Phillip Island, Day 2. Practice and qualifying for the riders, meeting up with old friends for me.

18/10/14

A good friend responded to my plea for a free ticket to get into the track and snuck me in using his pass. It's a bit naughty, but I'm on a tight budget, so it had to be done. For obvious reasons I can't name him, but thanks Mate. You know who you are.

First stop was the Moto GP Expo where I caught up with a whole bunch of people from my previous life in the motorcycle industry. It was really good to see so many familiar faces.

Suzuki had next season's Moto GP bike on display.

Then it was on to the Moto Guzzi stand where Nathan had my gaskets waiting to fix my ailing, noisey bike. Thanks Nathan, you're a life saver.I will pay you back with a beer or two next time you're in Perth.

Practice got under way and the bikes were in and out of the pits trying different setups to chase that elusive 100 th of a second advantage. There are a million images on the net that you can see, so I'll only post a few here. I still haven't had my camera repaired from our last trip so these blurry photos are from my pocket camera.

Mr Rossi was a huge crowd favourite.

Ninteen year old Jack Miller. Australia's hope in Moto 3.

Has he got the goods?

Sometimes it got a bit crowded.

My arty shot for the day.

On my way out of the track I stopped in for a quick look at the Phillip Island Visitor's Centre. It's only small but interesting and worth a visit if you're on the Island.

Aron Slight's WSB Honda.

Wayne Garder poster, "What a day" alright.

Gardner beat Wayne Rainey by half a second in 

Phillip Island's inaugural Grand Prix.

It was time for me play mechanic. Back at home I spent about half an hour spinning spanners and then the Guzzi was wearing some nice, new, air tight gaskets in the exhaust. It was a pleasure to fire it up and hear that nice quiet burble again. The boys from Moto Guzzi had offered to do it for me, but they had done more than enough already. Thanks again guys.

We rubbed shoulders with the rich and famous at Pinos for dinner.

Well, we had some pizza. then after dinner I did meet a couple of real celebrities...

Tex & Bundy.

Tex and Bundy (the world's fastest moto dog) are famous in Australia. They spend their days fundraising and guess what they ride...a Moto Guzzi Stelvio. You can read more about this wonderful duo on Facebook, just search Tex and Bundy charity fundraisers. You can also read more about their history at:

http://www.motoguzzi.com.au/20130701.html.

Bundy is one of the nicest ladies I've met, and she even gave me a kiss.