It was a good race day with no dramatic crashes in any of the races. Attendance Sunday of 99,873.

Got to re-watch the race on the TV at Nou Tropical while we had dinner. We would have done this probably anyway on Jeff's computer because you get different camera angles but now we won't. Tonight is packing because tomorrow we catch a train to Barcelona and meet up with our friends Robin and Larry. YAY! They arrived a few days ago and together we'll head up to do some hiking in the Pyrenees. Jeff and I will spend the last week of June in Barcelona.

A nighttime view from our hotel window.

In this photo you can see three sets of K-rails down the street along the food truck lane.

This guy came back and forth through doing a stoppie in each section of road between the k-rails.

The guy in red was very good at tricks. At the end of the video is a guy burning out his tires.

All the circles on the street are from people burning out their tires and drifting at the same time.

This is the start of the Moto3 race. The line of bikes will stretch out as the race continues.

We're in Spain now so here's a show of blue in support of on of the Spanish riders.