It's confirmed. We have hotel reservations for next year at the same Best Western Victorian Inn. The hotel is being pretty strict and annoying this time around. Here are some excerpts from the confirmation letter:

This is to confirm your 4 Night minimum reservation at the Victorian Inn during the Red Bull U. S. Grand Prix.....

On September 1, 2005, the amount of $x will be charged to your credit card for your entire reservation. After September 1, 2005, reservations are non-cancelable and will forfeit the entire prepaid amount of $x.

The terms are pretty harsh - 4 night MINIMUM!!! but what can you do? I sent an email to my boss today to let him know that I was going to be on vacation July 21 (Fri) and July 24 (Mon) of 2006. He wrote back that he was scheduling a meeting for that Monday morning :).

Looks like MotoGP might have competition with the annual rodeo event in Salinas. Here's a link to the Monterey Herald article (http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/local/states/california/counties/monterey_county/salinas/12125216.htm)about it.

Vicki and I have reservations at the Otter Inn again. It's expensive (again), but they didn't charge my card and we can cancel up to 72 hours prior to arrival.

It's not quite as nice as the Victorian Inn, and it a bit too close to Cannery Row so is a little noisy at night....but at least we won't be sleeping on the Ciurczak's floor (with the associated non-refundable fee!)

Hi all -

All general admission, grandstand seats, paddock passes and general camping will go on sale at 8:00 a.m. (PST) Thursday by phone at (800) 327-SECA or on-line at www.laguna-seca.com (http://www.laguna-seca.com) . All remaining tickets, including Flagroom and Laguna Club hospitality areas, are available by telephone only.

Good luck!

OK, here's what I was able to get today at 9 am from the Laguna Seca website. BTW, all the suites were SOLD OUT by the time I logged in!

The following tickets were bought for Vicki/Colin and Team Ciurczak:
4 3-day general admission tickets
4 Turn 11 Saturday
4 Turn 11 Sunday
4 Turn 4 Saturday
4 Turn 4 Sunday
4 Paddock passes
3 Motorcycle parking
2 Souvenir program

OK, so we got a bit of everything! For those who haven't done it, note that you are limited to 6 tickets per customer per address and each paddock pass must be purchased along with a general admission ticket.

Got my general admission, grandstand and camping tix, but paddock passes were sold out already! :(

If anyone hears of an available pass at non-scalping prices, could you please give me a head's-up? Thanks!

Bill

Hey Bill,
I'm sure we can figure something out with the paddock passes. There's a bunch of time we won't be using ours like when we are finding meat on a stick, corn dogs and pulled pork...oh yeah and margaritas... :biggrin:

Thanks Vicki! I'm hoping I can find one somewhere, but I'm certainly not above begging and borrowing should that become necessary. :bow:

We got our Laguna Seca ticket confirmation in the mail this week. Phew! I guess we can stop worrying about whether or not we got all the tickets we wanted.

Hey Guys, :horn:

It's almost that time of year again... :whoo:

"Who's going??"

Cheers!

vicki and i are still "in"

I'm in. I've got a room booked at the Comfort Inn, Santa Cruz.

For those who didn't get paddock passes initially, but still want some, Laguna Seca has opened up an additional allotment via lottery. Details at the link below:

click here... (https://www.laguna-seca.com/paddockpasses/)

We got our tickets in the mail today!!! Anyone else?

I'm hoping ours arrived too and don't show up on eBay...

More clarification on the Laguna Seca USGP Parking Plan:

All motorcycles will be instructed to enter the facility via Barloy canyon only. Those who do not have a prepaid preferred parking band will be directed to Wolf Hill to park, those who have the band will be directed to the Red 2 lot.

