Yesterday my partner and I did a day trip to Birmingham for the motorcycle exhibit. We spent the day exploring the many options, realistic and non-realistic, for our future life on 4 wheels, 2+2 that is. However, regardless of how much we would like to have a CCM each, we’re not going to afford it. Christopher is very fond of the Royal Enfields and I’m biased towards the Ducatis but the V Strom is also very appealing. The Herald might be within our reach if we could find a secondhand one, which seems next to impossible. In the end, I think that a decent second hand Honda 125 CB or a Yamaha 125 YBR is what we’ll end up with, the market is full of them, we just need to find the right one.
The highlight of the day was to meet Derek Mansfield at the Overland stand and hear him talk about his new book “Notes from the Road”. The book is what it says, and looks like his own notebook, just with an edited interior. It was so interesting to hear him explain the process of making it; because his memory is unpredictable he got a notebook from his wife when he set out on his latest trip. While riding from England to Ukraine, he recorded his thoughts and reflections about the people he met, this became the book. He said that the publisher had compared his book to Marmite, you either love it or hate it. I must confess that I hate Marmite, but I love his book. It is an amazing read and it’s totally unlike any other motorbike adventure book I have ever read!
Another thing we enjoyed was to see the current British Champion in trail, Dan Thorpe, show his skills on the obstacle course. He made it seem so easy, which just shows how good he is. Apart from this, we looked for winter riding trousers, asked about insurance, learn how to find out if a secondhand bike is stolen and entered lots of free competitions. On the train home, I fell asleep almost instantly. It had been a very good day!
I’m amazed to find this “thank you” letter from the Australian GP corporation in my letter box, it has authentic signatures, not photocopied. We were 500 marshals. I’m impressed! It also shares some statistic from the race, such as the number of overtakings between the top 4 riders in the GP category, 52 (!) and the number of lead changes, 12 (!). Apart from this they prais our work as marshals and wants us back for next year, if only I could, I had the time of my life!
Today, I woke up to a rainy London. Just some days ago it was spring, the weather was nice and warm. Now it feels like I lost a summer, time travel can do that to you; take time, give time, change the season. On a more positive note, I got my life’s longest birthday, I saw 4 movies and listened to the complete recording of Terry Pratchett’s “Thief of Time”. The book of choice was a bit ironic since I was actually given back the time that was taken from me on my journey Down Under. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. It all started 3 weeks ago – I was heading out to a WIMA rally. Normally, for me, this takes a week or so. This time it only took 26 hours or two days, depending on how you regard the time-travelling issue, of course. So I must say that despite being on the opposite site of the globe, with regards to time, the journey was one of the shortest.
When I arrived at the airport and queued for customs I met Keiko, her flight from Japan had just landed. We were met by Liv from South Australia and we were to pick up Syl as well, arriving from the USA just an hour later. Our immediate destination was Phillip Island’s Moto GP circuit, where we would meet Moira, WIMA Australia’s national president and the organiser of the WIMA rally. Soon, yet another lot of WIMAs from around the world would arrive – the pre-rally event and our marshal experience was about to start.
Marshals mustering in the muster shed
On the Thursday we were equipped with our orange overalls and trained in how to recover bikes and safety measures around the track. On Friday, at dawn, we started working. There are a lot more things going on at the circuit than is shown on TV so we were on post from early morning until late afternoon and it was a busy day.
