Portugal is one of the world’s sunniest places – except when MotoGP comes to town anyway. Toby Moody gives us the inside track on which are the best corners of Estoril to start your own little allotment growing potatoes…
The weather on Friday and Saturday…
So much for Portugal being one of the sunniest places in the world… It was miserable for the second race in a row on Friday, but little were we to know that Saturday would be worse (see Andrea Dovizioso fighting the rain-soaked conditions, above), eventually causing the cancellation of qualifying. On Saturday morning, there were 19 Moto2 bike crashes in just two laps of practice, meaning people didn't get their bikes back because the wrecker truck was just full! It had to do drop-offs as quick as it could, but for some they didn't get back to the pits in time leaving them without a decent lap.
Toby Moody
… produces perfect vegetable-growing conditions
Photographer Martin Heath said that the light out on-track was less than it is at Qatar when lit under the floodlights. The satellite feed got broken, meaning no pictures were going to the outside world, and so the TV viewers missed Scott Redding sliding off out of the final corner, dumping himself onto the grass (which was mud, really) and slipping along on his stomach with his arms and legs in the air. Unfortunately it wasn’t missed by everyone, and caused the greatest round of applause in the press office! Mechanics were cleaning bodywork non-stop between sessions as their multi-million-dollar bikes got filthy enough almost to grow potatoes in. Some mechanics even had to resort to wearing trousers, although Brent Stephens, Yamaha mechanic to Valentino Rossi, said it was “only because his shorts were dirty”. Yeah, right Brent.
Necessity is the mother of inventive fashion
Perhaps the only people happy to see the rain were the carbon-fibre suppliers, their pens hovering over invoices in expectation of crashes. However, one stylish journalist was also thinking ahead. Yes, Hunter wellies (ie Wellington boots, the rubber knee-high rainwear first pioneered by 19th-century English war hero the Duke of Wellington) made their debut in the press office – in lilac. Only an Italian would be so bold.
Toby Moody
Order the change has a race been in there
With Portugal an hour behind the rest of Europe (except the UK), the order of the races was changed so that the MotoGP thrash would still be at the regular time of 1400 CET. Moto2 was first, then MotoGP and 125. For a commentary, it is always weird to start with the middle, do the end, then finish at the beginning, and there is still only one way to remember the order – pen and tape. At least Sunday was brighter than Saturday and the screen wasn't so bright in the booth.
Let us grow up, not blow up
Estoril played host to the most amazing MotoGP race in 2006, with Toni Elias romping through from 11th on the grid, eventually winning after a drag race to the line and pipping Valentino Rossi by 0.002 seconds. It's great to see that the circuit organisers have realised their place in the history books, by blowing up the actual photo finish picture that was used to confirm Elias had won it by the width of a tyre. Reproduced life size, the picture dwarfed me as I measured what two-thousandths of a second actually look like.
Toby Moody
Pedro chooses the service option
Celebs always appear at Estoril. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and tennis legend Roger Federer have graced the paddock with their presence in the past, but this year it was downhill mountain bike world champion Greg Minnaar, 1987 500cc world champion Wayne Gardner, and three-time 125cc champion from 1962, '64 and '66, Luigi Taveri. But perhaps the most humble of visitors was Portuguese Le Mans driver and former F1 driver Pedro Lamy, whom I bumped into on Saturday. I asked if he had the right passes for race day, but he was cool with just watching from the service road, right up close. Always a racer, not one for plush hospitality. Fair play, Pedro…
A sideshow to the action
Last but not least, Ducati team manager Vito Gaureschi and Italian TV commentator Guido Meda are now racing each other... for the sideburn world championship title. I just had to take the picture…
Want more?
- For the bigger picture on the whole event in Portugal visit our MotoGP Estoril event page
- Read the previous MotoGP Inside Line from Australia
- Visit our event page for the next and final race of the season in Valencia
Toby Moody
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