Somehow, I ended up in the same corner of the Castrol Honda Superbike hospitality tent as MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi and his friends while attending a World Superbike race at Misano, near Rimini and Riccione, on Italy's Adriatic Coast. I sat a few tables away and watched as Rossi's party chatted and ate prosciutto, apparently enjoying a relaxed day at the track.
All weekend long, thousands of Italians had streamed past the Honda hospitality area—its windows wide open to the glorious Italian sunshine.