Motor car racing was a natural consequence that
followed the invention of the motor car. Man has always had a desire for speed.
The car was invented in Western Europe, mass produced in America and developed
from a luxury, to a necessity to a necessary luxury, if you know what I mean.
Car racing also developed in the West, however, in the last few years we have
had a huge surge of interest in motorsport throughout Asia.
I watched F1 on TV for many years till, in
2007, we went for our first F1 race to Sepang in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia. We
were left gasping at the spectacle. The sheer noise of the cars is the most
striking and lasting feature. Adrenaline rushes thru your veins the moment you
hear the sound. You may be a kilometre away, walking towards the track when the
sound hits you and leaves you in a terribly excited state. At Malaysia we were
novices, we have now learnt that you don’t take a bus to get to the circuit,
which, due to its very nature, is located miles out of the city. The next time
was Istanbul, Turkey where we had our own car. This is what we did in Shanghai
as well. All our races thus far were modern Asian tracks (I am qualifying
Turkey as Asia for the purpose of this blog, though they may well disagree).
Great facilities, lots of space, lots of food, lots of stalls and endless entertainment
while you wait for the race to start. Then, we went to Barcelona which was a
huge disappointment facility wise. An old stadium, poor access and a poor
experience. I thought I would not go to another F1 in Western Europe again,
after all, there are so many new tracks opening in Asia – Korea, Abu Dhabi,
Bahrain and now Noida!! But, the bug bit and we made it to Monza. The home of
Ferrari, scarlet fever, the Tifosi, what an evocative image for a fan.
Everything in Milan was geared around the F1.
Hotels had packages, they had higher rates, shows, and promos what have you. On
Friday before the race we were sitting at a bar in the Duomo area when on the
next table there were 4 older men in Rugby World Cup T Shirts. They were South
African as was apparent from their accents and their T Shirts. Soon we became
pals and it turned out they were here for the race too. One of them was a
Mercedes Benz dealer in SA and the whole lot had flown into Frankfurt, hired a
car and were in Milan. They drove thru Parma, ate ham, drove thru Marranelo the
home of Ferrari and recounted with sheer delight the fact that the Municipal
office in Modena has at its very centre, a Ferrari!! That was fun.
To put things in perspective, a normal F1
race has about 125,000 fans attending, most by car or bus, since, as I said
earlier, F1 tracks are located in the backs-of-beyond. You have to have deep
logistics just for people and vehicle management at the track. I am not even
dealing with the hotels, the facilities for the teams, airports to fly in the
teams, cars, equipment, container trucks, computer equipment, catering,
hospitality, well, I could go on and on. Monza is a small town some 13 kms out
of the centre of Milan. The track is in the centre of what is known as Parc De
Monza an 800 hectare green park, much like Hyde Park in London except much,
much larger. This itself is a lesson for all greens, `jholawallas', do gooders,
NGO types in India. Here is one of the most extravagant sports, with the world’s
richest people, causing noise pollution, burning precious fossil fuels, with a
mega giant carbon footprint, all happening in an 800 hectare green belt. Not a
word of protest and its happened 81 times in the past.
Monza is holding its 82nd F1 race.
I am sorry to say the experience for the fan getting and leaving the circuit is
truly challenging. Well this is Italy, logic is not part of their DNA, design
and engineering is. We had to catch a local train from Milan to Monza. Getting
tickets was a drama. 3 counters and 1000 people. Then from Monza station you
get a free shuttle bus which drops you off in the grand Parc. You then walk for
40 minutes at a fair clip, in the sun, thru fields, to reach the circuit. Here,
the gates are kept minimally open, thus a classis bottleneck. It was fairly
exhausting and an exercise in patience. The only reason why nothing bad happens
is that Europeans are generally good natured and allow you person space.
Getting back is repeating the whole saga. This you have to do twice, Saturday
for qualifying and Sunday for race day. I believe that this experience is only
one quarter of the mayhem we will have at Noida.
So my thoughts are that it makes no sense
anymore to go to a F1 race in Europe with its `thakela’ circuits and infrastructure. The same situation exists
with airports. Before Heathrow T5 came up the airports in the East – HK, Sin,
BKK were all mind boggling. My wonderful theory was neatly pierced by Her
Highness who said, “the only circuits that you have not had private transport
are the European ones, that is why you don’t like them.” Since the Queen can do
no wrong, I have to say she has a point.
However, all that became academic the moment
you entered the circuit and hear that piercing whine of an engine revving at a
mind numbing 18,000 RPM. You cannot even imagine how much that is. If you are
driving at 60 kmph and you look at your tachometer in your car it will show
1500 RPM. Imagine, 18,000 RPM. It’s awesome. A Formula 1 car idles at more than
1500 RPM!!! All frustration, despair, doubts immediately disappeared.
We had got for ourselves Kangaroo TV or what
is now known as Fanvision. This is a small hand held device linked to the F1
feed. So you get on the device, radio commentary, TV images, and stats on the
race, live and in real time. This is truly a great piece of equipment and
something you absolutely must get when going for an F1 race.
Our seats were along the start line. I have
taken a few photos of how the excitement builds, or to put it differently, how an
F! Race is a built up for us as punters and them as drivers.
Everybody must go and see an F1 race at least
once. It’s a stunning experience.
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| The long walk thru the Parc |
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| Seated in the grandstand |
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| Drivers parade |
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| HRN the Queen of Kutch with Fanvision - her personal TV set |
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| Marching band playing, would you believe it, Louie Louie |
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| Precisely placing the position boards |
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| Grid girls, holding the position board and a flag of the drivers nationality |
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| The start of the build up |
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| The first equipment rolls up |
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| The car arrives with mechanics, guests and press |
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| The whole filled grid |
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| Alonso |
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| Hamilton |
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| Bernie Eccelstone |
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| All extra people out, only crucial start up mechanics |
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| Grid cleared before the warm up lap |
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| The mad rush to the pits by mechanics after the cars are on warm up lap |
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| At the start |
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| And they are off |