Early morning at the Doohan corner
Recovered debris
From our post in Doohan’s corner, turn 1 at the gravel trap immediately after the straight, we recovered 3 crashed bikes that day and we tried to push start another one on the other side, at Stoner’s corner. The adrenalin that gets pumping when you see a crash and run out there to recover the bike and, if necessary, the injured rider (didn’t happen on our corner, luckily) is a great reminder of what your body is capable of, how fast and strong you can be when you need it. No doubt, despite all safety measures, there is a real danger going out there and we were constantly reminded never to turn our backs to the track – one crash can be followed by another. This proved true for us, we had just returned from recovering a bike when another crashed and we had to go out again. All this action led me to believe that the weekend was going to continue like this but the worst drama was already over. On Saturday, there were two more crashes in our corner but nothing as dramatic. My marshal colleague Chris got to help one of the Aussie riders to recover his bike, which was exciting but not dramatic. On Sunday, we expected more crashes, especially during qualifying because they push so hard and during the first lap of the race. I was so sure that there would be one if not a few bikes coming off in our corner at the start of the Moto 3 race: they are travelling in a pack, slipstreaming and it’s a large grid. However, my prediction failed and we didn’t have a single recovery that day. But don’t think that our day lacked excitement, not even for one minute. We were always on guard but could, nevertheless, enjoy the race very close up. Besides, our spot had a TV screen so we could follow the race all the way through the track just to turn around and watch the real action when the bikes raced down the straight. Since the track banks so much in our corner, the bikes disappear completely out of sight when they lean in at high speed. I can’t provide any pictures illustrating the action since, obviously, no phones or cameras are allowed when bikes are on the track. In one of the breaks we managed to get organised for a group shot with all the “trackies” in our sector, i.e. the Doohan corner.
We make orange look good! (Photo courtesy: Julio La Monica)
The Moto GP race deserves special mention here. It was, probably because of the first-hand view, one of the most exciting races I have seen. We had talked amongst ourselves about who we wanted to see on the podium and concluded that to see Rossi up there would be great but also that it would be nice if something unexpected happened. As it turned out, Iannone, who is a favourite of mine, was leading in the beginning of the race and the battle was hard. We were following the action first hand on the screen and live – twisting and turning back and forth. We were all very animated and at one point I thought, are we allowed to be this emotional?!? But it was just not possible to hold back the excitement. In addition, I was wearing the radio and could hear the communication about what was happening on other parts of the track, i.e. what to do with the poor seagull that had collided with Iannone, riders that came off, or went wide in different corners – things that were not shown on TV which gave an extra dimension to the experience.
So close that we could smell the champangne! (Photo courtesy Chris O’Connor)Interview with Chris Vermuelen in the background, he used to be the rain God, I loved to wath him on a rainy race, great to see that he is still in the business. (Photo courtesy: Chris O’Connor)
At the end of the race, the spectators invaded the track and everyone wanted to get close to the podium. Chris had already told me about his routine to quickly return and use the marshal privileges to get in front of the crowd and next to the podium. So, as soon as we were off duty, we headed back and experienced the atmosphere by the podium. We were so close that we could inspect the bikes up front, see the tyre wear and hear the engine when they were started up and formally inspected. After this, we hung around in the paddock and spotted more riders and watched the teams pack up. It is amazing how quickly they dissemble their garages, pack up and leave.
I always wanted to get a closer look at the bikes – dreams come true!
Packing up is done within the hour after the race is finished.
Loris Capirossi was invited for an interview in the muster shed, one of many interviews arranged as a treat for us marshals. He also signed caps. As a former Ducati rider I thought I’d claim his authograph, he signed all the caps automatically. When he signed mine I said “Grazie mile!”, for this I recieved a surprised and warm smile.
Moira recieved an award for 10 years of service. I’m so happy to have shared this moment!
We finished the day in the marshals’ muster shed with beer and stories, then campfire at the marshal campsite, more beer and more stories. Then: sunburnt, slightly drunk, very tired but extremely happy – zonk, zzzzzz. Up next, WIMA rally Australia!
Campfire and wind down
Finally, I want to express my gratitude to Moira who made this pre-rally happen. This was a unique experience that I will treasure for the rest of my life and I will try my best to come back and do it again.
Lastly, thanks to Chris, my marshal colleague and mentor, who told me the tricks about how to get the best value out of the special status that the marshal vest gives and the great photos of me by the podium. I envy you Chris, you can do this every year!
The highlight of the day was to meet Derek Mansfield at the Overland stand and hear him talk about his new book “Notes from the Road”. The book is what it says, and looks like his own notebook, just with an edited interior. It was so interesting to hear him explain the process of making it; because his memory is unpredictable he got a notebook from his wife when he set out on his latest trip. While riding from England to Ukraine, he recorded his thoughts and reflections about the people he met, this became the book. He said that the publisher had compared his book to Marmite, you either love it or hate it. I must confess that I hate Marmite, but I love his book. It is an amazing read and it’s totally unlike any other motorbike adventure book I have ever read!