Mary Johnson-Derr
Ticket Manager
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Looks like there is a movie coming out about last year's Laguna Seca MotoGP event.
http://www.dtkmovie.com/

I found this package offered online. I don't have tix yet, so I might be interested, but not sure if I want grandstand both days. I'm planning on riding down Saturday, staying one night, heading back Sunday. If you'd like to look at splitting this up a bit let me know and I'll get us hooked up:

Event: 2006 Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, CA. USA

Dates: July 21-23, 2006

Tickets Package:
(2) tickets, 3-Day General Admission
(2) tickets, Grandstand Seats, Turn 4, Saturday
(2) tickets, Grandstand Seats, Turn 11, Sunday
(2) tickets, 3-Day Paddock Passes
Total= $340

-Tom

Hey Tom,

That looks like a great package at a great price. Those Paddock Passes are THE KEY... perhaps more important than the Grandstand Seats which are in two Great Turns. I'd GO FOR IT and I'm sure you can find a buyer for the 2nd tickets. If not, I could probably find a friend interested. I am very fortunate to again be able to drool down the tops of the Umbrella Girls. :drool:

Cheers,

Scott McC

PS Saturday Night Only Lodging is no small feat. I imagine you have this lodging NAILED DOWN as you may be in for a surprise otherwise...

Tom,

Lets talk about the tickets looks like a good deal to me! I'm in the lottery for tix now.
You riding this SMR?

Don

I'm on Hacienda ride this weekend, Don, and then in Salt Lake City following weekend. Around during the week tho. Let's talk. We should probably move quickly on this - don't know how long these tix will be available.

PS - he also has a room with two queen beds at Good Nite Inn in Salinas, $159/nite, Thurs-Mon. plus tax.

Give me a call when you'e able.

Don

Better lucky than good... after returning from the Oregon Ride :biggrin: I hit the lotto! That is, two paddock passes + GA tix showed up in my mailbox from the last minute ticket lottery. Now sorting out last minute hotel lodging - which so far has been a bust for a 40 mile radius (unless $500+ a night is now a good rate for a place to rest your head between races). Any good leads on rooms for two or three nights, pass them on! Matt and I are looking forward to it. As long as Matt can get off work -- better him than me facing that issue!

See ya at the races:cool:

You might try Country Inn - 0.5 miles S - 126 John St, Salinas, 93901 - (831) 757-8383

I booked in there for about $150/nite, I believe, a couple weeks ago.

Greetings MSMC'ers,

Unfortunately, Shaun and I will NOT be having another Saturday Night BBQ this year, but we did secure a Private Room at Tarpy's Roadhouse ( www.tarpys.com ) for 16 friends at 8:00. Tarpy's is a 1917 Roadhouse on five acres and is described as "Five Star American Country Cuisine". It is very festive/popular, with a great bar, food, fantastic outdoor dining and will be TOTALLY BOOKED. We have had large dinners there for the past decade or so during the Historic's and know the place well. "You will not be disappionted!" :cheers:

FYI, Tarpy's is located at 2999 Monterey-Salinas Highway (HWY 68), Monterey, CA 93940. It's between the Airport and Laguna Seca, right near the intersection of Canyon del Rey Blvd (from Seaside aka Embassy Suites Hotel) and Hwy 68.

Please reply or PM me as SPACE IS LIMITED! :nopity:

Cheers,

Scott McC

PS (EDIT 7-11-06) I anticipate SLOW SERVICE due to the crowds and based on past history, do not expect dinner to end before 10:00 - 10:30 unless we really push things along. PLEASE understand this if you are planning on attending any auctions etc. that evening...

Greetings,

Due to an apparent lack of interest, I have cancelled the Saturday Night Dinner at Tarpy's Roadhouse during the MotoGP this weekend.

Cheers,

Scott McC

Annie and I just checked into our hotel in Monterey, and are headed to Cannery Row in a minute. We're going to try to get to the track early tomorrow to see some of the practices and hopefully have some good luck meeting folks in the paddock area. The wireless speed here at the hotel is blazing fast, so we'll be able to post pictures up as soon as we're back to the room.

Hope to see some folks at the wine & cheese tomorrow! If people are using FRS/GMRS radios at the track, we are on channel 4, sub-channel 10.

- Alex

Alex - where will the wine/cheese be? That's this evening (Friday)? Don Beaton, a few others, and me will be riding down this afternoon, arriving probably between 5 and 6pm.

-Tom

It is at the Candlelight Inn at 6:30; Don will have the details.

