Josh Hayes MotoGP - Cycleworld - Racewatch

A lightning update here....

My good friend Josh Hayes (accompanied by his wife Melissa) were initially invited by Tech3 Yamaha to ride their bikes following the race weekend at the final MotoGP round at Valencia in Spain last November. After Colin Edwards was injured in the collision that involved Marco Simoncelli and Valentino Rossi, the test ride became a race ride....I photographed and interviewed Josh Hayes for Cycleworld Magazine over the race weekend on his thoughts about Simoncelli, Edwards etc, and his emotions about the opportunity and how he approached the entire adventure...

Catching up. Part3. Mugello, Rossi, Gelato and a little Russian glamour

Italy is beautiful.

After three plane transfers, Salt Lake to Minneapolis, then Minneapolis to Amsterdam onto Bologna, I'm more than happy to sit outside the airport and wait for Mr Motomatters, AKA David Emmett to arrive.  We'll be sharing the travelling and a villa in Tuscany whilst we cover the Grand Prix at Mugello.  Unbeknownst to us we arrive on June 2nd.  Which is a national holiday in Italy and it is only when we arrive at our villa are we informed by Simone, the villa owner, that all the shops are closed.  Hmm, we have no food, water, BEER, whatever.  He did mentioned that there might be some shops open int he centre of Florence/Firenze, so without further ado, we set off into the heart of Firenze in search of things to eat.

The centre of Florence is now a permit only access city, however, on holidays, it's okay to drive into the city centre.  So we did. Fortunately, we found some shops open and were able to at least buy exactly what we needed to create dinner for that evening.  We also had a lightning, commando photo stop tour, in other words pulling up, stopping,  hopping out the car, taking photos, and then back into the car and off again fortunate in the fact that there was very little traffic.  A rare event indeed.  With a gelato to round off the the arrival walkabout it was back to base.

Thursday, late afternoon, I spent a couple of hours in the company of Nadia Giletti.  Having walked around on the Tuesday with David Emmett, I spent a couple of hours walking around Florence with Nadia taking photos (of her).  Exploring a side of photography that is new to me and one I'd like to pursue in greater depth.  I was fortunate enough that Nadia was happy to be my subject.  No, in reality I was thrilled. She has a presence and is very comfortable with herself, which made taking photographs of her in situ, with large groups of people looking on, very easy.  For me, it is something I have to overcome as I always feel I'll peeling back the layers of people.  I always feel like I'm intruding on someones privacy.  That said. Thursday was a good day.  

There aren't may words to describe Tuscany.  The feeling about being in the countryside has a greater effect on the senses than words can describe.  From the fireflies in the evening, the soft warm early morning light.  The little tuffs of fluff that seem to be a part of the air in the Italian countryside.  The softness of the air.  It's immersive. Everything from the start of the day through to the end has colour. The trip to the track took us along single lane roads that were devilishly winding, in places with drop offs that wouldn't be good for the car.  On the way back form the track in the evenings, we would drive pass torch lit entrance ways to 17th century hilltop castles.

With the hillsides covered in olive trees.  Houses covered in rose bushes and fields full of poppies,  it was sometimes difficult to think we'd be heading to a race track.  That said, it was a great way to start and end ones day. Casting my mind back to 2006 during the 990 era,  I never made it to race day.  I had a great Friday back then, and it was a full days of on track action.  Followed by the Saturday, the traditional Valentino Rossi Mugello Helmet unveiling.  However, during the afternoon I would develop a temperature.  Sunday morning, we drove to the track, but after getting to the gate, I felt too unwell.  Emily gave away her tickets to a lucky family and we took an easy day out and went to Lucca.

Not this year! I felt fine, the weather was good, the valleys surrounding the race track were lush and green and it looked like everything was set to be a great weekend of racing.  That would all change on Saturday.  When Valentino Rossi had a nasty high side and broke his lower leg. Without having to go into details as no doubt it has been reported on ad-nauseum, it was interesting to watch the effect this had on the mood race track and more importantly on the fans who were in attendance.  

I was at the medical centre watching events unfold as they brought back Rossi's very broken Yamaha M1 on the back of a recovery vehicle.  Now, I understand the level of support this talented man has worldwide, but watching people openly cry as they gathered around the truck was something else to see.  It was almost like watching a funeral cortege.  Photographers, TV crews and fans alike were gathered around this truck all craning their necks, reaching out with cameras in hand just to get a shot of this damaged bike.  As I mentioned to Chris Jonnum of RoadRacerX, it was as if someone had shot the Pope…

Then, people started to leave the track.  There were traffic james outside the track at 3pm, something that would've been unheard of in a typical race weekend.  People were leaving in droves.  What would this mean for Sunday?  It was like the genie had been let out of the bottle and had evaporated to boot.  The party boy racer wouldn't be here on Sunday.  With news updates coming in minute by minute, it was apparent that Valentino Rossi had sustained quite a nasty injury. Taken into surgery immediately, it transpired he would be out for a good few races to come.  The chatter in the media room changed from what happened to what would happen?  With an already rather thin grid, things could look a little desperate.

