P100
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
E
xtract from a MotoGP
Rider's diary:
06:00 – Woke up, put on
leathers, in case of calendar
change.
06:05 – Took leathers off,
went for a run.
10:00 – Put leathers on, in
case of calendar change.
10:05 – Read emails. Racing
postponed again. Took leathers
off. Drank tea out of sponsor's
energy-drink cup.
13:00 – Put leathers on, in
case of calendar change.
13:05 – Took leathers off. Ate
calorie-controlled lunch (pas-
ta), wearing other sponsor's
baseball cap.
14:00 – Calendar changes an-
nounced. Nothing for months.
Put leathers on, just in case.
Contemplated suicide.
14:05 – Went cycling until too
tired to think.
19:00 – Ignored calorie-con-
trolled supper (pasta again).
Drank whole bottle of vodka
out of sponsor's energy-
drink cup.
20:00 – Put fresh leathers on.
Passed out.
Well, not the suicidal
thoughts, I hope. But flippancy
aside, it's a bleak time for all the
world, and especially worrying to
contemplate the mental state of
world-class athletes who are al-
ready so far out there that many
"normal" people think they must
have several screws loose.
THE PAIN OF CONTEST INTERRUPTUS
No racing is tough on
us, the fans, of course,
but what about the
racers, the mechanics
and race-team
personnel?
