2006 MotoGP Laguna Seca

July 2006

This was my first time attending a MotoGP event, and all I can say is WOW.  I had originally planned on purchasing a package deal which included air fare, lodging, and meals, but the organizer had a family emergency and had to cancel.  Fearing I wouldn't be able to make the trip, I posted a message up on the message board at www.1000rr.net to see if anyone knew of other travel packages, and to my surprise someone offered to let me join them at their campsite.  I worked out the details and met another board member at the San Jose air port, chipped in my portion of the rental car, and off we went.  The internet is a wonderful thing.

I fully expected to "rough it" since we were camping after all, but to my surprise Frank, the camp site owner, was a pro.  We had steak, ribs, grilled chicken, pasta salad, mashed potatoes, garlic bread, sub sandwiches, you name it.  All meals and beverages were provided.  Frank brought is 33' motor home and two 3 man tents, so there was plenty of room for everybody.  He even brought extra pillows and blankets for those that forgot.  Not only did Frank provide better meals than I eat at home, he was an excellent chef to boot with everything being cooked to perfection.  He even had tubs for us to stand on and padding for the top of the fence so that we had an unobstructed view of the race from his site.  Thanks a million Frank!

After arriving at the track on Wednesday, July 19, we joined Frank and his son Brandon at a staging area.  Apparently the staff at the Mazda Raceway learned a lesson or two from last year's gaggle, and began staging folks a day or two early.  We camped at the staging area the first night to insure a good parking spot for the motor home when they opened the gates the following morning at 7am.  That first night we sat around getting to know one another better, and Brandon kept us all laughing until we hit the sack.  I'd bet there were motor homes for a mile waiting to get in.  One thing I saw, was this sign warning of explosives??!!  Apparently this whole area used to be a bomb testing area for the military.

The next morning we got up at the crack of dawn to prepare to move through the gate.  Again, the Mazda Raceway put last year's lessons to good use and let folks through 5 at a time to keep there from being an all out melee.  This worked well, and in no time we were at our spot which had a great view of the track.  When we first arrived, it was pretty desolate as Frank was one of the first in line, but that quickly changed and soon it was a sea of motor homes.  The weather was nice and comfortable, but little did I know what was to come.  I'd just left the 100+ temps of Nashville, TN thinking I had escaped the heat to a nice 80 degree vacation in Cali.  Boy was I wrong.

On Thursday we went down to help the Galfer rep setup his vendor booth and met Sandro from Galfer.  Great guy.  Once we made quick work of setting up the booth, we wandered around the paddock and vendor areas crowd free.  There were some cool products on display, and I was really diggin' this motorized cooler.  It actually had room for drinks and ice in a separate compartment from the motor. 

Some of the AMA racers were already at the paddock and with there being few folks out and about, they were much more relaxed and willing to get pictures with us.  Ben Spies, in the shot with yours truly below, was a very laid back guy.  Although I'm a Honda man at heart, I'm really rooting for Ben to win the Superbike championship this year.

I also saw the large satellite equipment used to broadcast the races.  These things were huge with cables running all over the place.  I wonder how much equipment gets damaged at each race?

On Friday things started to fall into place.  More people were showing up at the track, riders and fans alike.  I saw Earl Hayden in the paddock talking to his son Roger.  The Honda busses arrived.  The one below was rumored to be Miguel Duhamel's, with a black 2006 1000RR strapped to the back.  I have no way to confirm that rumor but got my pic with the bus just in case.  We also saw Kevin Schwanz as well as a number of custom bikes.  Tech inspections were also taking place as well as rider interviews.

Friday afternoon I made a walk around the track and through the manufacturer's area.  The track had a nice eating area with great Brazilian coffee.  Honda had a really nice display with cars, bikes, and Nicky Hayden's 2005 RC211V.  That bike is just a work of art.  I also headed up to the Repsol Hospitality tent to say hello to Ignacio, and to grab a bottle of water as the temperature had really started to climb.  I'd guess mid 90's easily which I was told is unusual for that area.

At the Repsol Hospitality tent there was a closed circuit TV system to watch the action, plenty of complimentary food, water, and Red Bull.  There was also a large display of Honda 1000RR Repsol Edition bikes, not to mention umbrella girls.  I also got the heads up that Nicky Hayden would be making an appearance later that day, which is something I wasn't about to miss.  Nicky is just as humble and laid back in person as he seems in his interviews.  I was really surprised at what a nice guy he was.  I believe he's even visited this web site as he seemed to know who I was when Ignacio introduced me to him.  I can't thank Ignacio, and Repsol, enough for the Hospitality tent passes....it was a very top notch deal.

On Saturday it got extremely crowded and HOT.  The temps were somewhere around 105 - 110 degrees in the shade.  I drank water until I was sick of it.  I went down and bought a few souvenirs (ignore the Rossi shirt, that's for my girl who's a fan), and could not believe the sea of people, nor the heat.  I bet I heard 5 or 6 ambulance sirens coming to get folks that had fallen out from heat stroke.  Mental note to self, next year do all the shopping on Friday before the masses arrive.  Needless to say, I spent most of my time hanging out at the camp site with the other guys.  Everyone in the group photo below is from 1000RR.NET.  From left to right would be me, Chris (aka Probuzz), Frank (aka RepsolGuy), and Jose' (aka Repsol_Mojo).  All were great guys and we had a blast all weekend. 

There was an autograph session at the Honda tent, but was already closed by the time I worked my way through the crowd.  I did catch some quick shots of Zemke, Duhamel, and Hayes though.

Ex-Racer Randy Mamola was the pilot of this Ducati, flying around Laguna with the back end sliding all over the place and wheelieing out of turns.  Mamola was hitting speeds of around 140 - 150 MPH with that passenger on the back.  I'd have loved to do that ride, but it was quite expensive to participate (I'm talking thousands of dollars here).  For the remainder of the afternoon we watched the racing action, and played around on the toys Frank brought.

Sunday arrived with a vengeance.  The temps quickly soared into the 100s, causing the track officials to re-write the day's schedule.  Originally there were supposed to be some AMA races in the morning, with the MotoGP at 2pm, then more AMA races in the afternoon after MotoGP.  Track officials became concerned due to the track actually breaking up in spots due to the record breaking high temps, so they postponed all morning races and moved them to after the 2pm MotoGP race.  The official track temp at 2pm was 102 degrees when the MotoGP started, but I heard it was 114 degrees in the Buell pit in the shade.  Below are a few sample images I captured during the qualifying and race.  For more, visit my Photography page.

Hayden won the race after a battle from the second row and did a great job.  I was already a Hayden fan, but after meeting the guy in person and seeing how humble and appreciative he is of his fans, I am even more so.  I had to do a couple of victory laps around the camp area to celebrate.

I had a great time at Laguna, and plan on attending next year.  Even the extreme heat couldn't spoil such a great weekend of being absorbed into a motorcycle mecca.  It was exactly what the Dr. ordered.

-Speedy

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