Let’s keep the chat going
Wow, it’s been one heck of an exciting year for all of us motorcycle race fans. It has also been great hanging out here at the official Web site of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, sharing with all of you many of my activities and experiences leading up to the inaugural event on Sept. 14, 2008.
The good folks out on West 16th Street have asked me to stick around and continue “The Experience” here at www.redbullindianapolisgp.com although I will be scaling back my entries to a couple times a month for a while.
With all the motorcycle activities out at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway settling down a bit, things back at the office have picked up pace again. Actually, I’m sitting here in my hotel room in Vancouver, Wash., looking out toward the Columbia River and Portland, Ore., after a long day of crowded airports and packed flights. Not exactly what I consider an ideal Monday experience.
Over the past week or so, I’ve been cruising around a lot of the online motorcycle forums seeing what all you fans are saying about the inaugural running of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP. Even with Mother Nature’s soggy contribution to a historic weekend, it sounds like those of you who braved a hurricane of historic proportions had the experience of a lifetime out at The Brickyard.
When was the last time a hurricane hit central Indiana? It’s kind of poetic that the past two weeks and weekends have been spectacular weather here in the Hoosier state.
I have particularly enjoyed all of the photos you all are posting and sharing with motorcycle enthusiasts throughout the Internet forum community. I’d like to invite you to post some of your favorite Red Bull Indianapolis GP experiences and photos here at www.redbullindianapolisgp.com in the Talkback and Fan Photos sections for us all to enjoy.
I’ve posted some of the photos I’ve taken and come across as part of the Moto Taxi team. As you can image and may have seen, the Moto Taxi team had a very busy weekend giving fallen racers a lift back to their garages on the KTM 990 Adventure motorcycles. Fortunately, only a couple racers had to take a four-wheel ride back to the Clinica Mobile over the course of the entire weekend.
Well, I can’t really say I’m looking forward to another long, cold, dreary central Indiana winter, but we still have a month or two of good riding weather before all the two-wheeled toys are tucked away until spring. Oh, the smell of a smooth pad of ice is also just around the corner, so that’s something to look forward to.
It’s never too early to start planning for next year’s running of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 30, 2009, so be sure to stay tuned to www.redbullindianapolisgp.com.
Greg
A historic weekend comes to a close
Remember as a kid how the day after Christmas seemed so blah? The weeks and months of anticipation and planning all came down to a single day of excitement.
Well, it’s Tuesday morning after the inaugural running of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP, and it sure feels like the day after Christmas! However, rather than one day of fun, the folks out on West 16th Street and the City of Indianapolis put together six days of events that culminated with the first motorcycles to race at the Brickyard in 99 years this past Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008.
Tuesday’s MotoGP kickoff event on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis was a great time. Some of the Red Bull Rookies led a parade of motorcycles through the downtown area, gathering around Monument Circle for the kickoff celebration. Fans of all ages were treated to a display of race motorcycles from the past and the present.
The Experience visited the FOX 59 Indianapolis studios Thursday morning and put on a segment about the protective gear worn by motorcycle racers. Morning anchor Angela Ganote quizzed me about all the various pieces of safety equipment I had on and how it protects the racers in the event of a fall.
Mother Nature didn’t fully cooperate over the course of the week. We started off with several glorious days until Friday when the rain began to fall. The wet weather at least gave the teams and riders a chance to work out their wet-weather setups. This also kept the Moto Taxi team pretty busy on the KTM 990 Adventure bikes retrieving fallen riders and giving them a lift back to their garages. Saturday greeted the teams with some sunny, dry conditions, and the teams treated the spectators to some great practice and qualifying sessions.
It appeared Mother Nature might give us a break Sunday morning. The day started off with some blue skies peeking through as the day’s activities started to crank up. The Red Bull Riders Cup race was ran under dry but windy conditions, but the western skies didn’t look promising. Hurricane Ike decided to add a bit of excitement to the remainder of the day. Both the 125 GP and MotoGP events were ended early with red flags, and the 250 GP event was completely cancelled due to the severe weather. Check out www.redbullindianapolisgp.com for full race details.
Even with the wild weather Sunday afternoon, the first running of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP was a spectacular event, and I believe everyone who braved the weather left with an experience to remember.
If you all remember, about a month ago I discovered a great way to wrap up a weekend by starting off the week with a bit of knee-dragging of my own. Ducati North American and Ducati Indianapolis sponsored a Ducati track day Monday, Sept. 15 at Putnam Park Road Course in Mount Meridian, Ind. Those of us attending also were treated to a surprise with legendary Ducati racers Paul Smart and Cook Neilson attending. They both suiting up and took a Ducati 1098R and Desmosedici RR out for some hot laps. What an historic experience for those guys who rode alongside these two great legends of the sport.