Sunday arrives, and it looked like the fans turn up as normal to watch the race and to also send get well wishes to their injured hero.  With banners all over the race track, a telephone interview with His Rossiness from hospital it was (almost) business as usual.  It did look like the economy had taken a toll on the number of spectators attending from previous years, and the smoke bombs, especially those in yellow, appeared to be down in numbers, but the passion for the racing and what Mugello is about, was and is still there.

All the races went off with out a hitch, with some interesting crashes.   In the 125 race there was a huge high side (which left pieces of the bike high up in the crash fencing) then in the Moto2 race a bike went down, then jumped the track about 100 feet way from me, landing on top of the air fence.  This job does have it's dangerous moments. Sadly, the race wasn't terribly exciting, with Dani Pedrosa taken the lead and simply running away with it.  Jorge Lorenzo would finish second with tearful Andrea Dovizioso taking third.  I was also very grateful for the help from Andrew Northcott on Sunday allowing me to pillion around the track with him during the MotoGP race.  The service road doesn't need any more traffic and Andrew makes light work of covering a race and I always feel I learn something valuable.

I still don't get a full weekend at home. Next update Silverstone...

One last thing. Valentino Rossi and one from me!

I never cease to be amazed...I have had many images used by Yamaha over the last 7 years I have been working in the motorcycle racing world, however, this is the first time an image of Valentino Rossi shot by yours truly has been used...Actually I'm thrilled. More to come in 2010.

Valentino Rossi Limited Edition Helmet Print (No Really)

There are only a handful left. Then that'll be it for this image file.If you have been following this blog and my trails and travels over the last few years you'll know that a print on canvas that I donated to the Riders For Health charity raised $8500 at auction during the Friday morning proceedings at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Rider for Health auction just before the racing events got under way. I have only been advertising the print on my Face Book Fan Page but now want to give those who aren't "fans" (I'll admit I'm not a fan of that phrase - gettit...) a last chance opportunity to own their own copy. Check out the link to the Valentino Rossi Helmet Print.

Now onto Arabian Knights, part two, the race and departure...

Valencia. The Final Week. The Final MotoGP Round 2009. Rossi, Lorenzo, Spies et al..

