Rossi on Ducati motobike, 2011, at Sepang race course in Malaysia.
I shall describe Moto GP, the events in Malaysia, and compare the costs of Silverstone circuit used for al types of racing in the UK, and Sepang (a town in Malaysia about five mile south of the circuit).
Problem
Rossi was at the Moto GP in Malaysia. What's Moto and what's GP? It's all a mystery to me, but I listen attentively, politely, as my family explain.
Answers
Moto GP Explained
Moto is short for a motorbike. Moto is also the Malaysian word for a motorbike.
(Malaysian, is what we call it in English. In a bookshop, asking for a dictionary, you need to ask for Bahasa Malay, or Malay language. It's a lovely, easy language. When else might you use it? It's almost the same as Indonesian, if you want to learn a new language. As you drive through Malaysia, as I did - actually as a passenger, you can identify words on shops and signs. Learn it on Duolingo. I have posts on Malaysian.)
Back to the subject of Moto GP. For the uninitiated, British fan Trevor says:
"GP stands for Grand Prix. That's the big prize, the big race. It's a brand, holding many races in the season, the motorbike equivalent of Formula One which beloved of those who watch prototype cars, not production cars, produced or made for you and me to buy, but specifically built for the event, undergoing continuous development, within the regulations.
"If you want to see regular cars which you might buy being raced, consider the national and international Formula Ford. Those are for everybody racing the same Ford, but highly-tuned cars.
"The equivalent in the motorbike world is the (word) superbike, the sort of bike you might buy, but adjusted. You can't race a bike unless you have a BSB, which stands for British Superbike. The manufacturer, or rather the distributor, must sell a minimum of 500 bikes, so you can't make a one-off; it must be a generally available bike, a 'homologation'. The word comes from homo, meaning the same, many the same being sold.
"The bikes you or your family might buy, are unlike Rossi's bike, of which there are probably only three in the world. One with rain tyres and one spare. And each one costing a million pounds.
"It is a championship. It's not a knockout. (Football is a knockout. So are Toastmasters International speaking contests.) Moto GP has no semi-finals, unlike football and toastmasters.
"If you fall ill, you just lose points. Rossi was riding and broke a leg in two places about two months ago. (I am writing in November 2017) and 'though fit, he missed one race, but three weeks later he was back, which is not uncommon. He lost those points, so he is now trailing Marquez. At 38, Rossi is 'old', in motorbike riding terms. He has done amazingly well, extraordinarily well.
"The winners and losers collect points, through the season, until the champion wins. The champion is currently Marquez, who has a 23 point lead. The guy who is second is another Spaniard. For Rossi to win at the end, in the last race he would have to win and Marquez would have to be further down, twelfth in order not to win overall in the next race, and that's not very likely.
"The Spaniards have invested enormous amounts in training winners for these races.
Farewell Breakfast in Malaysia
The recent race was at Sepang, in KL Malaysia. Before driving or flying back south to Singapore, or Australia, or Europe, or the UK, or the USA, you could have breakfast at KL's airport hotel.
About Rossi
Valentino Rossi is Italian. According to Wikipedia,
Rossi [ˈrossi] is an Italian surname, said to be the most common surname in Italy. Due to the diaspora, it is also very common in other countries such as the Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, France, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Switzerland, the United States and Uruguay. "Rossi" is the plural of Rosso (meaning red, in Italian), although it is argued the surname derives from another source.
That's really helpful in learning Italian. I have been learning Italian with Duolingo. At first I could not remember with o was masculine singular or plural, and whether i was singular or plural, male or female. No I just have to remember Valentino Rossi. One man called Valentino. Male singular ends in o. Many share the same surname Rossi. Or the name means redhead, many red hairs, Rossi is plural.
How do you get to see Rossi and his supporters?
See ROSSI or his bike Close-up
The stand which had completely sold out early was the Rossi stand, which was full of Rossi supporters, the sea of fans wearing Rossi outfits making a sea of yellow.
The Rossi stand is the best place to watch the race. On the turn, to make it safer, the riders have in recent years been slowed down by a bank creating a camber (road slope).
The main central grandstand gives a view in both directions, although less close to either of the adjacent turns. The circuit has many left and right turns. Look online in advance to decide where you want to sit.
The more recently built or rebuilt circuits, such as Shanghai, Sepang, Bahrain and Qatar are an improved design which enables spectators to see more of the circuit, not just one or two turns. The best place to see more at Sepang, although you are further back, is standing up on the hillside. If you go on the first day, and sometimes the second day, there may be free seating specifically permitted, or unenforced seating, giving spectators a chance to try out different viewpoints. On the final day when seats are both sold and occupied, the officials will be checking tickets carefully, so by then you need to have decided and bought seats in the stand where you want to be on the last day at Sepang and other circuits.
My family went, again, as usual, to the recent race in Malaysia. At the end of the day, about six o'clock, after the race is over, Rossi is so popular that people queue up (the Americans say line up) just to see his bike. You don't have to pay anything. You can go to the pit lane and walk past the bikes. Some of the team are there. The bikes are out but behind a barrier.
