Indy GP spectator report

Short report

Ran over Thursday morning on my trusty GS750EC (1978)
with some buds. Did the paddock walk which was OK
for what it was but paddock was nearly as tightly locked
as any GP in Yurp. Crew flushed us out at the end and
forced Bozo, just 12 days from total knee replacement,
to walk the length of pit lane instead of going back
out the way we came in. Pigs.

Friday was a mess and tons of fun in the rain. Stands
were pretty full for raining and a Friday, reportedly 30k
people. Practice was fun to watch as always and my
fears about Indy car turns 1 and 2 where proved unfounded
when a number of folks went off in the rain at 1 and
never came closer than 100 yards to the wall. Indy 2
I didn't see anybody fall and it might be slightly closer
but riders didn't overly complain that I know of.

Saturday was brilliant. Rossi on pole and Lorenzo taking
front row from Hayden on the last few seconds.

Saturday night was brillianter. Carr over Coolbeth in
the last yards after two red flags (injury free thanks
Zeus). Short interviews with KR Sr and Nick H.
Spectacular sunset off to the west. Only thing missing
was the fair which always added a bit to the spectacle.
Amy the Wonder Wife, little Mark, and I cruised the
(air conditioned!) horse barns for an hour after to give
Amy her fix and let traffic subdue. They had driven
over in time for the race. The *smallest* barn (sheep) we
cruised was big enough for a short track. Dang.

Saturday back at camp, there was a bonfire a couple
hundred yards away and there were minibikes going
around it in circles. Then a 55 gal drum appeared and
the circles became ovals, full lock slides, no helmets
or long pants or boots, just full brainless fun. It was
going to end badly.

Then four Indy police showed up on quads about 12:30.
All clad in helmets and riot gear. They took a slow lap
around the bonfire as the minibike dudes disappeared into
the night. Then another lap around the whole oval. Then
the race was on! One got a wheel inside another at
"turn 1" and ran over the other cop's foot, got completely
sideways, and highsided at low speed. The other two
came flying by the front straight drafting and the crowd
went back to having a good ole time.

I got to sleep around 2.

Sunday started out fair with weather reports that were
apocalyptic. All sorts of rumors about 90 mph winds
and 2-3 inches of rain. We parked within 200 yards
of the south entrance in an industrial complex for 20
bucks.

You've heard the stories about the race and I have but
a couple things to add. Hayden's foot is broken but
he was riding the wheels off the beast. Except for
Rossi and maybe Lorenzo, everybody else looked
like they were just surviving and tiptoeing around.
Rossi was his normal masterful self.

At the end, the airfence in Indy car 2 lifted off, as did
the Yamaha spectator display tarp. Holy crap.
We exited as did most everybody else. Then we
were forced to go the exact way that the Indy
cops had decided to make us. That meant that
we were on a freeway (I-64) in 15 minutes, total,
from when we left our seat. Cool.

The GS came home on Will's trailer so I could
drive Amy and Mark home. There was no gas
from Dayton to Mansfield! No electricity. We
finally had to stop, figuring we'd wait (with 80 others)
at the gas station at Rt 13 until there was electricity
rather than run out. We'd been there 5 minutes when
a guy came and started to unlock the door of the
still dark station. He told us there was gas 3 miles
up Rt 13 which we managed to beat everybody else
to and filled up. Home by 10:30.

Group sales will be getting a call from me regarding
next year.


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.

 

I heard a few, and they said T5 (I2) needs to be changed next year,
too close. They also said T2-4 needs work - drainage and maybe new
pavement for grip. I was surprised not to hear anything about T1,
which looked less than great to my eye, particularly air fence
placement - it seemed like a rider going down under straight-line
braking (a la Dani in Germany) might miss it entirely and go right
into the wall. I was only there for about 45 minutes at the end of
first practice, though, and guys seemed to be taking it slow still.

What surprised me was the final turn setup, and pleasantly. I thought
that would have been pretty bad and was reported to be very slow, but
it was no problem safety-wise (not even air fence on the outer wall)
and it seemed faster than T4. Good job.

Yep, great sessions, and so many guys at the top of the heap at
various points.

I was a bit farther than that, but I figured my Fri-Sat yard spot
would go for about $50, so I went to another area a couple blocks out
that was posted at $15 and charged me $10. The guy said I could almost
certainly park on the street in the neighborhood there for nothing.
Seemed like the local leeches expected more folks.

Stoner and Dovizioso were pretty good as well, and Spies of course,
who seemed steadier than anyone except maybe Rossi. Pedrosa started
well but faded. The rest were way off pace but Vermeulen and Guintoli
worked through together and were on the 4th-6th pace much of the race,
and caught Pedrosa after being far down. Good multi-rider fight
downfield as usual, but the top seven really broke away early. Hayden
was a surprise, given how he struggled in the wet on Friday. The other
thing was the pace on Sunday - in the final section of the track the
guys looked like they were going as fast as on Saturday in the dry,
until the wind and rain kicked up. Shows how incredibly good those
rains are when there isn't standing water.

That happened after the stoppage, right? My impression was that they
stopped it because of general conditions, but that impacted any chance
of a restart. I was down in Indy 4, so didn't see any real problems.
Beside the hurricane, that is...

They sure got us out of the immediate area quickly, but not in the
right direction for me and my effort to circle back along with others
got me into bad traffic miles from the track. I ended up circling out
by Raceway Park in order to get on the right road, took a long time.

Definitely worth the trip. And it's nice to have two events over here
that are so different in so many ways - track, crowd, town, weather,
support classes, everything. Night and day.

 

Based on sitting there a lot, it's a little iffy and needs some
improvement in drainage mostly. On the other hand, the
track equipment (gas turbines?) did an incredible job
drying the track.

Mine too until FP1. Then I watched a number of
folks go off there and not get anywhere close to the
airfence. Rossi twice - though without crashing.

They are used to 200k for Nascar or the 500. That
level of interest is not going to happen for motorcycles
in the US.

Correct. The red came out. The Yamaha tarp lifted off. And
the airfence lifted off. In that order and all within 1.5 - 2
minutes.

IRP? First place I learned not to pop up above the fairing right
away when you are braking from 165 mph. Wait until you
are going slow enough that the wind won't slap your helmet
into your face.

Good selection of parking is probably important. My buddies
that stayed at the campground at Georgetown and 30th said
it was an hour before they could get out of the lot.

Didja make it to the mile? It was the highlight of the weekend.


Go fast. Take chances.
Mike S.