On Track Off Road No. 194

By Graeme Brown
The only other major drama was
that our hotel in Imola unexpectedly
cancelled our booking 3 days before
the race weekend. They said it was
because I hadn’t confirmed but I
reckon it was because I had booked
it on the off-chance of getting the
date right back in October of 2018 (a
benefit of the free cancellation facility
on booking.com) and had a really
cheap rate. After it was cancelled
I looked again and guess what - it
was three times more expensive per
night over the weekend. It meant another
afternoon spent on the phone
and email but Booking came up with
a solution and matched the price for
us.
One element of each year that you
can’t predict is actually the elements.
Some years you never see a
drop of rain at a race weekend but in
2019 so much of the season was affected
by the weather. It also caused
a fair degree of tension amongst the
riders that would carry right through
the year until the penultimate round
in Argentina.
It really started in Assen when the
Dutch spring weather turned a bit
wintry. A harsh northerly wind blew
over the flat lands of Drenthe and
brought really cold temperatures
and frequent wintry showers. If you
read back over the press releases
you would think it was horrific with
the term “snow storm” used in more
than one. As a Scotsman I can safely
say it was nothing like a snow storm,
there were a few flurries that melted
when they hit the ground but from a
racing perspective the track temperature
was so low that it was declared
unsafe and race one on Saturday
was cancelled. That was the first of
a few rider debates throughout the
season over whether racing should
take place or not. As with any poll
- or a group of people - you will get
differing opinions and there were
those that were adamant that it
was not safe to race and others that
wanted to just get on with it.
We had an almost repeat situation
at Imola at the following round when
heavy rain disrupted the action on
Sunday. Race two was cancelled as
again there was a majority of riders
who didn’t want to compete. It shone
a light, once more, on a lack of
robustness in race direction that we
had groups of riders, discussing and
debating the issue in pit lane with
race direction, staff form Pirelli and
the FIM Safety Officer.
It was all very public and on reflection
not the best way to deal with
the matter.
I will happily be corrected but my
understanding from the past was
that the riders voted for a safety representative
amongst themselves and
that rider/s had a private discussion
with the Race Director over these
issues and a decision was taken and
announced. In 2019 we had a situation
where all the cooks were asked
to add to the broth and inevitably it
was spoilt. We had heavy rain again
in Misano but the system worked
and after a delayed start we got
a good, dramatic race. The issue
came to a head however in Argentina
where the high track temperature
caused an issue this time and
we were once more met with groups
of riders and officials standing in
the paddock having an impromptu
debate which gave rise to the now
dubbed ‘San Juan Six’ and the first
time that I have ever photographed
an event where riders protested and
refused to race. Whichever side you
fall on in the argument I think everyone
can agree that nothing good
that came out of the debacle.