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Silver Bullet is one of only a few Websites worldwide that receives Desiree Crossman`s newsy behind the MotoGP scene column (not always PC). She reports on #21 John (Hopper) Hopkin`s MotoGP exploits and her own as they travel the globe. We haven't heard from Des for a while and it is good to catch up again.
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Yes here we are in the Czech Republic who’s officially part of the European Union now, but we still have to go thru border check when we drive thru Austria unlike going thru other borders in Western Europe.
The journey over here was OK; John had a nice break at home for the two weeks. Didn’t do a whole lot of anything but fishing and golfing, and he actually stayed off his motocross bike which is highly unusual. Now that he’s 21, he even went to a couple bars for the first time legally in the US, which is very exciting for us sheltered Americans who can’t do anything until the ripe age of 21. But majority of the time it was golf and fishing. We did manage to go to Hawaii for a few days when he got back from England. We went to the island of Oahu and stayed at Waikiki and of course because it was our first time in Hawaii, we did the whole tourist adventure. We went to the north shore and checked out Waimea Bay, then went snorkeling, and the highlight of our trip was hiking in the pouring rain in flip flops and shorts to a place called Manoa Falls. Half way up the hike, it was raining so much that John and I just took off our flip flops and hiked barefoot the rest of the way cause’ the sandals were too slippery. We’re nut cases.
Hawaii is pretty cool, but I still kind of find it hard to comprehend that it’s an American state. In some aspects it is, but its exoticness and serenity along with the Japanese and Polynesian influence obviously separates it from other states, and it being in island 5 hours away could have something to do with it as well. Apparently, on one of the smaller islands, the natives still speak fluent Hawaiian.
Anyway, back to the journey over here. John left on Sunday to go to London for a couple days and I left Monday afternoon. Saturday, (I have to say this cause’ I was pretty excited) I went to the Play Boy Mansion for a Charity Fashion Show and there was no way I was going to get on a plane after a night of free drinks. It was definitely an experience to be there, didn’t meet the man himself but I did get to see his “mates” wandering about the yard, and yes I did see the grotto and no I didn’t go in it. It was wild and I knew I would be exhausted on Sunday from the show so I went Monday and met John on Tuesday at the airport hotel. Wednesday morning we flew over to Austria where I haven’t been all year, so it was kind of strange flying back to see the lush green fields and hearing the German language again. Once we landed, we got our hire car and drove to Czech Republic. Like I said, although Czech is part of the union now, we still had to go thru border check but luckily we didn’t get a ticket this time around.
We got to the track in the afternoon and said our hellos to the team. We were a bit jet lag so the rest of the day we fell asleep and didn’t wake up till next day. Well, I woke up at about 2:30 am and watched TV until about 7:00 in the morning and figured if I couldn’t go back to sleep, I’d walk around the track, so I did. John didn’t have a lot to do on Thursday so nothing went on except for the usual setting the bikes up. It was a bit hot though and that will probably be the last of the sun for the rest of the weekend. Today, the clouds rolled in and the rain came down. The first session in the morning John went really well, was first fastest so he was pretty pleased. It didn’t rain too much just a slight sprinkle, then towards the end of the session, it came down. Nobody crashed either in the first nor second session of today, at least not that I could tell. It was one of those “iffy” days cause’ the weather was having its moments and it decided to piss down for awhile. Nothing too exciting, a few slides here and there, but that’s about it. It managed to stop raining but that just meant the track was slippery for the riders. Kurtis Roberts did pretty well today and Carlos got pole. John was struggling a bit with the tires, but it’s ok, still got tomorrow, hopefully cause’ it calls for more rain here and semi-cloudy on Sunday. This is the first time I believe in all the times I’ve been here where it’s rained. Every other time, it’s been exceptionally hot and humid during this race so the atmosphere is a little different. We shall see what’s in store in the skies tomorrow.
Every one seemed to have a nice little break between Donington and here, so people seem to be in good spirits. A little rest and relaxing don’t hurt. It’s good to see everyone again, the last time I saw the “paddock crowd” was in Assen, Holland, been to a few places since then. Well that’s the latest from Brno, nothing much going on, no major crashes, weather isn’t the greatest and everyone seems to be well. I do know the silly season has started already cause’ rumors are flying around as to who’s going where next year. Oh paddock gossip, isn’t it amusing?
Until tomorrow,
bye for now.
Des
