Misano here we come!

[Andz]

My wife and I have been discussing for several weeks now whether we were going to a race this year. We decided on Misano and after getting the clearance from my company to take the vacation time the trip is on!

We fly from Johannesburg to Frankfurt then on to Bologna, then take the train to Misano Adriatico. Flights, accommodation, train and race tickets are all booked and paid so now we just pray that the weather is better than our last MotoGP at Silverstone in 2011. :spank:

 

[Humperdinkel]

Sounds like an AWESOME trip to me Andrew :thumbup: Can't wait to see some pics already & fingers crossed for great weather

 

[Goop]

Enjoy that race! I would LOVE to see that event, especially at Misano.

 

[lytehouse]

Sounds like an AWESOME trip to me Andrew :thumbup: Can't wait to see some pics already & fingers crossed for great weather

What he said!! :thumbup:

 

[Andz]

So..... we got home yesterday morning after our trip to the Gran Premio Aperol di San Marino e Della Riviera di Rimini (phew) and what a trip it was!

Despite the fact that I booked flights, trains, race tickets and accommodation all within an hour way back in June, the only hiccup was missing our train from Bologna to Misano by about 5 minutes, all because of Lufthansa buggering around in Frankfurt. Luckily there was another one half an hour later. So..... pictures...

South African Airways business class from Johannesburg to Frankfurt, the only way to fly, flat sleeper bed, great food and drink and service


Over the snow covered Alps from Frankfurt to Bologna


Misano is a charming little town and during race week it becomes Rossi central, closely followed by Marco Simoncelli and Daijiro Kato tributes. This was the view from our apartment over the Adriatic:


And the view of the building from the beach


Everywhere you go there are Rossi and Simoncelli flags, posters, souvenirs...




This "fishing shop" had a great collection of models and other memorabilia




Just around the corner from our apartment we discovered a restaurant called Hochey, which is like a shrine to Marco Simoncelli

 

[Andz]

Not long after we checked in and unpacked, and discovered Hochey and decided to have lunch there, Alviro Bautista strolled in to chat with the owner, so we grabbed him for a pic. Nice guy!


Later that evening they had a procession of old race bikes that assembled outside the restaurant. Some were really old....


Some not so old...


They fired up a couple of the bikes, including an old Benelli and Troy Bayliss' Ducati (next to Capirossi's) but the funny thing was what they used to start them...


During the evening racers came and went, we saw Aleix Espargaro, Bradley Smith, Randy de Puniet, a couple of the Red Bull KTM guys. The place became quite a zoo, the police closed the road and it was just fun to watch the goings on.

Next day we went to Tavullia. So much for Misano being Rossi Central... every lamppost had a 46 flag flying from it...






Of course Mrs A had a ball in the shop and lost money faster than in a casino

 

[Goop]

Thanks for sharing! Very cool!

 

[Andz]

So eventually we went to the track on Friday morning. Tickets in hand after a bunfight at the accreditation centre (thank God we got there early, there was ONE person issuing tickets and about 5 doing VIP and press passes)



They had a shuttle running to the track that proved hopelessly inadequate as the weekend went on. On Saturday coming back my wife got elbowed in the face by a guy trying to beat her on board, and on Sunday we just walked the 4km back to the apartment.


At the track I once again rediscovered my respect for professional photographers, even on the slowest corner on the track getting half-decent pics with no expertise was hit and miss






Merchandising is big business...

 

[Andz]

On Saturday night they had a speedway/flat track and funny car race on a dirt circuit in town, it was an event called Dedikato, in memory of Daijiro Kato and with some proceeds going to the Marco Simoncelli Foundation. There was a special edition Fiat 500 up for grabs in the lucky draw


Some more random pics from the trip:

Kato's bike in the Misano information office


When in Rome, as they say


The MotoGP X5s have personalised plates


A house across the road from the entrance to the track. Think they're race fans?


Also staying in our apartment building was a couple from Brisbane, who had been to the British MotoGP at Silverstone, then doing Misano and Aragon in two weeks time. I guess if you travel that far you make the most of it!

In conclusion, I would do this race again in a heartbeat. lessons learned: rent a scooter and take folding chairs to the track, otherwise it was a perfect experience. From where we sat on the grass banking we could see 80% plus of the track and the weather was great so it was a definite improvement on the 2011 Silverstone disaster.

 

[darius]

Great pics telling a great story. Thanks for sharing!

 

[lytehouse]

Just awesome Andrew!!! Glad you guys had a good trip.

 

[Humperdinkel]

Great stuff mate :thumbup: Looks like an awesome trip , a little too much Rossi for me :BLAA: but I guess it's all part of the experience Would have been awesome to meet Alvaro :thumbup:

 

[Cloggy]

Great pics Andrew, looks like an amazing trip, thanks for sharing :rockon:

All this Rossi stuff and not a hair of Kazza to be seen

 

[Andz]

As I mentioned in my last post of this thread I would do this race again in a heartbeat so we are going again this year :rockon:

Like I said, lessons learned... lesson number 1, have the tickets sent instead of standing in that queue again for hours, they arrived on Thursday :thumbup: even with the courier to me they are cheaper than last year.





Unfortunately I couldn't get us into the same place we stayed last year but I booked another hotel a couple of hundred metres up the beach for around the same price so all good there.

I have been trying to find out if there is anything happening at the track on the Thursday before the race, for example when we went to Silverstone and Donington you could go into the pits and maybe meet the riders. I wrote to motogp.com and they said I should contact the circuit directly, which I have several times with no reply

So if anyone has any insider information please let me know!

 

[Andz]

5 weeks to go and I'm starting to get excited!

Everything is booked and mostly paid now, flights to Frankfurt then to Milan, train to Misano, hotel, race tickets.... lesson 2 learned from last year: walking sucks so I rented a scooter, a Yamaha X-Max 125 :rockon:

I still didn't find out if anything is happening at the circuit before the race program starts but as we have wheels this time it's not a pain to go past the track and see for ourselves

 

[Kazza]

Great pics Andrew, looks like an amazing trip, thanks for sharing :rockon:

All this Rossi stuff and not a hair of Kazza to be seen

Yep, 11 months later and I find the thread LOL

 

[Cloggy]

It looked like a great trip last time Andrew, I bet you can't wait. I think renting the bike is a smart move, and you can wave to the other bikers to boot

Yep, 11 months later and I find the thread LOL

Beter late than never

 

[Andz]

Less than a week to go......:rockon::cheer:

Does anyone know if the Yamaha X-Max 125 has an auxiliary power socket where I can plug a cigarette lighter GPS charger into?

 

[Andz]

We arrived in Misano yesterday afternoon, 24 hours after leaving home. Flew Johannesburg-Frankfurt-Milan and missed our train AGAIN because I didn't realise that Malpensa airport is 55km from the city centre! That cost us a €105 taxi ride and €86 for a new train ticket which didn't make me too happy!

My mood wasn't improved when we were woken by the sound of torrential rain this morning. We had to walk to Cattolica to pick up the rental scooter which was about 3km but luckily by the time we'd had breakfast the rain had stopped. Riding on the wrong side of the road has been an education...

Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk

 

[Kazza]

Awesome! Enjoy and don't forget lots of pics (only one rider, you know me )