Our mole on the inside of MotoGP took shelter in the comfort of the Phillip Island paddock as the riders tried not to let the Australian GP blow them off course…
Getting dirty down under
Extending his lead of the 125cc World Championship with another dominant victory in Australia, and a record 11th pole position this season, Marc Márquez had an uncharacteristic end to the Australian GP. After an unflappable performance, the young Spaniard managed to navigate his way into the gravel trap on the slow-down lap. After a record-breaking weekend, the Red Bull Ajo Motorsport rider was ashen-faced: “At the end, I’m sorry for the mechanics because the bike is very dirty!”
No island paradise
Australia is the land of sun, sand and surf – unless you’re at Phillip Island in October, it seems. More reminiscent of a December at Donington Park, the race weekend had far from ideal conditions in store for the GP weekend. Friday track action was postponed for the GP classes and scrapped altogether for the local boys as track workers frantically tried to sweep away the floods and car parks were already closed by Saturday morning because of ‘unfavourable conditions’. That’ll be the knee-deep mud, then. Ever conscientious, though, amid horizontal rain, the circuit TV screens dutifully informed racegoers: ‘Please make sure you are doing your best to stay warm and dry.’ Easier said than done when even the awnings were blowing over.
The hole truth
Based on a small island on the Bass Straight between the Tasman Sea and the Indian Ocean, coastal winds did indeed batter the paddock. Crosswinds meant the riders had to fight just to keep the bikes in a straight line, so on Thursday the Pramac Racing team of Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargaró got the drills out. You see those computer-designed front fairings worth $12,000 each? Combine with an 18v cordless drill and a 12mm bit and you have yourself a high-tech Phillip Island special.
Café del Mar
There was a particularly sterling effort laid on by the organisers to beat the cold, in the form of a proper coffee machine, complete with barista, in the press room all weekend. It was the most popular place in the paddock, especially as it was free!
Unusual bike courier makes appearance
Phillip Island is a sleepy place of oft-empty holiday homes. If you need proof, check the (yearly) weather reports. Even the lifeguards only work for one month of the year, so not much post gets collected and most of the empty envelopes and boxes go unfilled. It goes bike-crazy over the GP weekend, though, with everyone getting into the swing of it. Even the local post office window displayed a leather-clad figure riding a bike carefully constructed from all those unused packing slips, labels and package boxes.
Taxi for two…
If ever you find yourself on Phillip Island and in need of a taxi, rather than a bike courier, make sure you book one well in advance. During the GP weekend, the number of cabs to serve the entire island swells to a grand total of six. The number on any normal day? Two. That’s fewer than the number of ferry services.
The man in black
Gotham City it isn’t, but Melbourne clearly has some affection for a certain black-clad superhero with a penchant for jet-powered cars. Wouldn’t you just love to live along here? Of course, we jest: the district of Batman in Melbourne is named after John Batman, one of the founding fathers of the Victorian state capital as we know it today…
What’s that you say, Skippy? You’d taste good in a bun with chips?
Coming to see what all the fuss was about, the MotoGP party was crashed by a kangaroo on Saturday. Wisely, he didn’t hang about for long, though. Sales of kangaroo meat were up almost 50 per cent at the local supermarket with the GP circus in town, with the visitors clearly willing to try the local delicacies.
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