Annie and I had great fun today at Laguna, making it to the track on Friday in time to actually watch something this year. We saw both of the free practices for MotoGP, and both were great fun to watch. Kenny Roberts Jr. is actually kicking some butt, at the top of the timesheets for both sessions. Hayden improved quite a bit in the 2nd session, and in fact ended up 2nd behind Kenny Jr.

We made our way around much of the racetrack, and bought a whole bunch of race t-shirts and other miscellanea, thinking it would be easier to grab stuff today than Saturday or Sunday. The trick will be squeezing it all into the luggage we brought, as it was quite full on the way here already.

The most fun though was walking around the paddock area (where we ran into Scott McC at the end of the day!). We got some great pictures of a whole bunch of folks (Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Tommy Hayden, Edwards, Wayne Rainey, Tamada, Nakano, Pedrosa, Stoner, Spies). Annie even got her hat signed by Nicky!

Makoto Tamada:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83092677-L.jpg

Casey Stoner (he was walking fast! :biggrin: ):
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83092746-L.jpg

Dani Pedrosa:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83093014-L.jpg

Nicky Hayden about to sign Annie's hat:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83093124-L.jpg

The signed hat!
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83093145-L.jpg

Shinya Nakano:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83093380-L.jpg

Colin Edwards:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83093666-L.jpg

Valentino Rossi:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83094077-L.jpg

Wayne Rainey:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83091739-L.jpg

Here's a link (http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/gallery/1691688) to all the pictures we took today. We'll probably add a bunch more pics to the same gallery as the weekend goes on...

Below are 2 short video clips of Hayden and Rossi. Can't wait until qualifying tomorrow!

Great Sunday at the races! I won't spoil it yet for those who haven't seen it on Speed, but get to your Tivo's and watch it quickly. It was a little cooler today than yesterday (which was welcome!). We got quite a few more pictures in the paddock; here's one Annie got with Chris Vermeulen:

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83547780-L.jpg

We'll post more later tonight...

OK, time to post more info.

Nicky won.

MotoGP at Laguna Seca the Sequel was another great time. It took the track some time to get things together on water ($1 makes sense, $4 is a bit much), but by Saturday afternoon once the heat really started to kick in, they came to their senses. Other changes were that AMA teams were allowed to set up canopies on pit lane to shield the mechanics; earlier they were told by Dorna that no canopies were allowed.

Wine and cheese at George's place was fun! Here's Don Beaton showing a random small child how a motorcycle works:

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83134684-L.jpg

On Saturday we spent some time in Turn 4, which offered a different view of the track than the Turn 11 grandstands that we were used to. Here's a shot of the FX race in progress:

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83289092-L.jpg

Random strange bike in the paddock:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83289236-L.jpg

Where we spent a good portion of the weekend, hiding under the stands to avoid the heat:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83289934-L.jpg

Tommy Hayden:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83547253-L.jpg

Alex Hoffman (partially hidden, didn't realize 'til later):
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83547376-L.jpg

Hopper:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83548166-L.jpg

Another Hayden picture (we kept running into him!)
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83549368-L.jpg

"Fast Freddie" Spencer:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83550399-L.jpg

Toni Elias:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83550474-L.jpg

The jets flying overhead prior to the GP race:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83598370-M-1.jpg

Nicky taking an American flag around on his victory lap:
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83552457-L.jpg

Jamie James (AMA champion, current R1 customizer/builder):
http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83554836-L.jpg

Fun time all around, and can't wait to come back next year and do it all again. We also got a few quick videos, which should be attached below...


(Here's another link (http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/gallery/1691688) to a gallery with all pics from the weekend)

Indeed an awesome weekend! A great Superbike finish Saturday, and an even better MotoGP finish Sunday!! Absolutlely zero traffic this year! Amazing!! Just rode right in, then rode right out. A complete change from last year. I guess that the world is a better place without cars? :tongue: :tongue:

We (Jonathan, Nick and I) trailered the Ducati and Triumph down to the Holiday Inn and rode from there. 15 minutes from the hotel and we were sitting in our grandstand seats. :cool:

Bumped into Colin and Vicky at Cannery Row Saturday night. Also saw British Chris. Man what a scene down there! Pretty amazing! Everyone seemed to be having a great time.