It really doesn't take long to get from Granada to Valencia and is quite a nice drive.So here we are, the last few days of our holidays and we have now arrived in Valencia. We're staying in the same apartment I rented back earlier in the year for the World Superbike Round. The final round of the MotoGP season took place at the same location, and seeing as I already had left sufficient funds to cover for a deposit it made sense to rent the same apartment. It's location is good, it's quiet normally! During this visit there was nothing but high winds all week long and at night it felt like you were on the deck of an aircraft carrier so sleeping was a tricky, if not a noisy affair.Emily and I didn't really have any plans here, simply to visit the old town, find a decent restaurant, and wind down with the end of year party with the GP folks. We stayed pretty close to base. We drove down to the Albufera which is a nature reserve a few miles south of Valencia. It is also near where Bomba rice (the rice used in Paella Valencia) originates and is grown, in huge rice paddy fields that line the small network of narrow two lane roads that crisscross this reserve. With the weekend approaching and the buildup to the final round of GP ahead we head to the track on Thursday to get set up. Alpinestars kindly set us up for hospitality access, and Emily is all set with her passes to allow her into the paddock and media centre (thank you so much for this - you know who you are).With Ben (Spies) being offered a wild card ride for the last round aboard a Sterilgarda liveried Yamaha M1, and his garage that is sandwiched between the Factory Yamaha's of Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo on one side, and the Tech 3 garages of Colin Edwards and James Toseland on the other, it is to me, rather quaint in some odd way. With the big beaming smiles of Massimo Merigalli (Ben's R1 team boss), Tom Houseworth his crew chief and of course Woody, along with a few other former team mates who came along to help out, it feel like we never really left Portimao. Except the bikes are louder and the paddock isn't quite as laid back as the World Superbike paddock. Ben is in good spirits. As his right hand man Geoffrey. Everyone is all smiles and are quite excited to have this head start for the upcoming 2010 season. Ben will take over from James Toseland and will be aboard the Tech3 Yamaha M1 for 2010 (yes I know it's not exactly news anymore...). So the atmosphere in and around this garage is still the same as it was in World Superbike. Next year though, I imagine it'll be a lot more intense though.Tom, is still the master of hand signals. Woody, is on "observation" and pit board duty (apparently the team doesn't let you just dive straight into to work on machines - you have to observe first)...but Ben's garage still has that fresh positive air that existed throughout the World Superbike season.Friday rolls around and everyone is anxious to get out on track to start winding down the season. It's windy. Very windy. Holes are drilled in the fairings of the lightweight 125's and some of the fairing of the 250cc machines.I'm a lucky boy again. Fortunately I'm able to use Ben's scooter for the sessions and thus am able to get around without much difficulty.Saturday, practice in the morning, qualifying in the afternoon. It's still windy. Very windy and quite cool. During the afternoon qualifying went off as normal, but with the Championship having been settled and won by Valentino Rossi at Malaysia, all eyes (in the MotoGP class) were on Ben Spies. Being that he had won the World Superbike Championship in spectacular style in his first year (I'm not a fan of the word "rookie"..no idea way..just seems a little bit twee) this would be the story for the weekend. With James Toseland on his way out, and with Ben moving to Tech3 alongside fellow Texan Colin there was a lot of chatter about whether Ben would finish ahead of James. With Ben qualifying a good 9th (against James' 14th spot) and with Colin up ahead in 5th, and with the usual suspects ahead of Colin Sunday should be interesting. But there is still on more thing to take care of on Saturday. That is the BMW M Award. Valentino Rossi has won this prestigious award for being the fastest rider on the grid during all 17 rounds of MotoGP, not after spending some time "lusting" over the bright orange BMW M3 GTS and taking it for a lap around the circuit (I also heard he took delivery of not long thereafter and gave the M3 sedan he won to his Mum. At least I think that's the story). After returning to the presentation area, he then "hugs" the car he has won and is also presented with a scale model of the same vehicle.One thing that didn't go unnoticed, especially by my wife, was that Valentino Rossi is the expert of scarf tying, or rather, how to make wearing a scarf look totally snug! Sunday rolls around, and yet again, it's windy. Cool, but sunny. Thanks to Mary, Massimo, Geoff and the team, I am fortunate enough to have the scooter for the GP race. The other two races run their course and it's time for the "big boys". I go to the grid, which is (as usual) total madness, with photographers, riders, teams, fans with special passes, tv people and half of Spain all milling around. But that's part of the glamour of GP so you work around it. I tend to work rear of grid towards the front, thus, as everyone dives for the "main attractions" at the front, I'm treated to a free grid, and as everyone works their way to the back, I end up with free-ish access to the front of the grid. Tom (Houseworth) give me a "wave" and I head off the grid, onto Ben's scooter and off to grab the first lap (or two) shots with the pack.As the bikes head off the grid for their warm up lap, we wait for them to come around and most folks take a test shot or two to make sure everything is setup correctly. I'm stood next to Gigi (Soldano) and as all the bikes have passed he asks me "where's Stoner?". It transpires (as we know) that Casey Stoner had a little off on the warm up lap and that was the end of his 2009 race season. Which was a shame. This year has been particularly challenging for Casey and it looks like the last race of the year wasn't going to let him off easy either. The race is under way. I tend to use a race plan of 2 or 3 laps in one spot, them move, thereby giving you the opportunity to amass a wide variety of shots from different locations. Valencia is easy to get around, but with the crowds being a little lighter than past years, I wasn't always afforded the bright colourful pixelated backgrounds so you had to pay extra special attention to your subjects if you wanted to ensure a lot of colour.Well, the race at Valencia can be a little processional but as before, all eyes are on Ben Spies. He didn't disappoint. Finishing a healthy 7th place, ahead of a somewhat disappointed Andrea Dovizioso and of course James Toseland. Inadvertently, Ben also helped his future team mate Colin Edwards. By finishing ahead of Andrea Dovizioso he allowed Colin Edwards to take 5th place. Local lad Dani Pedrosa would win the race, with Valentino Rossi coming in second and Jorge Lorenzo coming in third. One thing that struck me as odd, and I think it was the high winds, was the lack of paella smells this year. Every year I have been coming here it has been a feature of this track. The somewhat fragrant whiff of seafood being cooked swirls around the track, but this year, nothing. After the podium, it's a quick shift into the the presentation for the top three class Champions and that it for the 2009 season.Back to the media centre, sort, edit and upload. By the time we left the media centre it was nearly 11pm. We had been invited to the Dorna end of year party. By the time we got back to the apartment, and then realising that it would be an additional 45 minute down to the Albufera, added to the fact I couldn't keep my eyes open, we called it a day. On reflection I wish we had gone to the awards presentation ceremony at the Aquarium. Maybe we'll do that for 2010. Monday afternoon would be spent back at the track for testing and Ben would be aboard the Tech3 Yamaha and there would be a number of "staff" changes that took place after seasons end.After saying goodbyes to various people that would be it for my year of racing. 19 races in total. 8 World Superbike events, 8 MotoGP's and three AMA Superbike events here in the US. Thank you to the Sterilgarda Yamaha Italia team for helping make life a little easier too. Quite the season. Thank you to my lovely wife for being who you are. I love you. I missed you so much whilst I was away. These three weeks with you were simply the best fun ever.Tuesday, it would be up early, off to the airport and then the trip home back to the USA.