Rossi switch sends media into a frenzy
Race day dawned and fog shrouded the Czech countryside. After the storms of the previous night, a calm and stillness had descended upon Brno... but it wouldn't last for long. Soon, 17 MotoGP bikes would pierce the tranquillity, their guttural tones ripping through the peace and quiet of the lush green hills and valleys.
We always leave the hotel really early on a race day, so at the crack of dawn we usually grab a quick coffee from the hotel and head to the car park. There are normally a team of about 12 of us who work on the race with a separate crew of cameramen and techies who can solve almost any problem at the drop of a hat.
Once we get to the track we sometimes head to Ducati hospitality. They treat the press to breakfast on race day - although I never normally eat more than a banana until after the show - but they do a mean green tea. After that, it's off to the media room.
Last Sunday, the press room was filled with more anticipation than usual. Everyone was holding their breath and waiting for THE announcement. I think the whole world, including my mum, knew that Valentino Rossi was being unveiled as the new Ducati rider for 2011.
The race came and went, with Jorge Lorenzo clinching yet another win to join Giacomo Agostini and Mick Doohan in a select list of three. They are the only riders to have come first or second in the first 10 races of a season. For the record, Dani Pedrosa was second and Casey Stoner third, ahead of Ben Spies.
As soon as the race was over, all attention turned to the clock as the assembled media waited for the moment we would be told that Rossi was actually leaving Yamaha. As it got closer and closer to 6pm local time, the buzz in the media room reached fever pitch as people constantly checked their inboxes for an e-mail from Yamaha.
At exactly the appointed time, Katie, the Yamaha press officer, hit send on her keyboard and 50 or so journalists rushed to be the first to get the news out. My hands flitted over my laptop like a secretary in a typing test as I, too, rose to the challenge of letting all you British MotoGP fans around the world know the news.
To my right, BBC colleague Matt Roberts was reading the letter on the back of the press release (see photo above), a copy of Rossi's handwritten note, scribble marks and all. To my left, producer Vicky was furiously phoning in the news to the BBC Sports desk and website as I fed her lines, quotes and any info I could offer.
My Twitter account went into overdrive as thousands of people across the world started to tweet the news that Rossi would be in red next season.
And then there was only one thing left for the jigsaw to be complete - an announcement from Ducati. So we waited and tweeted and waited. Suddenly Federica, the Ducati press officer, made her way into the press room and invited everyone to a news conference in Ducati hospitality at 7pm local time.
Rossi is pressed for a comment while the media room goes into overdrive
About half an hour later, a press release was passed around the now litter-strewn media room, discarded coffee cups and camera lenses all over the place, confirming the Rossi deal was done and, as of 2011, he would ride for Ducati on a two-year deal.
With the BBC Sport website and both my Facebook and Twitter accounts up to date, we were ready to head back to the hotel. We left a sea of journalists still at their desks, the Italians vexed that the story would not be read in an Italian paper for 48 hours because of a public holiday. "Ciao, see you in Indy!" we shouted as we left them to it.
Hello, I'm Jennie Gow and I'll be guiding you through this year's MotoGP coverage on the BBC. I've been working in the biking world ever since I started out in TV, covering Speedway and Motocross before my move into the world of Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden et al. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my blog and all the gossip and tales I'll be bringing from the grid and paddock.
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