We hung around in the paddock looking to harass riders but it was 100 degrees! so we skipped over to Ducati Island and hung out in the shade. Very civilized.

Next year we gotta get some Red Bull hospitality tickets! Who do we know? :biggrin:

What a great weekend! Last year was amazing, but this year was great too! I’d have to say I enjoyed last year more since it was my first time and the weather was cooler. This year was too HOT, but this year I got to see Nicky many, many, many times! AND he signed my hat!!!!

So here’s my wrap-up of my weekend:

Thursday
We drove down pretty late Thursday night since Alex was just getting back from his crazy trip to Russia. We did take a late stroll down to Cannery Row and had a very late dinner. It wasn’t too crowded, but there were lots of bikes around.

Alex stayed up late watching the new DTK movie (The Doctor, the Tornado, and the Kentucky Kid). I had already watched it earlier in the week. We were both disappointed with the movie. I’d still recommend it, but I thought it would be better. Throughout the weekend in the evenings, they were playing the movie in Monterey for free at a local theatre.

Friday
We got up early and headed over to the track. The new traffic pattern was great. Got right in with no issues. We wondered if it would be the same on Sunday (it was!). Hopefully they will do this traffic thing again next year since it worked so well.

We made the morning practice, which was delayed from 10am to 1030am. After the practice we headed over to the paddock to see if we could meet some of the riders. We saw Hayden, but just briefly as he walked from the garage to the trailer. I was too shy to ask him for a picture or anything. Plus, I didn’t have a Sharpie or anything for him to sign!

Sooo, we headed over to the Yamaha Market place to the BIG tent with all the souvenir stuff. It was AIR CONDITIONED!!!! Alex got his fill on T-shirts and I found a few too. We also found Sharpie pens! They had an area in the back with Nicky stuff and I was going to get a hat for him to sign, but it was a dark blue, so I decided against it. I ended up getting a MotoGP hat in white for signatures.

We met up with some friends (Martin and Bryan) for the 2pm MotoGP practice at turn 11. After the practice we headed back over to the garages to see if we could catch Nicky. We DID!!! And the hat I bought is now signed!!!!

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83093145-M.jpg

It was great. In addition to my signed hat, we got some GREAT pictures! Alex is pretty good with the camera – quick draw McGraw! He got shots of just about everyone as they walked out of the garages into the trailers. The funniest part was when he got shots of Rossi. He said that as Vale came out of the garage, he got all nervous! So funny!

Saturday night was glgofast’s wine and cheese. We were joined by George’s wife Marilyne and daughter Chloe, along with Scott McC and his friend Ken, Vicki and Colin, and DADIN8R and tshort. Don and Tom left after the wine and cheese, while the rest of us headed over to Casanova’s for dinner. Yum!

It was a long day and we still had 2 days to go!

Saturday
It was another early morning so we could catch the 10am practice. The sun on Friday really got to me so my goal for Saturday was to minimize my time in the sun. Aside from the 10am practice and 2pm qualifying, I tried to stay cool and in the shade. Alex did the AMA race watching, while I did a lot of just kind of hanging out, either with friends or just on my own.

We went through A LOT OF WATER, but I guess that was a good thing as we both survived the heat and made it back to our hotel safe and hydrated. HOWEVER, the heat must have gotten to us because Alex passed out for most of the evening and we never made it out for dinner. We just basically hung out in our hotel room watching TV, surfing the web, and sleeping.

Sunday
RACE DAY! We got in a bit late so just missed the 10am warm-up. We decided to head straight over to the paddock to see if we could catch the riders again. We did! I got a great picture with Vermeulen, along with a signature.

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83547780-M.jpg

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83550844-M.jpg

We also saw Hopper, but he looked a bit upset. I guess things didn’t go great during practice, but he did sign a post card.

