In search of Donington MX
By John Dickinson on 29th Jun 07
A trip to the British MotoGP, with the upcoming MX GP in mind proved fruitless with no sign of a track in sight.
WITH the 2007 British MXGP due to take place atDonington Park on August 25/26 which, according to a spot of quickarithmetic using my fingers, is just eight weeks away, a recce toDonington Park, coinciding with the MotoGP, seemed to be bang in order.
And no, since you were wondering, it wasn't an allsinging, all-dancing, all expenses paid jolly, it was actually fourdays camping in a bog - with my car parked half a mile from thecampsite - for which I paid around £160 for two people. But that was mychoice. I actually had a good time in a strange no-sleep-for-threenights kind of way but having said that I can safely say that I won'tbe doing it again. Let's call it a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Acampervan looks a good alternative, at least you get to stay with yourvehicle!
I have, in truth, once done the road race GP on a‘freebie' from one of the teams and while I am eternally grateful toSuzuki for the chance to nose round the MotoGP paddock on race day, andit was quite exciting, there is actually very little for ‘Joe Bloggs'to see. Lots of ‘Big Trucks' of course, with doors banged tightly shutat all times, but all you are going to see of the riders is a quickglimpse as they run between their living quarters and the garage orwhizzing away on a scooter. As for sitting in the plush hospitalityareas, troughing gourmet meals and guzzling copious quantities of freebooze, unless you are one of the MotoGP in-crowd, I can tell you thatyou will feel every bit the outsider that you in fact are. Myover-riding feelings were of a very tight-knit, very insular communitythat lives in its own surreal world that doesn't know, or even want toknow, about the fans who ultimately support their privileged lifestyle.
It is just two takes on the same theme. I guessthat I am naturally a one-day man, get up early, drive to event, enjoy,get home.
Being honest, what triggered the four-day tarmacbinge was an urge to be part of the Thursday's Day of Champions event,one which I would venture is unique in sport. Inspired by racinglegends Kenny Roberts and Randy Mamola and run by Andrea and BarryColeman, this is a huge fund-raising day for www.riders.org (formerlyknown as Riders for Health) which funds healthcare in Africa bysupplying and maintaining motorcycles for health-workers to use tovisit rural locations.
The day really was a cracker and one worthvisiting as a one-off. There was loads to see and do - including MartinCrosswaite and Dan Clark with their Extreme Trials displays while exWorld Superbike champ James Toseland did three cracking half-hour setswith his band Crash! The boy is sickeningly talented both as a riderand as a musician.
The grand finale, attended by several thousandfans, was an auction of prizes, donated by the MotoGP paddock and morethan a few of the top riders appeared on stage to donate kit, boots,helmets, gloves, leathers etc while the teams donated paddock passesand some stunning weekend packages. Racing legend Valentino Rossidonated a whole bunch of stuff - and hung around for ages to sign itall - and the bidding was frenzied. To cut the story short, the massivetotal of £217,000 was raised by the evening auction alone, a phenomenalsum in anyone's book. It just proves what can be achieved if someonehas the drive and stamina to really go for it.
Hats off to the organisers.
Back to the 2007 MXGP at Donington, which was theinspiration for the excercise, sad to say I returned home Sunday nightsomewhat disturbingly none the wiser. There was no mention of theupcoming event in the MotoGP programme (not bad value at £6 to be fair)- which I found rather strange. The official crowd figure for theMotoGP was 85,000 and even a small percentage of that, should they haveread such an advert and decided to go, is a fair figure I would havethought. There may well have been mention of the MXGP on the publicaddress but as I never heard a word of it (OK, I wasn't listening, butwho does?) I can't comment.
Whatever, the weather last weekend, as we allknow, was inclement to say the least and as the MotoGP did everythingit says on the tin I think we can safely say that the Doningtonorganisers can certainly handle the logistical problems thrown-up bylarge numbers of people in far from perfect conditions.
Now, about that MXGP track...