Well, a year of activities has come to an end, but it’s now time to start planning for next year’s running of the Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 30, 2009.
Greg
It’s time to go racing
Wow, it’s Monday night, the week of the big event we’ve all been waiting for. I wrapped up a few things in the office today, turned on my “Out of Office” message on my e-mail and forwarded my phone into the voice mail system. If you want to leave me a message, I won’t be seeing it until next Tuesday because it’s time for the Red Bull Indianapolis GP!
My Red Bull Indianapolis GP experience started 14 months ago with the filming of the event announcement video on the “Yard of Bricks” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There have been numerous other experiences I’ve chronicled over the past 10 months and shared with you all here at “The Experience.”
Another activity I’ve been working on is the Moto Taxi team. This is a team of guys who will be responsible for transporting fallen or disabled riders back to the pits. We will be using a fleet of KTM 990 Adventure motorcycles that have been supplied by KTM North America for Moto Taxi duty. Our good friends over at Tucker Rocky have outfitted the team with MSR riding gear, so we’ll be styling in high fashion.
This past Saturday was our orientation and training day at the track. We had the KTMs available for everyone on the team to check out and get comfortable on. After some facilities orientation time and a review of our team’s responsibilities, the guys mounted up on the KTMs to check out all the Indianapolis Motor Speedway grounds.
Probably one of the biggest challenges we’ll face over the weekend will be maneuvering those big KTM 990 Adventure motorcycles through throngs of race fans. Who knows whom we may have on the back of one of those bikes? Hopefully not one of your favorite MotoGP stars!
I’d like to invite each and every one of you to be there to help make those crowds the biggest a MotoGP event has ever experienced. This weekend, all roads lead to Indy.
I also need to thank Don “Moose” Parish for tagging along over the past 10 months and documenting many of the events and experiences with his photography.
If you haven’t got your tickets yet, go to www.redbullindianapolisgp.com for purchase information, and I’ll see you all in Indianapolis later this week.
Greg
Next week is going to be historic!
By this time next week, the first event of the inaugural 2008 Red Bull Indianapolis GP will be kicking off an epic week of activities. The Kick Start Celebration will take 
place at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9 on Monument Circle in downtown Indianapolis. If you are at all able to sneak out of the office for a long lunch, what better way to start off a week of MotoGP experiences than this two hour kickoff event.
Rumors have it a parade of motorcycles will be escorted onto Monument Circle to start off the week-long celebration of two-wheeled racing events. Be sure to check out the schedule of events and the newly posted Guest Guide at www.redbullindianapolisgp.com. The folks out on West 16th Street have also posted a very useful Event Planner to help you out-of-towners locate all the local motorcycle shops, eateries, lodging, off-track events and lots more.
The activities over at the track have definitely picked up this week. New grandstands are going up around the new GP course, tents are being erected, trailers of equipment are coming in, and crews of support people are getting geared up to put on what will undoubtedly be the two-wheeled equivalent of “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing.”
While checking out the Event Planner, I also noticed there are a bunch of neat events on the schedule. The Red Bull TNT Freestyle Motocross will be taking over 62nd Street in Broad Ripple Thursday evening and the XDL Sportbike Freestyle Championship at Indy will be downtown on North Street Friday evening with practice Thursday.
The AMA Flat Track bikes are coming back to the Indiana State Fairgrounds Saturday evening, Sept. 13 with the Lucas Oil Indy Mile AMA Flat Track Grand National. A couple teams were at the fairgrounds the end of July testing, and the sound of those big twins ripping around the mile-long dirt track was a spine-tingling experience. See the video below.
For all of you riding into town next week, be sure to check out Motorcycles on Meridian Friday and Saturday nights starting around 7 p.m. The city is shutting down Meridian Street each night from Maryland Street down to South Street for motorcycle traffic and parking only, providing a perfect opportunity for riders and fans to check out the exciting restaurants and downtown nightlife.
After more than a year of anticipation that started off with the Red Bull Indianapolis GP event introduction back on July 16, 2007, the count down is just a week to go. Be sure to check out all the events on the schedule and make you plans to experience the biggest two-wheeled celebration to hit the city of Indianapolis in almost 100 years.
If you haven’t got your tickets yet, go to www.redbullindianapolisgp.com for purchase information, and I’ll see you all next week in Indianapolis.
Greg