I always thought by the time we arrived at Misano we were on the last lap of the season, but beware – many a race, or in most cases the World Championship, has been decided on that last lap. Sure, the Marquez brothers seem well on their way to an incredible MotoGP™/Moto2™ double but despite the nights drawing in and autumn approaching fast, there is still an awful long way to go before that prize-giving in Valencia on November 17.
To be precise there are still seven Grands Prix left starting on the Adriatic coast of Italy on Sunday. That’s well over one-third of the season remaining. Seven races in just nine weeks of frantic action and frenzied travel. One hundred and seventy-five points up for grabs in that period of time when MotoGP seems to fill every inch of your brain and every hour of your day. It’s tough; it’s tiring but so incredibly exciting and rewarding. Travelling with a group of like-minded souls across the globe and by the time you reach Valencia one part of you is glad the travelling is over while the other part just craves for one more adrenalin rush before Christmas arrives. Then the process starts all over again.
The real crunch period for the riders and the teams are those three races in two weeks starting at Motegi in Japan, then just popping down to Phillip Island in Australia before starting back home via Sepang in Malaysia. Seventy-five points that have so often decided the outcome of the Championship even before that final round in Valencia. Three races staged on three so different race tracks. Three races held in often totally contrasting weather conditions. There can be fog in Motegi, rain and wind at Phillip Island and then searing heat and torrential rain in Sepang while adjusting to just travelling to and then around three such contrasting countries and lifestyles.
My other memory of Misano is after weeks of speculation at last finding out the provisional calendar for the next season and then working out the best time to tell your loved ones back home especially with the massive end of season trip about to start. When I started covering Grand Prix racing in 1980 there were ten races on the calendar although it dropped to eight with Venezuela cancelled because of financial problems and Austria snowbound. Next year there is double that number scheduled in an amazing calendar that crisscrosses the globe in almost nine months of racing and travel.
As round 13 approaches this weekend I’m sure Marc and Alex Marquez and Lorenzo Dalla Porta know that so much can change so quickly in the next nine weeks. I hope that everybody planning to embark on next year’s adventure have already shown the 2020 calendar or perhaps at least given a hint to their loved ones about their plans for next year. Don’t leave it until Valencia.