[BlackPearl]

Its Tuesday evening 9th September and I log on to Home | The Official MotoGP Website to find that the next race is in Indianapolis on 13-14. I had no idea where Indianapolis was and told my wifey that if I had known earlier we could have planned to watch this race as watching Rossi in a race has been on our to do list for a very long time. Wifey asks me to find out he disatnce between Hightstown, New Jersey and Indianpolis and it turned out to be nearly 700 odd miles. It was a few seconds before she decided that we are going make this, booked the tickets that were available and I started to find out the car suitable for the journey. Booked a pontiac G6 and waited impatiently for D-day. On Friday one of my clients calls me up and says that he wanted to wrap up everything by 4 as he was going to drive very far i.e. to upstate New York. I then told him that I was going to Indy that evening and he almost fell off from his chair.. lol
But things were not going smooth as we did not get the car we booked and got the only available one and it turned out to be a Jeep Patriot.
Wasting no more time wifey and me embarked on the long journey amidst torrential rain, thanks to IKE... The road was twisty and driving the Jeep in the rain under that condition meant that I was on my toes. No chance of falling asleep as I usually do while driving an automatic.. The ESP light kept on blinking in each and every turn and this was the first time that I really enjoyed driving in US. Wifey drove for 100 odd miles in between and we reached Indianapolis safely. We went stright to the Speedway where the practice for 125cc was just starting. The next 10 minutes was a mixed feeling for me, shocked, overwhelmed.. no I dont have the words to explain, I need Sam Kapasi to help me. For the first few minutes I was not able to see the bikes go past the start finish line. For a few seconds I thought why I had come this long when I just could not follow anything. I was not able to identify the riders, the numbers or even the colours of the bikes that whizzed past and these were only 125cc machines. After 10 minutes or so I started to get the hang of things and was able to follow better. Then started the practice session of the meanest and baddest bikes on earth with the best riders - motogp machines. The sound of these machines have to be heard in person to beleive. It was orgasmic to say the least. I thought the glass windows would fall apart when these machines were going at full throttle. The qualifying was in the afternoon and it was bright and sunny and of cource Rossi took the ploe position. The Sunday race was amidst heavy shower and had to be curtailed due to wet track and heavy wind, but The Doctor had ensured the victory in the maiden motogp race in Indianapolis and by a huge margin.. here are the pics -

[akroy]

Hey BP, some post from you after a long time. Must say this was a lifetime experience hah.
Nice pics. Indeed you did the distance very fast !! Hope you are not caught for overspeeding !!

Abhi

[Saurabh M]

I was waiting for this to come. Nicely presented. I was completely unaware of the Indianapolis GP in Sept. Would have loved to watch Rossi. Had I known earlier, I could have joined you guys. It was about 500 miles from my place.

Good that you enjoyed the quick trip. It must have been a lifetime experience. It also seems that you got a good seating position to watch the motoGP.

Atleast the Patriot helped in the torrential rain. Planning to do a Washington trip pretty soon.

[BlackPearl]

yes this Jeep was also an eye opener for me.. it can easily do speeds upto 95 miles/hour and it was quite stable at the turns. Alas if the Mahindras in India could be at par with these Jeeps.

[mjothi]

Nice experience. I am sure you are happy with the Jeep than you would have been in Pontiac, right?

Man now, thats something

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

The road was twisty and driving the Jeep in the rain under that condition meant that I was on my toes. No chance of falling asleep as I usually do while driving an automatic..

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by akroy

Hope you are not caught for overspeeding !!
Abhi

oh I have already got a ticket in US but not for speeding.. I got it because I had not stopped long enough at a red signal before turning right . I am sure that plenty more will be coming my way before I flee from this country. Long live Indian traffic and rules.. lol

Originally Posted by mjothi

Man now, thats something

yes it really is shocking but I have still not found out a solution to keep me awake during the 30 mile return journey from office to home. Started listning to music and it worked for sometime but the bug has returned again
I thought of switching to a manual car but I dont have the money
I dont know how people can keep awake in an automatic car on a straight highway and that too at 65 mph

[mjothi]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

Started listning to music and it worked for sometime but the bug has returned again :-(
I thought of switching to a manual car but I dont have the money :-(
I dont know how people can keep awake in an automatic car on a straight highway and that too at 65 mph

Make sure you "enjoy" the music and sing along.

[planet_rocker]

nice travelogue polished dome do keep us updated with more pics if any. what happened to the red topi?

[ssjr0498]

Hey BP,

looking at the Indy speedway reminded me of me watching the F1 race there back in 2004.. Nice pics and now I am again inspired to go watch a MotoGP race before the god decides to retire.

Cheers
Shrey

[Mpower]

Damn! Both me and Ananth were at the race. Did'nt know you were coming. Will try to get a few pics out of my camera.

[snaronikar]

Nice pics, BP. The jeep also looks to be nice masculine machine. BTW, the no. plate of jeep is not visible? Was it a new vehicle or something? OR you removed the no. plate...just to hide from us bhpians.

[planet_rocker]

some states donot require front registration number plates - i guess that is why the front plates are missing.

[finneyp]

Congrats BP for making it!

Watching MotoGP / F1 real live is one exhilarating experience!

Hail Fiat Yamaha!!!

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by snaronikar

Nice pics, BP. The jeep also looks to be nice masculine machine. BTW, the no. plate of jeep is not visible? Was it a new vehicle or something? OR you removed the no. plate...just to hide from us bhpians.

I was also shocked to see that there was no number plate and I realised this after reaching Indianapolis. The first thought that came to mind was that the number plate must have fallen off during the journey and now I am a sitting duck for the cops. Wifey then assured that it is not mandatory to have number plates at the front.. lol

Originally Posted by Mpower

Damn! Both me and Ananth were at the race. Did'nt know you were coming. Will try to get a few pics out of my camera.

oh that was a bad miss.. what was your stand number? were you there on both Sat and Sunday?

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by BlackPearl

oh that was a bad miss.. what was your stand number? were you there on both Sat and Sunday?

BOth Sat and Sun. We were mostly in Penthouse-A. But wandered into the infield quite a bit. was able to see bike much closer there. Got really bummed with the weather, that's why I did'nt start a thread.