Melbourne GP Weekend- Qualifying and Raceday

I have got soooo much work to do, its not funny anymore...But anyways, some things take priority over others and so I shall put up this blog first and then endeavour to attend to other matters that demand my attention...

So right...where were we...? Oh yeah...my account of qualifying and raceday.

Saturday, 1st of April 2006

Actually, you'll all know how qualifying went and as far as I'm concerned there was nothing really exceptional about it. Although I must say, I was quite stunned that Jenson took pole. I had just assumed that we'd be seeing Fernie or Kimi on pole (yet again!) and so Jenson was a bit of a surprise...A lot of people were positively gleeful that Michael didn't make the cut for the final 10 contenders, and to be honest, that didn't really shock me all that much...As much as I love my team, I don't think they are quite up to the pace of the damn Renaults or Mclarens at the moment. So yeah, that was basically quali, and my memory is a bit hazy as to what we did for the remainder of the day, so really, it can't have been too important...

Sunday, 2nd of April 2006

Anyhoos, coming to raceday itself, I must mention that the atmosphere at Albert Park was absolutely electric. Lots and lots of F1 fans and it warmed me to the core to see such passion for a sport that I love. I'm not going to bother going into the details of the race itself, but below is a list of the few things that left an indelible imprint on my memory-

1) Driver's photo-shoot/ driver's parade- Now this is where desperate fans like us hope to catch a 5 second glimpse of their heroes and shout loud enough so that they actually turn and wave...I must say that I was totally smitten by Ralf throughout this entire period and my video footage is testimony to this...For a while at least, in my mind, even Michael was overshadowed by the presence of his younger brother...Ralf...very cute...very sexy...totally adorable...
Moving right along, besides Ralf, we got pretty good pics of Kimi waving (he was like right in front of us) and a few of the other drivers too...

2) Start of the race- There is NOTHING like hearing the sound of 22 Formula One V8 engines go VROOM all at once!!!! And I mean NOTHING!! Beautiful sound, although I think I may be suffering from permanent hearing damage as a result of that...Well worth it though!! Very, very wicked!! Just watching the "lights-going-out" sequence had me holding my breath and got my adrenalin pumping...And when the cars did take off...whoa!! nothing can describe the anxiety you feel as you hope that your idol makes it through the first corner safely.

3) Michael's shunt on lap 33- Ok now...this was not as bad for me as I thought it would be. I could see that Michael was struggling and although I have full faith in Michael's driving abilities, I was a bit skeptical that the red machine was doing its bit...However, it was really disappointing for me to see Michael go out of the race like that...I do think that it was Michael's fault in that instance though, but I suppose that my consolation came in the fact that he chose to crash out only a few metres away from me, and so I have pretty good footage of him getting back to the pits.

4) JPM stopping his Mclaren right in front of us was again, a bit unexpected, but was received by me with relief and a little joy...at least Mclaren would miss out on a few Constructor's points a result of that.

5) Jenson's engine failure on the last lap- In my opinion, Jenson can be a bit of a prick at times (I was totally unimpressed with his indecision about whether he wanted to stay with BAR or move to Williams), but I must say...my heart went out to the poor bugger...I had seen something like this in 1998 or 1999 when Mika Hakkinen's Mclaren gave up on him on the last lap and Michael happily took the spoils of victory, and then, to be quite honest, I was completely ecstatic. However, even Mika wasn't THAT close to the finish line...Like seriously, Jenson could have put out the fire which was devouring his car and pushed it all the way past the chequered flag...he was so damn close...he must have been so incensed after that and I can totally empathise with him...

All in all, it was a fantastic race...We had great seats, were right in the thick of the action and the atmosphere in Albert Park was absolutely mind-blowing, so every cent that we paid for those damn tickets was extremely worth it...I wasn't too displeased with the podium either coz I got to oggle at Ralf for a bit and I don't really mind Fernie...I do have this inexplicable thing against Kimi (I think he's hot and all, but I can't bring myself to like him...I think he's too emotionally detached from the sport), but nevertheless, if there was anyone who deserved that podium finish, it was Kimi.

We didn't really do much after the race...just went back to our dodgy hotel and packed up all our stuff to return home. I hated that bit, coz in the few days that I was in Melbourne, I had fallen in love with the place...If I couldn't stay there, I wanted to go on to Imola with the F1 circus, but definitely not return to Perth...

Now, I'm sad and resentful and am desperately trying to hold on to my memories of that glorious weekend (good luck to me...holding on to my memories is like holding on to sand in my palm...damn!!)...which will inevitably fade with age and time...damn...could I not be so damn pessimistic!!

*sigh* so that's it then I guess...my account of the Melbourne GP is done and over with...Will post up some of my pics soon...

But yeah, if any of you'll out there are contemplating going to a Formula One race, I can only say one thing to you..."GO!!!" Don't miss out on an opportunity of a lifetime...it is seriously well worth it...

Arrivederci!