Contrary to my notion that European MotoGP races begin on Star and Ten Sports at about 2:15 in the afternoon, my alarm clock went off at five am. I was already awake, of course. Outside the double glazed windows of my hotel rooms, I could hear the cool silence of Valencia broken repeatedly by the howls of big mobike engines and, now and then, police sirens. Below, on the pavements, were innumerable motorcycles, all with some kind of luggage mounted. Welcome to the carnival.
It is still dark when we head out to the circuit. Our bus driver, Luis, speaks no English, but manages to explain that while the circuit is only 20 minutes away, on race days it can take up to four hours, depending on how many turn up. Ten minutes later, our bus is stuck in traffic. All around, you can spot Dani Pedrosa’s colours, Rossi’s colours and motorcycles. The bikes filter past the cagers and buses with contemptuous ease. Now and then,a smiling face in a helmet nods, acknowledging my rueful expression – they’re out there and I’m stuck inside.
For today, I have no press pass, just a 120 Euro ticket, courtesy of Honda. I head towards my designated stand, looking for my gate, my sector, my entrance and my seat. Much as I’d like to believe it’s free seating, it isn’t. Tip – in Europe, carry a newspaper or lots of tissues to racetracks. The seats are always soaking wet from the dew. We have good seats, taking in half the braking area into turn one, through the apex to the exit, before the motorcycles dwindle, sometimes crossed up into turn two. Valencia, thankfully, is the closest racetracks come to looking like a stadium, and you can see at least 80 per cent of the track from all the stands. The walk to the seat is punctuated by the smells of frying meat, the bustle at the numerous official merchandise shops with their Gucci/Prada prices and the early gourmands who are already lining up at the pizza, paella and sandwich stalls. The car-borne savvy ones carry a stack of coolers full of soda or beer into the arena, as the security staff quickly and efficiently weed out all the open containers.
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