We only arrived back Tuesday evening (we spent Monday in Brussels and had a fairly lengthy trip back via Eurostar and then another train from London to Exeter yesterday) and consequently we’re both pretty knackered ;-) So much so I’ve now taken the rest of the week off as holiday. If you’re planning to go to a race for a relaxing time, forget about it. We were up at 5.30am GMT on Friday and Saturday and half an hour earlier on Sunday, only for the coach to turn up at the usual time and leave us hanging around a dark and cold Brussels.
The weather forecast before we went called for rain and lots of it, so we went fairly well prepared or so I thought. Friday morning was wet and despite coming armed with storm proof brollies, rain coats, walking books and wellies, we got a fairly good soaking. Still, not as bad as some folk who turned up in shorts and flip flops with their other halves in mini skirts and stiletto heals lol For next year I’m definitely taking waterproof over-trousers and big ponchos. It might look silly, but the Disney Land plastic-bag style ponchos we had on Saturday saved the day. It really didn’t bother us if the heavens opened or not. Sunday turned out to be the best of all three days, just a couple of very light showers which the umbrella took care of perfectly.
For the race we stayed in what was dubbed the F1 village. Essentially where all the merchandise trucks were located behind the ‘silver’ grand stands, in front of the old pit lane. There were hardly any fans and apart from one lap where some bloke had a Lotus brolly open in front of us, we had an uninterrupted view of the cars heading down the hill and then up Eau Rouge. Perfect. That first lap was truly exceptional and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. What made it even better being sat where we were, was being able to get out onto the track fairly quickly at the end of the race. The other half managed to collect a few bits of chewed up tyre marbles, engrained with bits of white and red kerb paint, which I think made her day. Half way up the old pit straight (towards La Source) a gap appeared in the pit wall and a stream of us veered off through the gap and then down an alley way leading behind the pit buildings. Before we went to Belgium, I had heard the security at the track were some of the roughest so I wasn’t sure if potentially trespassing was such a good idea, but as the weekend was over it wasn’t as if we could have out tickets confiscated. So continuing to follow the crowd ahead of us who went through the gap, we ended up at the entrance in and out of the paddock. There was definitely no way through there (although I have since heard the security were letting people through the pit lane without the right passes about an hour later) so we went for a wonder around the car park where all the teams rental cars were being kept. Towards the top of the car park (towards La Source) and behind the Ferrari hospitality we had a view of a staircase leading down where we saw Vettel, Alonso, Petrov, Norbert Haug and Tania from Sky Germany (Brundle’s friend), Roger the Physio (which was actually the second time we saw him over the weekend, Red Bull were staying at a local hotel in Francorhamps). It was my five minutes as paparazzi as me and some London chap were shouting at anyone we thought might be a driver to turn around for a photo. Of course none of them did and eventually security turned up ;)
In all, a top weekend. Even with the two hour bus ride to and from the circuit, the iffy weather, early starts. The other half enjoyed it as well and I’m fast planning a return or a possible bank-breaker to Monaco or maybe Silverstone. Just waiting for some ticket prices to turn up. If anyone else is thinking of going to a race next year I can recommend
http://www.bookf1.com for tickets (some very good early bird offers) and Page and Moy for travel. Although if we return to Spa, I’m probably going to book everything separately and stay closer to the circuit. The absolute must, even if you’re sat opposite a giant screen TV is Kangeroo TV. It was made for this type of sporting event and it’s not as expensive as you might think. If you pre-order on the kangaroo TV website, it’s €50/£43 for three days. We watched all the F1 sessions on Saturday and Sunday with English commentary (BBC 5Live) and timing screens to see what’s going on further down the order. You make a lot of friends as well, as everyone asks you for updates. It was quite funny on Saturday, we were sat on Pouhon, but at an angle that made it difficult to see the big screens. When Hamilton went P2, myself and about ten other people on the bank (with KTV) let up a ‘YES!’, while everyone else was more or less quiet, just because they didn’t know what was going on. Same in the race when Vettel and Button went off or Hamilton had his little excursion. Being first to know made it even more enjoyable. We bumped into some people in Brussels on Monday who we were stood next too on Sunday morning for the Porches and drivers parade. They were big JB fans, but didn’t have a clue what had happened when him and Vettel didn’t come past again or what the order was after the pit stops. If you’ve paid so much money for tickets, another £43 is nothing for the extra enjoyment you’ll get.
I was attempting to upload some pictures, but mobile broadband is playing up slightly so I'll try again later.
Just caught this snippet from JA online, interesting concept.
http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2010/09/a ... it-button/
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Backward point
:wink: When you can mate - I would love to see them warts and all.
I think the Hulk shot is my favourite.
