Moto GP at Mugello
What a fantastic experience! It's like Donnington Park but ten times madder. Grown men screaming and blowing air horns and yellow '46' merchandise stalls everywhere selling everything from Rossi lighters to the usual t-shirts and fleeces and ponchos, which as it turned out would have been a useful purchase to make! We got there easy enough and the weather was dry and we found our seats and watched the 125, and were the only ones stood up cheering when Bradley Smith won. We stood opposite him when he was on the podium and the guy in front of us was waving a St Georges cross, which a delighted Bradley spotted and waved furiously back at us and the small number of cheering Brits around us. We missed the start of the 250s as we waited 30 mins in the queue for a sandwich but got back in time to see a great race which the locals loved as the Italians finished first and second in the pouring rain.
The weather started drying up for the Moto GP race which set off to the most amazing noise which got louder and louder as Rossi made his way through the placings to take the lead. Because of the drying conditions, one by one they came in to change to bikes with slick tyres and this relegated Rossi to about sixth. He eventually made his way through to third and a rostrum finish which 99% of the crowd were pleased with. Just as we set off back to the bike it started drizzling and this quickly turned into pouring rain, so by the time we got back to the bike, we were both soaked. We then spent 45 mins trying to crawl past bikes, cars and pedestrians before we hit gridlock going towards Florence, and so took the only other route, towards Bologna with the expectation of picking up the motorway towards Florence a junction higher up. Big mistake. Mugello is in a valley surrounded by hills and we had to travel about 30 miles towards Bologna on winding, wet mountain roads before we could get on the right route back to Florence - a two and a half hour trip on what would normally take 30 mins.
We were cold and wet by the time we got back - but Jo is keen to go to Assen next year so it must've been at least quite a good day!
Tomorrow we're leaving the apartment and heading for Switzerland (this time on purpose) and hope to have lunch at Lake Como - a sandwich and a diet coke if she's lucky.
Glenn