Mugello MotoGP – Qualifying

Mugello MotoGP 2011

We made it to Mugello having ridden the famous Futa Pass and after a belly full of nosh Alex, Seth and I sent up camp in the P2 car park, just outside the track and next to a few safety marshals who were staying in their motorhomes, it seemed safe and was also a bit away from the madness of the noisy Italian campers inside the track.

After the experience of getting robbed in our sleep last year and having all of our money nicked, plus phones, tooth brushes and underwear, Alex and I knew to batten down the hatches and lock ourselves in our tents as we were now sitting ducks to the petty thieves.

Sure enough, having secured ourselves inside our mobile hotels the best we could and tied our tents to our bikes etc, morning would reveal more night time action and someone (or more) had tried to get into our tents while we were asleep.

Due to wearing ear plugs and the loud music playing all night we heard nothing but the opened door ways, removal of bike to tent security and prized zips were enough for us to leave a nasty taste in our mouths at dawn.

But, luckily we were ahead of their game this time, we had done enough to keep the thieving f*ckers out and after seeing the Mugello circuit before us and then grabbing a Cappuccino and chocolate croissant we were back to high spirits and happy to be in Italy.

Alpinestars hospitality would be our base, an excellent array of food for all meals and first class team of dedicated staff make the venue an incredible place to be and we all felt very lucky to be there. It was also the place where we would now leave all our gear, our tents were now empty apart from blow up mattress, sleeping bag and dirty laundry, hopefully the thieves wouldn’t be interested in any of that….

Inside the track the vibe of the Italian Grand Prix can be felt from the second you step into the circuit, it’s a special place and with the passionate Italian motorcycle fans looking down on you from the higher vantage points, it’s non-stop noise and action plus it is very colorful.

Italian hopes of a home victory are really in Simoncelli, Dovizioso and Rossi’s hands, despite having a hybrid of a development machine, Valentino still seems to be struggling to get his Ducati to work the way he would like so unless it rains, I’d say Simoncelli and Dovizioso stand the best chance.

You know every time an Italian leaves pit lane or is about to appear around the corner as the partisan crowd cheer, blow horns or just make as much noise as possible. Speaking of noise, there is very little silence in the idyllic setting of Mugello during the GP, if it’s not racing motorcycles blasting around this incredible circuit it is the fans revving anything they can.

So far I have seen fans revving motorbikes, scooters, chainsaws (with the chain removed), strimmers and specially made noisy car engines with megaphones which produce flames that shoot out at least 4ft and are operated by at at least 3 people. If it’s not on the rev limiter then it must be broken, engines in Mugello at this time are started to create noise, silence in hard to come by and as we are finding out, so is sleep.

Anyway, the Italian GP is in full swing and tonight we are going to see more of the nighttime partying from around the track so as long as I don’t get my camera nicked, you be able to see what I’m talking about.

Final Qualifying Results

1. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda 1m 48.034s
2. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 48.479s
3. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 48.485s
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda 1m 48.694s
5. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 48.756s
6. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 48.974s
7. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 49.021s
8. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda 1m 49.398s
9. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro 1m 49.509s
10. Hector Barbera ESP Mapfre Aspar 1m 49.663s
11. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 49.678s
12. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 1m 49.902s
13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 50.156s
14. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki 1m 50.460s
15. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing 1m 50.651s
16. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda 1m 50.742s

Fastest practice time:
Jorge Lorenzo ESP Factory Yamaha 1m 48.080s (FP3)

2010 Italian Grand Prix (June 6):
Pole position:
Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda 1m 48.819s
Fastest race lap:
Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda 1m 49.531s