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83550738-M.jpg

We saw Hayden again! Our friend Martin got to shake his hand, pat him on the shoulder, and wish him luck. We also saw Mert Lawwill! I forgot to ask for another picture since my picture from the Candy Store was horrible. After we got our fill of moto-celebs, we grabbed some lunch, then headed over to turn 11 and sit under the stands to keep cool. While we were just sitting, someone came over handing out Nicky signs and said that if we went on the stands together and held up our signs we could be on TV! I jumped at the opportunity, but no one else wanted to move. I bumped into Bryan on the stairs to the stands and convinced him to stand with me and guess what??!!!! We were on TV!!!! Here’s a screen shot of us. I'm the one in the denim coveralls to the right of Bryan in the red shirt.

http://aciurczak.smugmug.com/photos/83815233-L.jpg


If you have TiVo, look for the “AMA SuperSport” recording. This is the one right before the MotoGP race. They replaced this with pre-race coverage. At 48 minutes into the recording, you see the above. It's right after an interview with Vermeulen.

Anyway, the race started at 2pm and needless to say, it was a great race and the ending was exactly what I had been hoping for all weekend! Nicky!

We stayed and watched 2 more AMA races, but I’d have to say that I wasn’t really all that into them… Nicky had won and I now own a hat signed by him. The End.

I have to admit I had a mixed experience this year at the USGP.

The camaraderie of Friday night (thanks George), bumping into folks (Mark, his brother and son at a tiny seafood place on Saturday night; Lisa Kaiser on Saturday) and sharing trackside analysis with Vicki, Alex and Ann is great fun. The thunder of racing prototypes in qualifying and of course the gritty win by Nicky Hayden were highlights, too.

But the heat and crowds and the insanity (and seagulls!) of downtown Monterey were more wearing this year than in my previous 4 trips to Laguna Seca. I guess I'm getting old, or the novelty of stationary sportbikes being revved to the limiter until the wee hours has worn off. And to be honest, I don't really want to be associated with the "Superbikers!" crowd that this event seems to draw to a large degree.

Obviously the weather can't be controlled, but some shade and misting tents would help, there's no respite from the heat for the rank-and-file fan without access to a VIP area.

Traffic to-and-from the track was fine, not so great (3 hours home) on the roads back from the Bay area.

Hotel/tickets/food add up quickly, so I'm not sure it's a good value for entertainment dollars to go full boat the entire weekend.

Still, I can't imagine not returning next year!

So maybe we'll approach the event differently. Find a place to stay on Saturday night (or drive up Sunday morning), get tickets for Sunday only, then stay Sunday night and take Monday off work to visit the Aquarium and take a lesiurely route home. Maybe stay in Carmel where it's a bit more civilized (right George?).

I think I'd be able to maximize the best parts of the experience for me and minimize those that detract.

I share Colin's sentiments regarding hanging out with the gang and agree with the "superbiker" observations, a bunch of stunter hooligans posing as race fans Of which I had the pleasure of being caught up in a group of them on the way up the coast.

I also need to rethink the approach on next years event.

While I was wandering around on saturday I noticed the motorhome encampment up by the corkscrew.

They looked like a happy bunch, what with their roll out awnings, lawn chairs, icy beverages served in glasses, semi private restrooms and yes Dorthy they had air conditioners on their roofs.

I started to imagine waking up to a fresh cup of coffee and the sweet sound of a bike working its way through the gearbox. A quick review of the days program then a leisurely stroll down to the paddock or grandstands. Between events an afternoon nap! No commuting back and forth with the hooligans to stay in the Salinas Motel Dos. Cocktail hour(s). What a life...

Anyone interested ????

Annie what a great shot of you with Vermulen! He is a great kid and I was rooting for him all the way...as long as he was behind Nicky of course! :tongue:

the campers do seem to have a good time, though i guess they lined up all day on wednesday to secure sites.

Colin,

To me it would be worth the extra day off. Somehow waiting in line with a motor home seems a little more tolerable. Watching Ilse of Mann TT videos on the flat screen or checking what's on satelite. The question of the day being "Colin, was that one olive or two in your Martini ?"

hee hee :tongue:

How can SI.com confuse LA with Monterey/Laguna? I don't get it! Here's a link (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/players/08/01/questions0807/index.html) to the article... towards the bottom they talk about Nicky's win at Laguna, but called it Los Angeles!