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Roving
Reporters Dave and Wes Booth hit the German MotoGP,
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and
top their 2005 season off with a visit to Roby Rolfo's
home! |
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A
very relaxed Roby Rolfo shows Wes around his
garage. |
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My
summer vacation was planned around visiting the German
GP and stopping over to meet up with my East German
friend Jeff and his wife Martina. My plans were altered
somewhat though when Roby Rolfo invited my two sons
Wesley and Joel, along with my missus Janice and myself,
over to Italy to join him and his friends for a Summer
“Bash” at the restaurant Pizzeria del
Pino in the town of Chieri in Northern Italy. Brilliant!!!!!
This event was to take place during the racers summer
break, so, straight after the German GP we were to
motor down to Italy for our rendezvous. |
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I
had booked an Ibis Hotel in Dresden for us to stay
in for our time at the race, and although this was
an hours drive to the circuit, it provided Jan and
Joel a base in which to explore this famous old city
whilst Wes and I were at the GP. |
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We
flew to Berlin airport and picked up a rental car
for our holiday. I had purchased a Tom Tom sat nav
system from eBay to help me navigate across Europe;
this really was worth every penny! How did we ever
manage before these systems were available?! |
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By
the time we were settled into the hotel it became
apparent that we could not make the Friday qualifying
and so chilled out in one of the many out door restaurants
that abound in this historic town. The weather was
perfect and the “steins” of Blonde beer
were going down famously. As we strolled back to our
hotel later that night the mellow ambiance that was
aglow, was replaced by Donner und Blitzen (Thunder
and Lightening). First we had to shelter in a door
way, then when the time was right……run
for it!!!! It’s amazing how fast one can run
when you don’t want to get wet! |
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| Breakfast
was served from 6am, so Wes and I were able to eat before
we left for the track. |
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We arrived at the circuit around 7.30am; we
located our seats in the tribune (Grandstand),
had a good nosey around the rest of the public
areas and then headed for the paddock. I was
concerned whether Chaz would be racing this
event, for I had read in the Motor Cycle News
that he was still beaten up from crashing
on all three days of the Donington GP and
that it was doubtful if he was fit enough
to ride. My concerns were put to rest, for
at this circuit there is a bulletin board
on show, which is updated after each practice
session. Chaz’s name was down as a |
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| qualifier
in the 250’s for the Friday session. |
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The
weather on this Saturday was glorious; all
the rain that fell the previous night had
dried up and it was becoming a scorcher. I
was looking out for Mike Di Meglio to thank
him for allowing Wes to sit astride his race
bike at Donington and we spotted him in the
Kopron Hospitality area. We had a good chat
and he offered me his e-mail for me to keep
in touch. I wrote this down on an envelope
and had it all holiday, now that I am back
in the UK I cannot find it… bugger!!!!!
...or words to that effect! Wes and I spectated
from several different close
vantage positions |
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within the paddock compound this day and were able
to take many good pictures of all classes un molested.
I contacted Chaz’s mum and arranged to meet
up with her during lunch time. We had a great chat
and had a good insight into Chaz’s health and
aspirations for this home GP for the Aprillia Germany
Team. Peter and Chaz appeared and discussions as to
the bike/ team set up were lengthy and interesting. |
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Wes
and I are always welcome at the Carrera Hospitality
unit and as we were starving, we hurried over to see
Lucio and his sister. Of course Wes had his Carrera
team shirt on his back and I had the ever faithful
NSR World fabric stretched tight across my voluminous
girth. We ate a hearty lunch and I looked on in amazement
at the tiny portions of pasta that the riders ate.
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These
boys have to be like Jockeys to compete in today’s
ultra competitive GP racing. Roby’s motor
home was parked up next to Shakey Bryne’s
Winnebago and I was confused by all the fuss
and noise that was coming from beside Shakey’s
truck. I popped my head around to find out what
was happening, loads of blokes had gathered
and were pushing and shoving each other. This
was odd, for the Moto GP boys were out on track
right now. Phew! I soon found out. Shakey is
seeing the glamour model Jodie Marsh and she
was flaunting herself beside the trucks. Mmm!
Nice! Whoa, steady on Dave, you are here to
watch the racing, not ogle at “top shelf”
girls, control yourself!!!!!!! Lots of self
control later, I spoke with Roby and it was
confirmed that the dinner would take place on
the Tuesday after the race, “sorted!”
