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Published: September 29th 2006
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I had wanted to visit Turkey and finding out that they were hosting a Formula One event was a good excuse to plan my trip accordingly as I've always wanted to go to an F1 race. I was not disappointed!
I had booked my flights and paid a princely sum to secure myself a Super Gold Priority seat in the premier seating of the main grandstand way way back in January, so it was quite a build up and i wasnt going to miss a second of it. My seat was directly opposite one of the big screens and the pits so i was well positioned to see all the action!
On the Friday they have free practice sessions for the F1 cars and qualifying for two other classes also racing that weekend. I found out later that the teams usually give this time to their 3rd 'backup' driver or any new drivers they are trialling, the big boys are just that good. I thought I'd get out there early but soon found out that it was a painfully long and hot 2hr bus ride out of the city (with no seat!). I missed the first practice session (no
big loss) but also the opportunity to get into the Honda pit with the pit boys i had met a few nights ago 😞
The stadium and track is new, it has only been run once before, it was purpose built 2 years ago so is quite impressive with the latest facilities etc, they still have some traffic issues to sort out though as the ring road buses (that do pick up and drop offs around the track) dont even have a priority lane so can get stuck in traffic entering the park.
Security was extremely tight every day but on day one there wasnt very many people around. I was standing behind the main stadium checking out the plethora of manufacturers and sponsors stands when the first car fired up for the second practice session of the day. You know the cars will be loud but i cant even describe to you how loud they really are, even protected by a huge concrete grandstand I still knew I'd need to heed the Honda boys advice and get some ear plugs. LOUD. My cell has a noise meter that I now know tops out at 114dB, those V8
engines are absolutely screaming, I cant express to you how amazing they sound. You just need to go. I was actually really disappointed to see the amount of people being tough and not wearing earplugs and angry at the parents that didn't get them for their kids, not cool.
Day two i got up early to make sure i made it to the stadium at a reasonable hour but still got snaked for a seat. Today was qualifying for the F1 boys, which is very important as a good start can set the rest of the race, and two races in the other classes, the SEAT Cup and the GP2. There were almost double the amount of people there that day, Ferrari supporters about equal to all other supporters combined, Ferrari fanboys everywhere. Everything is insanely expensive as expected, its 60 lira for the official program, 8 lira for a beer or hotdog and 30 lira for an official McLaren-Mercedes ticket holder (yes i needed some momento!).
Ferrari dominated qualifying unfortunately, with two strong cars lapping at least a second quicker than the closest rivals, and they finished 1, 2 with the Renaults 3, 4, it was shaping
up to be a full Ferrari party. The GP2 race that arvo was also quite good, basically a stripped down version of F1 with all the drivers that just dont quite cut it yet.
Just a side note here, you may have noticed I dont like Ferrari, and definitely not Schumacher, this is a hang over from my days spent as a firm McLaren supporter from when i used to follow F1 regularly, but now my heart stays with McLaren (kiwi links) but I support whoever can beat Schumacher. This year its Alonso in a Renault, who is currently leading the drivers standings but being chased hard by Schumy for his last title win before his retirement next year (as arguably the best performing driver F1 has seen - note careful choice of words there).
Final day. Absolutely packed with people and the inevitable eye candy every which way. Ahh yes the woman of F1, trophy wives/girlfriends/mistresses/daughters, promo girls every 2m and the imaculate official F1 placard girls, kept hidden away in the corporate seating above the pits, only to be released on show briefly before the main event. Good times.
The GP2 race before the main
event was excellent, one of the top Uk drivers Lewis Hamilton got spun in lap 4 down to 14th place, by the end of the race he had come back and on the last lap passed to take second! Superb drive. As the countdown to the main race began you could feel the tension build, the seats started to fill completely, the pits were a hive of activity and you could taste the anticipation. The cars came out, the main straight filled with pit crew, drivers and managers, a few minutes later they all hurried back to their pits, the engines all started and roared as one with the crowd before the lights went out and we were racing!
There was first corner carnage that took out Fiscechlla in one of the Renaults leaving Alonso to battle the Ferraris by himself. Massa took the lead and never looked back (no doubt aided by his white Puma racing booties) Alonso got away to a good start but was chased down by Schumy with 14 laps to go. There were a few good battles down the order, but all eyes were up front to see what Schumy could do, he had
a few good passing attempts that had me biting my lip, but Alonso was able to hold him out and thus stay ahead on drivers points and save me from despair.
Really the race wasn't all that exciting, and if i'd watched it on TV i might not have been so entertained (why i stopped watching F1 in the first place), but being there is everything, and it certainly is an experience. I managed to convince a few guys from the hostel with no interest in motorsport whatsoever to come along for day two, just for a taste, and they didn't regret it. So if you do get the opporunity to check these machines out in full flight with your own eyes (and ears!) I'd highly recommend it.
Great weekend.
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