Shovelhead's Austin Report
Good Morning ya'll
Here's the readers digest version of my "viewing party" from Austin.
First day at the track was Thursday,
Morning rain but the afternoon cleared up pretty good.
Socializing with friends is always great,
The Tech3 garage suffered a fire overnight which caused the sprinklers to activate.
A brand new battery was on the charger and it exploded overnight.
Obvious fire damages:
total loss on wheel starter, 1 flight case melted, 1 laptop and the complete team server including the data in the server is a total loss,
wirings and even the expresso machine that was about 12 ft from the fire was melted.
Water damage from the sprinklers:
Everything in the back of the box was flooded, flight cases and contents even the spare engine in the back of the box had water in the crankcase,
The ceiling fire proofing foam spray was hit by the sprinklers and the whole back of the box looked like it snowed.
Because the pit boxes are all in one bank, water damages to Cardion AB, Yamaha factory pit boxes as well.
Everything in the Tech3 garage had to be cleaned and dried to remove any moisture.
I ended up with a Bradley Smith Slip on which I got autographed by Bradley (donating it to the our next fundraiser to benefit BC Childrems Hospital)
The Shoei tech even found some of that foam inside Pedrosa's helmet.
Mid afternoon I had to opportunity to walk the track, it is quite thechnical and lots and lots of little dips into corners. Great circuit up close.
Thursday evening we went Downtown, Quick meet with the PS members, great bunch of guys for sure,
Austin rocks, and Thursday nights are Students' night
Crazy prices on booze, 3 vodka 7up for a whooping $5.75 total
Night life downtown Austin is phenomenal
Friday:
Went to the track early, (I am now an "employee" of Shark Helmets wink wink)
Did a lot of running around picking up and dropping off helmets to be serviced.
14 riders wear Shark Helmets that have to be overhauled after every outings.
Lunch time I talked to the data engineer at Tech3 and asked how they were doing and if they needed some local help, he said that they are screwed with the loss of one laptop, they tried to buy one in Austin with Wndows 7, but couldn't find one, they all came up with Windows 8, so I just happened to have some amazing and smart friends in Austin that were having lunch with me.
So after a short meeting, my engineer friend Chris at IBM went said he could help,
We left the track after FP2, Chris went and bought all the parts needed to build a server and at 11pm we delivered a brand new kick ..., built from scratch server, laptop with windows 7 to their hotel. Total cost: parts only, free labor, and the Laptop was a 2 year old laptop that was laying around Chris's house so he gave it to the team.
Impressed, happy and almost speechless was their reaction.
Saturday evening we were invited to dinner with the team at a place named
Salt Lick, massive place and amazing food. The team was running late so I got a sms saying to grab a beer and they will be on their way soon.
Well well well, that amazing place is located in a "Dry" county and they don't sell alcohol but it is BYOB,
So we realized that the team wasn't aware of this so we went to the nearest gas station and bought 3 x 24's and 2 bottles of wine, not really knowing how many people were coming, all in all, there were 27 of us total, so a bit skimpy on the beer but at least they had beer.
Had a fantastic dinner, Herve is great.
At the end of dinner, the bill comes and it is "Cash Only", Fawk!!!! So luckily enough, Chris had the cash reimbursment from the server he built and he saved the day, AGAIN.
Please note that all out of pocket expenses, food and alcohol was reimbursed the next morning.
My relationship with Tech3 is great, now it is even better
.
Chris was offered a trip to Brno with the team, and Herve told him that once in Brno, he will get a pass, a uniform and a scooter for the whole time.
Sunday
Race day went well considering the limited resources due to the fire.
Sunday afternoon, while the team were packing, it is a common practice for locals to raid the pit boxes for left overs,
Chris and my other friend Rob from Austin managed to get 8 kegs of race fuel and cleaners/oil/etc.
The Toyota Tundra was full and we even filled up the little Fiat 500.
Once at the house, a quick retail price estimate, $2300 in fuel and well over $3000 in misc products, water damaged boxes full of Yamalube parts cleaner @$20/can, gear oil, engine oil, moto wash and more....
All the products are top of the line.
Sunday evening is my usual dinner with Cal's crew (without Cal and Lucy this time),
Went to
Bone Daddy's, Classier and hotter than Hooters
After dinner, took 2 of the guys to a strip joint, they don't have that in France
And then we went to the Red Bull After party.
Team/riders/dorna, everybody is there.
Guaranteed hang over for Lorenzo, Yikes !!
Monday:
Took 4 Tech3 guys to
Red's gun range.
AK47, .45 and some big ... long barrell revolver.
Great smiles on everyone's face.
Everybody's flights were scheduled for late monday afternoon.
Home now, Amazing weekend
Souvenirs brought back:
Bradley Smith's M1 exhaust (crashed in Qatar, and water damaged from Austin) Signed,
Brand new Scott Redding Shark Racer R Pro Helmet, Autographed
Marc VDS watch and shirt
Oh...and a permanent 2013 track access Motogp pass
