Seeing My First MotoGP in Person

In the world of motorcycle road racing there is one undisputed top class - MotoGP. These guys are the best of the best riding one of a kind prototype motorcycles. When The Circuit of the Americas race track was built in Austin it wasn't long before MotoGP signed on to make it the 3rd stop for this class in the United States.

Last weekend I hopped on the bike and made the trek to Austin to see the show live. I figured that if I was going to be in Austin for 3 days I might as well get right in the middle of the action so we rented a condo right in the heart of the famous 6th Street strip. The condo comes complete with earplugs to drown out the live music coming from the many bars just below.

First let's talk about 6th Street...

The concept of "normal" doesn't really apply here. The variety of characters you see wandering the street rivals anywhere I've been. You get the packs of frat boys on the hunt, middle-aged couples hitting the restaurants, street performers, panhandlers, crazies yelling at cars, and the ever present girls trying to stand out in the crowd. I can't count the number of tattoos I saw in 3 days. The action starts to build up around nightfall but things don't really rev up until around midnight.

But what makes this place special is the music scene. This is where guys like Stevie Ray Vaughn and Eric Johnson got their start. At any given time there are at least 2 live acts playing in the clubs - all of which are open to the street - so it's impossible to not listen and sometimes hard to do anything else. I heard a few who were very good and some who are probably never going to get past the small bar scene.

The view from my balcony...

From the street...

The races...

MotoGP events are 3 day affairs. Friday and Saturday are practice and qualifying sessions. Sunday is all business with three races taking place; MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3.

Moto3 are the new guys, mostly in their teens riding 250cc bikes. These guys are very fast and ride like they are immortal.

Moto2 are the riders on the brink of making it to the big show. The bikes are race chassis fitted with a spec Honda 600cc motor build specifically for this class. These bikes are 150 HP and are fast. Winning in this class means you will have a shot at moving up to MotoGP so it's usually no hold barred racing.

MotoGP is the premiere class. The best of the best. The bikes are all one of kind and run 1000cc motors (this year). With 250 HP being the norm these things can nearly fly. Top speeds at this track were around 212 MPH!

We had reserved seats at Turn 15. I chose this area because it was a twisty section where I knew there would be a lot of overtaking and the skill of the riders would be on display. We could also see the longest straight where those bikes were hitting top speed and a motorcycle going 0ver 200 MPH looks like a bullet!

A few pic's of our view...

The racetrack and facilities are amazing with the track being described as both fast and very technical. I'm lucky enough to be scheduled to ride on this track in about a month and after seeing how awesome the place is I can't wait!

The sound of these bikes is mind boggling and ear plugs are a must. We managed to get some pretty nice shots of the riders in action including several of the winner Marc Marquez (#93), a rookie in only his 2nd MotoGP race. It's rare for a newcomer to do that well because the bikes are so specialized that it takes time to learn how to get the most out of them. Either this guy is a really fast learner or he's a mutant. I'm voting for the mutant party because anyone who routinely drags his elbow at 150 MPH just can't be human.

I was pulling for Valentino Rossi but his Yamaha was no match for the Honda's at this track. If it had to be a Honda I'm glad it was Marquez.

Some pic's of the stars in action...

You can see all of the pic's here.

I had an great time at this event. Seeing the top riders in the world is a treat and even with my epic sunburn (should have started with the SPF 50) it was something I can't wait to do again.