Wes and I continued to watch the days qualifying
and when this was all over we headed out of
the circuit and to a rendezvous with Jeff and
Martina at there home for dinner. |
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We
were up, ready and waiting, for the dining room to
open at 6am for breakfast on race day. We ate what
we could (I don’t have an appetite at 6am!)
and set off for the circuit. The traffic was heavy,
and as we approached the track we came to a standstill
on the motorway. It took us a fair amount of time,
but we eventually reached the track and parked our
car. The sun was shining and the air was fresh and
clean. |
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The atmosphere in the UK is always heavy and
full of moisture, but over on the continent
it is different. Wes and I took our seats in
the Tribune, this was positioned on the home
straight right at the finish line. |
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| As
an aside, whilst I remember, I don’t know
what it is with Germans, but they appear to be
in a fashion time warp. In the late 70s, here
in the UK, I can recall footballers wearing micro
shorts, having long flowing hair, and sporting
moustaches. Well that fashion is still strong
here in Germany! Women and men all wear ultra
short denim shorts, and where they get them from
is anybodies guess! Most men have “Super
Mario” style moustaches… uuughh! what
a turn off that must be for the ladies! The hair
style we call the “mullet” is de-rigeur
for the modern German male - and people say that
I have a weird dress sense!!!!! I am positively
in style! Right let’s get back to the action! |
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Before
the racing commenced, Colin Edwards stopped off at
our tribune and was armed with a pump action air cannon.
He filled the barrel with (what I assumed to be rolled
up tee shirts) and fired several salvos into the spectators.
I was unfortunate not to receive any of his free gifts,
but this fantastic gesture of his to the crowd has
made me think very highly of the man. |
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The
125 racing, as always was frantic and once again Pasini
threw it down the road and lost out on his lead in
the championship. Pogialli also “bit the dust”
and his stricken machine caused the race to be Red
flagged. Just at this time, Simoncelli was moving
up through the lead pack to make his assault for the
win. Whenever a race is halted due to a Red flag incident,
the final positions are calculated from the lap before
the stoppage which demoted him back to third. (I bet
he was gutted!) Mika Kallio came out the winner, with
Tom Luthi being awarded 2nd place. |
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The
Moto GP machines were out next, this format was being
used to accommodate TV coverage of some motor car
race else where. Although I LOVE the sound of two
strokes, the thunderous cacophony of these four strokes
has to be heard live to understand the desire to be
track side. My interest in this class is for Roby,
and as usual he qualified towards the back of the
grid. Roby always makes a good start though, and this
moved him up to mid pack. As the race unfolded Roby
was caught and passed by other riders and eventually
finished the race in 14th, scoring 2 points. |
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Wes
and I were positioned right level with the finish
line and this is situated at the crest of a rise out
of the last corner. As the race wore on I mentioned
to Wes that Robby’s clutch must be slipping,
for I could here the engine revs rise as he motored
on passed us down this straight. After the race I
mentioned this to Roby and his reply was astonishing!
It was not the clutch or engine that was causing problems,
it was the tyres. The tyres that Roby has to use were
developed for World Super Bikes and cannot take the
abuse that the Desmo Ducati gives them. By half distance
every race they are knackered - they just spin and
don’t provide enough traction. That is why I
assumed his clutch was slipping. Even more bizarre
is the fact that Roby ran out of fuel on the very
last lap at Laguna Seca USA GP (whilst in a points
scoring position), this was caused by the tyre spinning
and over revving the motor. The fuel tank size is
reduced for this season and the Ducatis are right
on the fuel limit at each GP. The WCM team do not
encounter this problem because their machines put
out less brutal horse power. Dunlop appear pleased
with Roby’s input and for each race they are
bringing their tyres forward. |
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The
250 event was Chaz’s race, he was placed mid
pack for the first few laps and then started to move
slowly forward. He was around the 10th position when
he encountered a mechanical problem; I witnessed
him going backwards for two laps, then saw him pull
into the box to retire. His problem was a cracked
sparkplug which caused his motor to misfire at high
revs. Poor old Chaz! This is definitely not his season,
another DNF! Wes and I have both signed up to a scheme
of donating monies to Chaz for every point that he
scores. We are contributing £1.00 per point
each, so far I have only paid Chaz £17.00. In
real terms this has not cost me anything to fret about,
but I would love to owe him £60, £70 or
£80ish. if any one would also like to join this
scheme, please contact me via e-mail at [email protected]
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| Well,
that just about finishes off the race report... buckle
up your seat belt, we have a long drive to Italy… |
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