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motoGP adventure in Shanghai

ScottYu

New member
Joined
Mar 18, 2004
Location
SacTown
Moto(s)
Hyperstrada 939, Duc 996
...so we moved to Shanghai last week. This place is krazy like da glue, we're missing NorCal in a BIG way.

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...and our first order of business?

...we had to get to the track. A mere 12 hours after we fly into ShangHizzie, we're in a taxi worrying 'cuz the driver is asking each toll booth operator if they know where (what?) the shanghai int'l circuit is. We got dropped off on the opposite side of the track, which is over a mile away from the main entrance. We gave a dood two fiddy to take us to the gate on his two fiddy... I rode on the luggage rack. Wish we had a pic of that champ, but at least we made it in for some of the two fiddy practice session:D

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paddock passes

so we know a chinese friend who has a shady-but-connected friend who managed to snag us some last-second paddock passes. We were on our way over there, but then my wife stopped to snap a pic of the race queen hotties. Who was I to complain?

Btw, this was Friday - nothing much going on except for some practice sessions. the place was DEAD.

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SQUIDS IN SHANGHAI

...we had no idea how to get to the pits from the stands. We bumped into a stunt show as we wandered around, and what did we see? SQUIDS FROM AMERICA! Nice folks actually, and they were delighted to talk to some folks in english.

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the chinese peeps were hilarious

...on Friday it seemed to be mostly locals - they were pretty lax at the gates, so tons of country bumpkins were just milling about. They were so excited to be around sportbikes and white people, the vibe was good. I've been trying to figure out what the hell I was doing in this pic - maybe sneezing?

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getting to the pits

it was HARD to get to the pits. We were pretty lost until we found a random group of italians that were trying to sneak into the paddock... they took us on a serpentine course underneath the track, through the media tunnel, past the broadcasting rooms, and finally dumping us out at the paddock entrance. My wife waved hi to Loris.

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meeting The Liam

...I had sent a message to Liam earlier that we were going to try and sneak into the paddock, and wanted to hook up with him. He met us right inside the gates. This was the first time we met in person, but we had a funny phone conversation before that.

me: "Hey, is this Liam? Glad we finally got in touch!"
Liam: "Is this Scott? You sound just like a white guy!!"

heh. First order of business? That secret gang sign business you know.

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...friday wrapping up

we didn't want to get him into trouble, but he said that he might be able to sneak us into the garage for a session or two the next day. We managed to sneak onto a media shuttle bus and wandered back to the city. Gotta say, this town is pretty cool at night.

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Qualifying day

...so we managed to sneak into Liam's garage on Saturday morning. We saw people hastily wrenching to get ready...

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pieces of thing

we saw piles of pieces of thing. Liam said he could make more than a couple bikes out of all the parts in there, but wussed out when I asked him to man up and do it.

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it was an amazing experience...

...being there as the riders came in from qualifying sessions to tell the team what happened, and make the changes for the next run. I love the look on Barros' face here :)

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Barros again...

...getting ready to head out on another qualifying session. You'll note the permagrin on LS's face - he's like the Joker from Batman!

PS - thanks, TCK! I'm obliged to say that all the 'good' pics were taken by my wife.

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qualifying ended...

...and we needed to leave the garage as the team got super busy. Liam suggested wandering around the paddock and hanging out with famous people, so that's what we did. I was happy to have told Hopper "Kick ass! We're rooting for ya!" on the day before his podium finish.

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...while Hopper was getting swarmed by fans,

I saw THIS lovely lady hanging back and waiting politely. I said, "wow, your boy is popular today! would you mind taking a pic with me while you're waiting?" Really nice gal, very pleasant to talk to.

The benefit of going to a GP in a country where hardly anyone speaks English? Well, if you're American, all the other Americans are delighted to speak to you.

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from the grandstands

...we also managed to catch a bit of qualifying from the grandstands. This is the best pic we could manage with one of those ultra-slim fashion cameras...

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...last image from qualifying

this is what we took at the end of the day. how is THIS for random: an '05 GSX-R 600 in the lot behind the shuttle buses. LOOK AT THE DEALER PLATE! How weird is that??

Anyway, more pics tomorrow (past my bedtime now)

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Good stuff, man. Thanks.

That first picture you put up makes me think Bladerunner .
 
Shanghi, motogp

Good stuff Scott! What was the attendance count on sunday? I went there with my brother and a couple of Barfers in 2005. Attendance then was 13k or so. Last year 34k. Is attendance getting better? Good job getting a hold of Liam. Could'nt make it out this year but thinkin' 'bout Motegi, Japan in September. Definitely gonna be @USGP. Again, great pix Scott!!!
 
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