First, there's a safety briefing. Everybody was told not to run. But people still ran to be first up against the barrier to see the bikes and the team.
"The British rider, Cal Crutchlow, joked ruefully, 'You want to see Rossi, don't you!' "
Our Brit replied, encouragingly, with his English accent, "Good luck in your next race!"
Rossi is enormously popular, even though he can't win with his present points. The Malaysians want to see him. Supporters from Italy, his home country, made the trip from Europe especially to see him race.
The organizers must be glad to have him riding in the event, even though he has little chance of winning. 95,000 tickets were sold in Malaysia.
Next Trip - To Spain to Watch the last Moto GP!
The next and last race of the season is at Valencia, in Spain. It is down the coast from Barcelona (where you can see buildings by the famous architect if you want a two-centre holiday).
Comparing Prices
Malaysia lost its Formula One contract to Singapore, after events at both venues ran in parallel for a few years. "Singapore got more sponsorship, more money. It's all about money."
The last race in Formula one is Malaysia this year (or next). They got permission to be called Fi circuit. Will they be forced to rename it? This probably depends on what the contract said.
The Sepang circuit in Malaysia holds 24 hour events. There are many Asian series of car racing - and probably motor bikes races - and various classes of car racing.
The 20 or 25 fastest riders in the world have all come up through the ranks of races which you can watch at other times of the year.
The European And Other Prices
Singapore is dearer than Malaysia, very popular. The Formula one races go through the city with stands built along the route and road closures.
In Malaysia the Friday practice runs are free to watch. The riders are just getting used to the circuit, if it's their first time, or the circuit had been changed since the last major race, or even in the last month. Friday is less popular because people are at work. I suppose attracting people on the Friday is also a loss leader, and will tempt them to stay on for the rest of the event.
On Saturday it's the qualifier. After that the group is divided into two, the ten fastest riders and the ten slowest riders.
But all is not lost, at least not by everybody. In the next event, Saturday afternoon, the top two are promoted to join the top ten, so 12 compete.
But only ten go forward to the last race on Sunday.
The more expensive seats are down on the grandstand by the track. There's more than one grandstand. My family just turned up to buy tickets at the venue on Friday, and seats had already been sold on line, so some of the grandstands were already full.
The venue still had some seats at the back of the less popular grandstands.
The price was about 220 ringgit, the equivalent of about £35. You can pay more for exclusive areas and private events.
The seating stands all have different names. One is named after Rossi.
Standing room up on the hill costs only about £3-5. The ticket is for the three days, in effect two days plus the first day, the Friday, which is free.
Prices in Singapore and the UK are higher, about the same price as a theatre or opera ticket.
Compare that with the price of a ticket to watch a race at Silverstone in England. It cost about £70-75.
Meals are also cheaper in Malaysia, you could pay about £2-3 for a basic dish, although you pay a lot more for a whole steamed g a r o u p a. (Spaces inserted to thwart spell checker which prefers the more common word group.)
Check prices on the Moto GP website.
Useful Websites
You can watch a video replay of the race in Malaysia on
www.motogp.com
MotoGP standings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_MotoGP_season
Books To Buy
You can buy Valentino Rossi's Biography, What if I had never tried it? from Amazon, for yourself or as a Christmas or birthday present or just a gift for somebody else.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/
You can book tickets for next year in Malaysia online. Etickets without lanyard and ear plugs. Earlybird prices until March. Check for up to date prices and conditions:
https://www.bookmoto.com/mt-malaysia/tickets.htm?gclid=Cj0KCQjwp_DPBRCZARIsAGOZYBThSsn5XtyBFuTQLk_MNm0dr8UAwvpHPkyAb_rg6jIVgNsnhT02AeAaAkw6EALw_wcB
Travel tips
Singapore Tourist Board
visitsingacompore.com
Singapore Airlines
singaporeair.com
Event
Formula One (night)
Gardens By The Bay (day, plants, trees and giant waterfall)
Night Safari (night, animals)
Malaysia
Tourist Board
Sepang
Malaysia Airline
Twin towers and museum about its construction
Spain
Tourist Board
Barcelona
G a u d i cathedral and buildings
Italy
Tourist Board
www.italiantouristboard.co.uk
www.alitalia.com
Where to visit: Roma (Colosseum and catacombs); Florence (art gallery and bridge); Milan (La Scala opera house for opera; Football Museum opened 2017); Perugia in Umbria for cliffside Etruscan gateway and underground tunnels.
USA
Virgin Airlines (wonderful airport lounge New York and airline socks in jolly red);
www.virginatlantic.com
Harley Davidson Museum, Milwaukee, WI, USA (90 miles north of the city of Chicago, in the state of Wisconsin)
www.h-dmuseum.com
Events for Armed Forces Day Celebration May; Bike Night Thursday nights May-September; Custom bike show on Labor Day Weekend; Veterans Day Appreciation, November. (See next post.)
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
Please share your favourite posts. See later post on Rossi and Italy.
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