We arrived in Indonesia on Tuesday and even before starting we were already twisted by our long travel. Indonesia is beautiful yes… but having a second thought also the Spanish one-two of last year was not so bad.
This track did not struggle to show its limits, the scorching weather made the asphalt hotter than the Malesian one and made it crumbled in some points, making riding immediately dangerous. Friday night it started raining and we thought it could have saved the situation but…
On Sunday I set foot at the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit and it immediately brought to my mind the Mototemporada of the sixties.
The “Temporada Romagnola” consisted of a series of motorcycle spring races that, between 1945 and 1971, were held on some city circuits of the Romagna coast like Milano Marittima, Cesenatico, Riccione etc… these races distinguished themselves for the passionate participation of the enthusiasts, that came down the countryside changing the race into a huge folk festival, where an army of “Azdore” prepared delicacies, together with a torrential Sangiovese.
An amazing dive into the past, as then, on Sunday the hill was crowded of colorful and happy people. They were so happy to taste the motorcycle world from so close, enthusiasts of any age. Modest people who have little, but how you can see from their smiles and their looks they are alive more than ever. More alive than those who think to have the world in their hands, even though in truth they do not have anything.
The difference between the “Mototemporada” and the Indonesian GP is that in the latter only the rain was torrential!
Moto3 raced as usual, but Dorna had to shorten Moto2 cause of the shabby asphalt.
Then it started raining, one hour of great flood that anyway did not frighten the impassive spectators, who were waiting for the beginning of the premier class.
And when all seemed to be lost and when it seemed that MotoGp would have been cancelled, here the shaman woman made her spell. With her amulet and prayers, she took the clouds creating a cap into the sky.
Skeptics called it a simple weather change, a coincidence, a chance, while some paddock voices added: “Carmelo… lucky man!”.
To tell the truth, Ezpeleta may be considered a luck man, but certainly we are lucky having him charge of everything, too.
The Temporada Romagnola was only the prologue of the World Championship, but Carmelo has changed the motorcycling course, making it popular all over the world. Since he took control of it in 1991, he has made a revolution… for the better.
At the end all the races were completed with success, even though ours not with the success we expected.
I feel compelled to overlook, there are a lot of things that have to be solved and in a hurry. I don’t want to make hurried judgments or express myself without certainties. I talked with my riders and I hope I was clear. The watchword of this week must be RESET!!!
I want to thank the 25 guests invited by our sponsors, that stayed with us during all the weekend, after so much time being alone in the paddock and having lunch in the box, it was nice and reassuring going back to the old and healthy habits.
-PaoloSic58-