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A bunch of rain clouds blew in for race weekend.  
It rained Friday and it was supposed to thunderstorm on
Saturday, however no rain fell.  A lot of motorcycles were
all over downtown Saturday night and the Circle and
Meridian Street south of there, was closed to all traffic
but motorcycles.

Jerome and I headed to the track at noon on Sunday.
We parked in the back of the coke lot off of 30th Street.  
That was a mistake as there was parking much closer.  
We should have at least turned down Georgetown Rd
or into the North 40.
The Red Bull MotoGP
Grand Prix at Indianapolis
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The weather report said 100% chance
of rain.  Not only had there been a lot
of thunderclouds in the vicinity, but
hurricane Ike was supposed to blow in

By the time we got to our seats in the
top row of Stand H, the 125cc race
was almost over.   It then started to rain.

Jerome and I donned our rainsuits and
headed toward the infield where there
were tents set up.

Motorcycle companies were displaying
their bikes and stuff.

The rain came down hard and it was
We tried to go to Gasoline Alley, but it
was all blocked off for suite owners, just
like the F1 races were.

We got some food from some vendors
and after we ate it, we ventured out into
Tower Terrace and found it had stopped

People and vehicles were trying to
remove the standing water from the
track and the pits.

The 250cc race had been postponed
until after the MotoGP race, which was
to start at 3 pm.

This guy was having trouble keeping his
"BMW" chair from blowing around in the
wind.  He was a vocal race fan and his
big side burns reminded me of Neil Young.
Like Formula One, MotoGP has pretty
grid girls.

(Sorry about these photos, I only took
my little pocket camera due to the rain.)

I expected a fly-over, but there was not one.  
Perhaps because of the low clouds.  
There was a helicopter flying around even
when the hurricane winds blew in.
There were 19 bikes in the MotoGP race.
We stuck around in the Tower Terrace to
watch the start.

They did a warm-up lap.

Right before the start, they started revving
their engines and it got really loud!

Then bang, they were off!

After we watched them scream by a
few times, we headed to our seats in
Stand H.
I had a smile on my face during this whole
race and I now want a sport bike.

The American Nicky Hayden was soon
leading the race and Valentino Rossi
was a close second.  These two pulled
away from the field.

As the racers exited the infield portion
of the course and accelerated down
the front straight, their front wheels would
come off the ground at each shift change.

Finally, Rossi got around Hayden and
pulled out a small lead.

Soon, this amazing amount of wind and
rain assailed us.  Sitting in the top row
meant I had nothing blocking it.  I would
estimate that the wind was around 40-50
mph and then there would be these
gusts that felt like 80 mph.  I was happy
it was at my back!!!

I could see these waves of rain all
across the infield.  Everyone was pretty
amazed and impressed that these
cycles kept going.

However, the officials threw the red flag
on lap 20 of 28.
Then the rain slackened and the sun
came out!

We stuck around to see if they would
restart the race.

After awhile they decided to call it.  
Valentino Rossi was the winner.

Then they cancelled the postponed
250cc race as those bikes are lighter
and couldn't handle the wind.

These photos on the left show the
Yamaha tent before and after the high
winds.  Two fans were injured.

The local paper estimated 100,000
people there.  I didn't see the south
chute or 2nd turn, but I would guess

I'm glad I had a rain suit.

Although I didn't get to see much action,
I enjoyed the day.  I returned home to
find I had no electricity and lots of
branches laying around my yard.
I didn't get my power back until 1pm
the following day!

I heard today that they found one 47
y/o race fan dead in a lawn chair in a
parking lot, apparently from drinking too
much alcohol!