They called Renee back from the F1 event, to be a COTA Grid Girl..I think it's been a good experience for her! She's certainly grown from the quiet, thin teenager......second from the right. We stayed at Turn 19 for the first part of the event, cold beer, restrooms close...good view of Big Screen and timing and scoring... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Then, into the Ducati Booth, I just needed a hat and a credential holder, 45 minutes to check out, but as you see there were some diversions! I'll take two of those! Image Unavailable, Please Login
I had three chances to win a Ticket upgrade, into the Ducati Paddock Club at Noon on race day.....they drew and called a number TWENTY off, from my three tickets........back to the Turn 19 hill, for me!! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ducati had no chance at a win, but there was still SOMETHING about the Team that made you proud to drive (er....ride) one! Image Unavailable, Please Login
More to follow....I'm beat! Two flat tires this morning, the right rear, and the spare I got out of the trunk!!! I felt like the Woods Brothers...... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Before the GP race, we went to the Main Grandstand, in hopes of joining a Box. Our host and wife got in, but we did not, as the Start flagged off. Awesome sound on the front straight! We hiked up to Turn 1, where the Red Bull VIP box was located. Cool bus.... Mule? Art? Anyone else have pictures??? Image Unavailable, Please Login
No big screen though, maybe they had taken one down, since the F1 event? Image Unavailable, Please Login
In search of the Timing and Scoring we headed "down the back" to the Turn 4, 5 and 6 complex, we had bleacher seats there, the weekend of F1. ALL of the bleachers were gone, making it rather bleak. The vendors were scattered all about, looking kind of lonely. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
..4, 5, and 6. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
All that was left was to make it out the Far Turn 11....we then noticed there was NO tram service at all along the back side. I guess MotoGP customers are just generally in better health, than the F1 masses! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
THERE you are! I thought I was going to have to do all the heavy lifting in the thread, man!! I'm almost to the "Kevin Schwantz" part! So, on the way down to Turn 4, this BIG tall guy walks up to me and says: "You look just like BigTex, my name is Mule!" LOL! What are the odds, although with all the European guests we were definately the tallest guys in there!!! Thanks for the post! They looked like they had a good party going, in that booth.
Note the greatly reduced Beer Stands, by the time we reached Turn 11. They still had Stella, though!!!
So, dusting off my WELL dusted Cadillac, we saddled up and headed over to East 6th Street. The Gypsy Lounge was hosting the "Free Kevin Schwantz" MotoGP viewing party, and had it showing in replay, as we came in and found him in the back yard... Image Unavailable, Please Login
As you see, he seemed in good spirits. I have a few reflective glances from these shots, as Valeria just took about a dozen. But for the most part he was very nice. My friend is a HUGE fan, and of course I was familiar with his career, as he was from houston originally. There's a very nice biography of his career that was written upon his retirement from competition, I have a signed copy in my library, but it is actually signed to someone else! I didn't think to bring it, it really doesn't matter. As I posted earlier in the thread, I just said something wishing him luck in his settlement, and hoping things could be different going forward. I don't even know if that is possible. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
He signed our KS hats, and we had a few more cold adult beverages, as a beautiful Texas day came to a gentle end...... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Maybe our wild shirts cheered him up!!! As the bikes on display were loaded out he moved out to the Parking Lot, for a few last pictures.... Image Unavailable, Please Login
This is a nice bike, it seemed to stir some memories for him (as he leaned on my car! LOL!) Image Unavailable, Please Login
and Take 3,....I think the first one is the best, he has a nice smile. Image Unavailable, Please Login
..and then I accidentally made some movies, as he helped to load up some of the bikes. He looked like he knew what he was doing........that said a lot about him, I thought. Ooops...looks like the .mov files are too large. I'll see what I can do with them. Take it Mule! Let's see some your pics! It was great to meet you and your wife, come back and spend more time in Austin!
Someone coach me thru some 'screen grabs", from these (they are only a few seconds long!!). He puts that bike in the truck, looks wistfully, and reaches out to pat it "goodbye"......before walking away. He left with his beautiful girlfriend, in a nice Audi. I really hope that things work out for him. Good luck, Kevin. It was very nice to meet you.
