“When no one was on a motorcycle, we, in Barcelona, were already on a motorcycle,” he commented euphoric, stately and highly educated Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports and creator of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunyain addition to organizer of the motorcycling world championshipin one of the most charismatic places in Barcelona, The Born Center of Culture and Memory from the city.
“There is no European city, not even Rome, that is behind us, that has more motorcycles per inhabitant than Barcelona,” he commented, with a very sporting spirit, his always, Josep Mateu, racc presidentat the presentation of the Catalunya Motorcycle Grand Prix, which will be held this weekend at the beautiful and highly modern Montmeló track.
And I, while Mateu insisted that we should be proud because Catalonia, at the time, that, at the time, had, created, a lot of motorcycle brands and factories, I thought that because of the prohibitions devised by the Ada Colau Town HallI had to take my bultaco ‘Wolf’ classic, more than 30 years old, which is impeccable and does not pollute (or not as much as Colau’s cruisers), to Mallorca because here, in the Barcelona of motorcycles, in motorcycle paradise, I cannot use it.
The city of the motorcycle
But yes, it is true, the city of motorcycles, I insist, despite Ada Colau (and her government), will be the setting this weekend for the Catalunya GP, a name for which no one will ever thank Carmelo Ezpeleta enough, who was, yes , the first who dared (when nobody dared) to put the name of Catalonia to a GP.
This year’s GP title is ‘BRUMMMMMMMMMMM The passion that ens uneix’. And, yes, around that passion, I insist, in a beautiful and historic, unique setting, the organizers, promoters, the occasional politician, of those who believe that F-1 and MotoGP enrich Catalonia (not everyone thinks of them, no, despite the hundreds of millions that fall on the country during the weeks of racing) and several pilots like the brothers Alex and Pol Espargaro and Mark and Alex Marquez.
“When nobody was on a motorcycle, we, in Barcelona, were already on a motorcycle”
CEO of Dorna Sports and promoter of the Circuit de Catalunya
Everyone, of course, sang wonders of the Circuit, of the history of motorcycles in Catalonia, of the champions, of the circuits of pedralbes and Montjuic (where Salvador Canellas he was the first Spaniard, in 1968, to win a GP) and how precious it is, especially now that there is a festive atmosphere like few shows can offer, to go to the circuit “to see the races live and, later, when you arrive at home review them on TV & rdquor ;, as he said Josep Lluis Sanatamaria, circuit manager.
Pau Solanilla, responsible for the Barcelona brand at the City Council from the city, he recalled that on leaving the Lap (He said nothing about the deluge and the night, night, without lights that the cyclists suffered) and the preparations for the America’s Cup (the champion ‘Peco’ Bagnaia has gone out to sea on the New Zealand catamaran), he will follow the most beloved GP of all, that of motorcycles. “Barcelona, motorcycles, racing is the DNA of this city and everything fits like a glove.”
The glove is, of course, the Circuit that, according to Mateu and Roger Torrent, Minister of Business and Labor of the Generalitat and Ezpeleta confirmed, “it will soon be the best circuit in Europe, in the world, on planet Earth& rdquor ;, since a lot of works and improvements are being made to make it that way, always, of course, with the idea of making it sustainable.
While Ezpeleta personally thanked the riders, all the World Championship riders, for the sacrifice that they make to adapt to the new acts and protocol of the championship, which thus tries to bring the races and their idols closer to the fans who come to the circuits, these, The pilots recognized that it gave them a very pleasant and motivating tingle to run at home. “I still remember, well, I will never be able to forget it, that when I was teaching at school and we opened the classroom windows, I would hear the roar of the motorcycles that were racing in Montmeló and, to be honest, it would throw me off a lot, yes. It may be that my passion was born there& rdquor ;.
“Barcelona, motorcycles and racing are the DNA of our city, everything fits like a glove”
Head of the Barcelona Brand
His brother Aleix looked at him with enormous complicity, remembering with pain (“it was very difficult for me to fall asleep the following week & rdquor;) his mistake last year when, with one lap to go and going second behind the Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, he raised his arms for his second Since, when it was the penultimate lap, he still had one more turn to complete. “That’s why I’m wearing a helmet for the first time that has ‘one more lap’ inscribed on the front and thus I close the circle, hopefully this year I won’t miss the podium!& rdquor;
Aleix Espargaró, who lost the podium last year believing it was the last lap and it wasn’t, will wear a helmet this weekend with the legend ‘one more lap’
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Àlex Márquez, who has already begun to win with the fabulous Ducati of the Gresini team, acknowledged that “now I do enjoy riding the bike and it’s a pleasure to go to the grand prix, because you know you can fight with those in front.” His brother Marc, who, despite the bad time he was going through, did not want to miss the presentation of the home grand prix, looked at him out of the corner of his eye and recognized that “now I rarely see him on the track, because, fortunately, he is always in front and often , not even with binoculars could he see him & rdquor ;.
“These are hard times. My brother? I can’t see him even with binoculars, fortunately he’s always there in front”
Eight times motorcycling world champion
It is curious that the Márquez brothers, who have twice achieved the double in Montmeló in Moto2 and MotoGP, in 2014 and 2019, recognized that they want different weather conditions for the weekend. Àlex prefers sun, light and a dry track and Marc, who knows that his bike is much inferior to the others, asks for “four drops, not much, to cheer things up& rdquor ;. The eight-time world champion thanked “enormously & rdquor; to the fans and fans of the races who continue to love him and follow him as they follow him. “It’s easy to have support when you’re up there, but now I value the affection I receive much more, because for three years now, according to statistics, I’ve run only half of the grand prizes that have been held and I’m looking forward to starting to see the end of this tunnel & rdquor ;.