We woke up to some consistent rain this morning, which was a bit of a concern given that we would be spending the entire day at the Sachsenring race track. Thankfully, by the time we were leaving for the track, the weather had cleared up and stayed rain free for the entire day.
By the time we got to the track, the 125cc race was underway, and nearly all the seats were completely filled (as were most of the decent standing spots!). This was quite impressive as the Indianapolis race we went to last year got filled up much later in the day. Obviously Europeans take their motorcycle racing far more seriously, just as we'd thought. Despite each race lasting nearly an hour, the 125cc and the Moto2 races went by in the blink of an eye. Before long, we were getting ready for the premier race: the MotoGP class.
Our seats provided us with a view of approximately 3 different turns which was great for following the action. Boy, there was a lot of action, too. This was Valentino Rossi's first race back after a displaced tibia fracture less than 6 weeks ago. It was unbelievable to see that while he still needs a cane to walk, he was still extremely competitive during the race. He and Casey Stoner were having a battle for 3rd place for about 20 laps. Finally, in the last turn, Casey Stoner made the final pass and finished in 3rd place.
Unfortunately, the race wasn't without incident as an accident involving 3 riders occurred right in front of us. Most were uninjured, except for Randy DuPuniet who fractured his leg, and naturally, was unable to continue. The crowd in the stands is definitely far more involved in the race than in North America. There was much more applause and cheering as well as collective concern for any riders involved in a crash, big or small.
As was the case yesterday, leaving the track was a bit of a challenge. Today we left the stands as soon as the race ended, and were probably one of the earlier folks to arrive at the parking lot. However, we found that we still sat around in our car for about an hour before we even started moving to leave the parking lot itself. 2 hours later, we had made it back to the hotel! Talking to one of the locals, he mentioned that the parking and traffic situation regarding leaving the track was the worst he had seen in 10 years.
All in all, this was a fantastic experience and we will certainly look to doing this again. Perhaps next time in Spain or Italy, the meccas of motorcycle racing.
Entering the Sachsenring GP:
Us in our seats:
Start of the MotoGP race through the first 2 corners:
Re-start of the MotoGP race through the first 2 corners. That is Mikka Kallio crashing in the back of the pack:
