After 13 races, 4 continents, 10 countries, 48 flights, 4 ferry journeys, and a train ride. It was time to pack my bag for the last time and take my final four flights of the 2014 MotoGP season. I had been looking forward to the Valencia…
From the cool of Melbourne, it was on to the heat and humidity of Malaysia, for the Malaysian Grand Prix at the Sepang Circuit. Clare and I arrived in Malaysia on Tuesday evening. For our first two nights, we had decided to stay…
At this point, I have to come clean and confess that Cal Crutchlow’s crash on the penultimate lap of the race was my fault. With a lap to go, Stephen and I started to walk back to the paddock to photograph the podium...
I travelled into the track on Friday and Saturday with The O’Stig in full race mode both days, pushing the little Panda to its limits on the tight twisty roads between Beceite and Alcañiz. Before announcing our arrival into the circuit car park with a nice handbrake slide towards the parking space.
I had been looking forward to going to Silverstone, but not because it’s a great track to photograph. I was looking forward to it as I was able to pack everything into my own car, catch a ferry to Liverpool and drive down. No airport hassles, no hire cars, and no language barriers.
The worst part of any MotoGP weekend is, without a doubt, the travelling. Sitting around airports is monotonous, especially when travelling alone. No matter how meticulously you prepare, something will almost certainly come along and throw a spanner in the works.
Sitting down to write about Catalunya has proven difficult. As far as Grand Prix weekends go it went without a hitch. I did have a minor problem with the GPS when I arrived in Barcelona. I entered the coordinates to my hotel and it came up with an address in Zaragoza 5 hours away.
When the calendar for the 2014 MotoGP season was announced one race immediately jumped out, Mugello. This would probably not be for the reason that everyone would assume after all Mugello is one of the most popular races on the calendar. It stood out as it was bang in the middle of the Isle of Man TT races.
Le Mans is a legendary name in motorsport best known for the 24-hour car race. The Bugatti Circuit layout used for MotoGP only utilises a small section of the famous old circuit but it still has huge appeal for the fans, the vast majority of whom choose to camp.
The bags were soon packed and I was ready and looking forward to Jerez but the fickle Manx weather had other ideas. When I arrived at the airport in the Isle of Man it was a beautiful sunny day: an hour and a half later and a thick blanket of fog had settled over the airport.
As part of my planning for the year, I had discussed with my partner Clare which races we could incorporate into a holiday. Right away Austin jumped out, particularly when Clare realised its proximity to New Orleans, a city she had wanted to visit for years.
Imagine if just for once you didn’t have to stick to your usual 9 to 5 job. Instead, you were able to do the one job you’ve always wanted to do but any numbers of things (it’s usually money) have stood in the way. This is exactly the situation I found myself in 6 months ago...