Phillip Island
17-19 October 2014
The starting point for my ride south had been riding to the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island. If the truth be told, I was more interested in the ride than the races. So far, I'd not been disappointed.
That said, I enjoyed the weekend at the races much more than I expected and I'd do it again. The atmosphere in the campground was (mostly) pleasant — except for the unhappy drunk in the tent next to us whose maudlin disappointment with his treatment at the entertainment led him to practice burn outs on his Honda CB1300 at 2.30 am. Otherwise I marvelled at people who can afford to trash an entire rear tyre in a single session.
I enjoyed the intense competition of the Moto3 and the opportunity to watch the best riders in the world doing what they're best at. I wanted Marquez to win and was excited by his prowess in the race: every lap he inched further ahead and looked unbeatable. Until he fell off. We saw it from where we were sitting — just above where it happened. At the same time, I was pleased for Rossi who seemed immediately to step into Marquez' shoes and give the other riders a lesson in how to ride a motorcycle.
Other than that, I'm not going to say much about the races. Lots has been written, by better writers; many of you watched the races on the TV and probably got a better view than I did; and it's a while ago now.
For the benefit of the foodies, I can report that the food at the track was, shall we say, not of a high standard, in spite of the best efforts of the folks in the food van to do something interesting. As noted, beer was expensive, but not sufficiently so to force a weekend of abstinence. The culinary high point came when a mate of Jalalski's took us away from the circuit and into Cowes for a meal on the Friday night (Day 10). We ended up in a 'modern Asian restaurant' where I had something called Reconstructed Peking Duck which was really, really good. Pterodactyl got off to a bad start with his laksa as it was cold. He sent it back and, when it was replaced, with profuse apologies, I recall he said it was excellent.
My camera gave me its "Battery is exhausted" message before the big race. I hadn't made adequate arrangements to recharge it, so there aren't too many photos, but I'll share some of them. In any event, it's but a point and click number so not really up to the task of good race photos. I've included others courtesy of Jalalski.
When I crawled out of my tent on the first morning, this is what I saw
I could see this too. I find it odd to go to a live event and then watch it on a screen
Practice: I think that's Marquez at the rear
Left to right: Dani Pedrosa, Karel Abraham, Aleix Espargo
The corner furthest away is where Marquez came off
A lovely place for a race track, although that's about the direction the really awful weather can come from
Note the absence of the brake lever. The bike had been adapted for a one-handed rider
The following shots are of bikes in the 'Show and Shine'.
This Indian was to do a lap of honour before the races on the Sunday to mark 100 years of GP races in Australia
Back in the great outdoors
At a tent near us, a woman had invented a technique for catching seagulls. She'd filed the barb off a fish hook and trailed it with some bait on the ground. Seagulls, being terrible scavengers couldn't resist. By keeping the weight on the line once they'd bitten, she was able to catch them and decorate them with soluble hair paint. The sight of fluorescent seagulls cruising the edges of the circuit must have caused many a substance abuser to wonder whether she'd had enough.
As an aside, this woman had ridden with a group from Cairns in far north Queensland, a 3,000 plus km ride that made my efforts pale into insignificance.
Another rear tyre turns to smoke
Sunset at Phillip Island
The Indian rides again
Marquez before he came off at the right hander in the bottom of the shot
This CB1300 was the one that did its best to demolish a rear tyre at 0217 or thereabouts. The rider went home leaving his tent for anyone who wanted it.
That's the end of the Cormanus collection of Phillip Island photos. The following shots are some of the many taken by Jalalski.
Behind where we sat on race day was a motocross. Jalalski got some great shots of that.
Pterodactyl and Cormanus hatching a plan
