Bike India

Best Bikes in India | No.1 Two Wheeler Magazine

  • Home
  • News
    • Upcoming Launches
    • Latest News
    • New Bike Launches
  • Reviews
    • First Ride
    • Road Test
    • Comparison
  • Features
  • Our Bikes
  • Videos
  • Subscribe
  • NG Auto
    • AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA
    • CAR INDIA
    • COMMERCIAL VEHICLE
  • Brands

From Inside the Aprilia MotoGP Pit: On the Racing Line

July 11, 2016 by Aninda Sardar Leave a Comment

From Inside the Aprilia MotoGP Pit On the Racing Line (1)          

MotoGP is an exciting sport, even when seen on the telly. The excitement levels go through the roof when you watch it at a race circuit. But to watch a race from the pit garage with the crew of a competing team? Frankly, ‘exciting’ is too inadequate a description of the experience

Story: Aninda Sardar
Photos: DPPI, Aprilia & Aninda Sardar

The speck comes out of the final turn and races towards the chequered flag, jostling to maintain its position. As it crosses the flag, the hitherto silent throng around me erupts in a chorus of cheers in a replay of just moments past when Valentino Rossi had ridden his Yamaha to victory ahead of Honda’s Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa. The speck of a rider we were currently cheering was Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Alvaro Bautista who had finished in an excellent eighth place. But why on earth were we cheering Bautista when Rossi had won the race? You see, we were at the Circuit de Barcelona in Catalunya to witness the Spanish Grand Prix as one of the guests of Team Aprilia Racing Team Gresini. Far more importantly, this allowed us access to the team’s pit garage and it was from there that we were watching all the action on the track.

From Inside the Aprilia MotoGP Pit On the Racing Line (6)

The build-up to the excitement, however, started weeks earlier when I was told by my editor that there was an invite from Piaggio (parent company of Aprilia) and that I would be going. That was when the caterpillars in the tummy were born. Soon enough the humdrum of getting a visa and daily work caught up and the caterpillars turned into dormant cocoons. For an ardent Valentino Rossi fan the race at Mugello, despite its electrifying finish with Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo taking the chequered flag ahead of Honda’s Marc Marquez in genuine photo-finish, meant the cocoons remained as dormant in my stomach as they ever were. The first sign of the cocoons turning to butterfly came about in the taxi to the airport. It suddenly struck me that I was headed to my maiden MotoGP viewing experience. By the time I had cleared immigration a sense of disbelief had set in. This had to be a dream and I would soon wake up. But it wasn’t a dream.

From Inside the Aprilia MotoGP Pit On the Racing Line (20)

More on page 2>

Aninda Sardar – who has written 312 posts on Bike India.


Email • Twitter

Related posts:

TVS Racing Set for One Make Championship
Sarthak Chavan Creates History in Thailand
CEAT Zoom Rad X1 Tyre Test Part 2 - Traction For More Action
Pages: 1 2 3 4

Filed Under: Features, Motorsports Tagged With: Alvaro, Aprilia, Bautista, bike, Bradl, Catalunya, Championship, dani, Eugene, Gresini, Hernandez, India, Laverty, Marc, Marquez, Moto 2, Moto 3, motogp, Motor home, Motorsports, Paddock, Pedrosa, race, racing, Redding, Rossi, Scott, spain, Stefan, team, Valentino, Yonny

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

AlphaOmega Captcha Classica  –  Enter Security Code
 ⟲    ➴
 


MAY 2022

Bike India - India's no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

MARCH 2022

Bike India - India's no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

Anniversary Ride to the Isle of Man with Freddie Spencer and Sid Lal

TVS Ntorq Ncounters I – Navigating the Night

BMW G 310 GS Explores Nagaland

SPECIAL Featured Story

2022 Yamaha MT-10 – First Ride Review

2022 Yamaha MT-10 – First Ride Review

Yamaha have made a significant change to the now Euro 5-compliant MT-10 with new technology and rider aids, an increase in power and torque, plus dramatic styling. The R1-derived MT-10 has never looked so tempting

More about this.

Car India and Bike India Awards 2019

Recent Posts

  • Odysse V2 and V2+ Electric Scooters Unveiled
  • TVS Racing Set for One Make Championship
  • First EV Planet Store Launched in Pune
  • 2022 Yamaha MT-10 – First Ride Review

Car India

Car India Magazine - Get your Digital Subscription

Latest News

TVS Racing Set for One Make Championship

First EV Planet Store Launched in Pune

Sarthak Chavan Creates History in Thailand

Royal Enfield Celebrate Association with Indian Army

Subscribe to Car India

Subscribe to our Car India Magazine

Bike India: India’s no. 1 two-wheeler magazine

BIKE India covers the two-wheeler industry in its entirety, both from the local and the international perspective. Also delivers the most definitive verdict on machinery and performance by explaining the hows, whys, and whats on every new bike in a lucid and user-friendly manner. BIKE India is the India’s most authoritative two-wheeler publication, a magazine for people with a passion for bikes and everything to do with their history and heritage.
SiteMap

Copyright © 2022 · BIKE INDIA INDIA’S NO. 1 TWO WHEELER MAGAZINE, BY FAR! ·