Day 16 - Austin, TX Day 4

Race day! We got up at a similar time as Saturday and were rolling out of the hotel around 8am. This morning was in the 60s and the wind was already blowing at about 10mph. We arrived at the track at around 8:30am and parked up front again. Our Lot D upgrade was so convenient, right in front of the entrance to all the action and very close to our seating section. 

Today we watched all the action from our seats at turn 15. It wasn't too crowded yet when we arrived, which is typical. Many fans come in for the MotoGP race and leave. We watched all three morning warmup sessions, each 10-20 minutes. The race officials check the track before and after each race. Here is one of the safety cars. It careens around the track checking for traction. They use BMW vehicles for all the support vehicles. Michele especially liked the white BMW with the big spoiler.

The corner workers are responsible for removing any debris on track and alerting the safety officials of any issues that need inspection. It was cool to see all this in person. The first race was Moto2 at 11am. This is the mid-weight class of riders on 765cc triple Triumph powered bikes. 

Once that was done we had over an hour break until the main event. Everyone swarmed to the food vendors. The first place we stopped in for food was a chicken place but they were out of chicken!  So we went over to the BBQ place and got a pulled pork sandwich. While standing there, Michele noticed the chicken strips were restocked. Rob said we weren't getting back in that line because they could run out right when we got up front, and we'd miss the race standing in all these lines. The prices at this track are astronomical, worse than anywhere we've ever been. Easily three times more than what things should cost. Now that we've done this once, next time we will bring our own food. Worst case, we eat it from the cooler of the trailer in the parking lot! We ate our lunch at our seats and finished just in time for the start of the MotoGP race. At 12:51 there was a flyover. At 12:52 was the National Anthem. The lady we saw practicing did a great job! After a sighting lap, the riders lined up on the grid and took off at 1pm.    

MotoGP bikes are 1,000cc four cylinder engines (the premier class). Moto3 is 250cc single engines (the lightweight class of riders). Here's a sampling of shots from the whole day.

Coming down the back straight at turn 12. This is a heavy braking area. MotoGP riders are doing over 200mph down the straight and have to slow down to 30-40mph for this turn.

Coming towards us at turn 15. The MotoGP bikes are so loud we can feel the roar of their engines in the stands. 

Riders who crash get their bikes transported back to the paddock area, as well as taken care of by EMS personnel (if necessary) within seconds. EMS are stationed around the track and there is a Medivac helicopter. When riders crash, they usually are not hurt (they wear airbag leather suits), but they usually don't re-enter the race since they'd never catch back up. During practice and qualifying though, they will re-enter the session if time is remaining on the clock. 

Two riders battle it out at turn 15. At the top right of this photo near the red/white paint is a bump. You can see it at the dark spot. Many riders adjust their racing line to avoid or lessen it, others didn't seem bothered.

A rider Marco Bezzecchi (#72) crashes coming out of turn 15 in front of us, but is okay!

At the end of each race, most riders wave to the track workers (who come out to the edge of the track) and to the fans in the stands, whether or not they win. Usually all of the MotoGP riders wave, and most of the Moto2 riders, but few of the Moto3 riders do unless they win. 

During Moto2, American Joe Roberts stopped at our turn, got off his bike, crawled under the fence, and tossed his gloves into the stands for lucky fans! In the picture below you can see him getting ready to toss his glove. We were super jealous we weren't further down to catch one. 

He finished in 8th for the race, which was his best finish so far at this race track. We thought Joe was very classy and gracious to his fans for stopping by, given that he didn't even win the race. Michele says he's her new favorite rider. Here he is coming through turn 5. His number is 16.

Everyone cheered for Cameron, the American rider who was in pole position, but he crashed out right at the end! We couldn't believe it! 

After the MotoGP race, we watched Moto3 and stuck around for the MotoAmerica race that started at 4pm. Right before that race Michele surprised Rob by getting him a funnel cake. He'd been teasing her and talking about getting a corndog and funnel cake all day long, but she said it was a stomachache for sure. We learned that powdered sugar and wind don't mix. A big wind gust blew the sugar all over us and everyone near us in the stands! It was still delicious. 

The winners today were Tony Arbolino (his first win in this class) in Moto2, Enea Bastinini in MotoGP, and Jaume Masia in Moto3. Below you can see Enea #23, behind Australian Jack Miller, who had led the race for many laps and ultimately finished 3rd.

In MotoAmerica, the winner was a familiar face to us from MotoGP - Danilo Petrucci from Italy who was in MotoGP last year. He just started in this American series at Austin and won his first two races. It was great to see him off to such a great start and such an experienced rider promoting professional racing in the U.S.! He rode over to turn 15 and waved his thanks to the fans. Michele thinks he probably saw her waving back at him. 

What a great day! We compared this track to the two others we've been to. Facilities-wise, this one is by far a bigger, more organized and cleaner venue. There were ample trash and recycling bins and bags every 50 feet, so there wasn't trash strewn about. There were many food vendors located all around the track and usually with different food choices (though none healthy or reasonably priced). Michele found flushing toilet restrooms right behind our stands on Saturday. Traffic was well organized with police direction, far more so than at Indy or Assen. Assen did not have any and it took hours to get out of the “parking lot” (actually a nearby farmers field). There were shaded tents and seating areas outside of the stands, so it was possible to cool off if one got hot sitting in the stands. What Indy did better was the hospitality package, which was half the cost of Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and parking right next to the grandstand inside the security area. Indy was also much closer to us! We're so disappointed MotoGP does not race at that venue anymore. We didn't get the COTA hospitality because the cost was so high and the seats weren't in a good spot. Assen was just cool to be at a track in Europe and be among fans who were so enthusiastic about the sport (there were close 100k fans at that race!).

We got back to the hotel around 5pm and walked over to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Michele says their biscuits are her most favorite food, especially with apple butter. There was a 45min wait for a table so we ordered our meal to go. We were back in the hotel eating our dinner 30 minutes later and both enjoyed those biscuits for dessert.

Tonight, the wind was still blowing at around 20mph and gusting over 30mph. Rob parked the bike in a different direction so the wind pushed it towards the kickstand, just in case. The wind is expected to continue through the night and all day tomorrow. Our plan is to leave at 8am and make it to Leesville, LA as we begin our way back home.