The first even night race in Formula1. Wow. A part of history now and I'm glad I could be at the race in person :)

It was great fun walking the track with teemus on thursday and then Friday, Saturday and Sunday just flew by with loads of F1 and loads more of Zouk.

This was my second F1 race and if I was asked to pick between Sepang and Marina Bay, I think the latter wins hands down. Cheaper food, cheaper merchandise, lovely atmosphere, amazing music, giant screens that were actually viewable to name some. I think the very fact that the race happens in the middle of a city is a win. In Sepang, there was nothing to do after the race, but head back into the city...which wasn't all that much fun in retrospect ;)

I'm sure the organizers will iron out the kinks for the next edition and it will be even more fun overall.

Way to go Singapore, you've given F1 a truly wonderful twist in the tale.

Last set of pics, Raceday - http://flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/sets/72157607704772359/

X-posted to f1

In a week from now, Formula1 cars will line up along this very stretch to kick off the Singtel Singapore Grand Prix and create history.

I spent around 2 hours walking around the circuit yesterday and took a few snaps.

All the photos are handheld. No tripod or monopod. The lights are really quite bright as you can see :)

A few interesting things : BMW Sauber stuff, Turn 19 - where the cars go under the grandstands, Digiflags and concrete protective barriers.

For the rest of the snaps, clicky!

I can hardly wait :) 24 days to go for FP1 and that'll kick off the world's first night race. I got these 3 day walkabout tickets back in June, and took the pics back then too, just been lazy to upload them.

Of course, these are commemorative tickets, and hence plastic. They're damn cool :)

The circuit is almost done, lights are up, protective barriers are up and they're some very strong concrete barriers...will be interesting to see where the tyre walls will come up, if any. I'll try to walk around this weekend and get some shots of the circuit

Few more pics : http://flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/sets/72157607054264156/

I was out with some friends yesterday evening when I found out that Mika Hakkinen was in town for a little promo and there was a McLaren F1 car involved in the picture...

On digging around the internet, we found out that it was a promo for Johnnie Walker's new do not drink and drive campaign called Join the Pact (http://jointhepact.com/).

The only thing we (roomie and I) did today was head over to the place where the event was happening and catch a glimpse of the McLaren MP4-22, Mika, Paula Malai Ali and Steve Dawson (covering the event for Star Sports).

Woohoo! I managed to get some pretty decent shots ;)

Of course, the car never did anything more than 2nd or 3rd gear and the ear plugs they handed out weren't really needed, but it was fun. Mika did a total of 4 runs in the MP4-22, with the 3rd and 4th being longer than the first two along with some spins and the like.

The place where the event happened is actually a part of the street circuit where the GP will take place in September. Rest of the snaps - http://www.flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/sets/72157604312769276/

and for code_martial (in response to http://code-martial.livejournal.com/183623.html), a little statement :)



I'm not going to be able to sleep now.

The best part of all the 3 days, was raceday. Why? Because that's when you realise that you're normal and you see how many other people are atleast just as crazy or even more crazy that you are about the sport. The whole atmosphere was awesome. So many motorsport fans in one place....

I was wearing my Ferrari shirt as I came down for breakfast that day at the hotel and everyone looked at me like I was part of the team. Hah, felt good ;) The same thing on the monorail, random people would smile...a fellow Ferrari fan from some corner of the globe would nod or wave. And everyone in general knew what the deal was all about.

The rest of the snaps are being uploaded, a few hundred more to go...I'm off to sleep now.

Just as I thought I'd gotten over Sepang, vyshnavi kindly sends in an email with this link : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xi1EQBVA2Lc

And the memories came rushing back. As did the sounds. I still can't get over the V8s.

I'm going to own a Ferrari someday. That's a promise to myself that I really intend to keep.

Christijan Albers during Practice on Saturday. Rest of the Day 2 snaps : http://www.flickr.com/photos/fox2mike/sets/72157600077941245/

That's Nico Rosberg being pushed back in after his first practice session on Friday. I reached Sepang only by 1100 on the first day, so I caught 30 mins of the first session. The KLIA Ekspress is a very affordable + fast way to get to the Sepang Circuit which is about 80 Kms outside KL. For RM 100 (Around US$30 approx) this train takes you from the main train station in KL to the Airport from where AC buses ferry you to Sepang which is about 7-10 Kms away and return you back to the station from where you catch the train back. The RM 100 is for 3 days, it's RM 80 for raceday only. The train is amazing, makes 3 stops and covers 80 Kms is about 35 mins or so. Compared to a one way fare of RM 70 if you take a cab from the city, it's a killer deal.

Rest of the photos from Day 1. Some interesting ones :

1) Mika Hakkinen.
2) Robert Kubica, 1, 2 and 3.
3) Lewis Hamilton (only got his back though...)
4) Jarno Trulli (looking right ahead...seems like he was looking at the cam heh)
5) Marshals cleaning the track after Sutil's tyre blew up.

More pics soon :)

I wandered into the SIC on the 6^th of April around 1100 and heard an amazingly loud roar followed by 4 bangs...and that's when it hit me...those were the V8s downshifting from 6th to 2nd gear at the end of the start-finish straight to take turn 1 on the circuit. The first thing I probably screamed out was something not very nice, but then no one could hear me :D Here I was...on an F1 circuit and it really hadn't sunk in at that point. I just stood there and grinned like an idiot for 5 minutes before calling my dad and screaming into the phone (over the sound of the engines...).

No words can describe the scream of the V8s down the start-finish straight and the bangs as they shift gears. The cars move so fast that you can barely make out the drivers. Photographing them isn't an easy task, simply because of the speed :D The above is prolly the best shot of Massa I got across the 3 days and this was taken during the race (and he was doing over 300 Kmph..since the shot was taken down the start-finish straight).

If you're an F1 fan, you absolutely should go to a Grand Prix in your lifetime, simply because the TV doesn't quite cut it. The sounds of the engine are one I will never forget for a long time to come. Awesome. Amazing. Brilliant.

As I went to sleep on saturday, I could still hear the V8s...that's the impact they leave on you..the distict Rrrurrrrrrrrrr, bang, bang, bang...

Ferrari didn't win, and that was a disappointment but I'm sure they'll bounce back. This season should be very interesting to watch.

PS : Tons more pics to come, I managed to get shots of Kimi, Alonso, Mika (yes, Hakkinen...god bless the 70-300 :p), Nico, Trulli, Rubeno....it'll take a while to upload them all and I'll make a few more posts regarding the trip later.

Like teemus said, after watching F1 on TV since 1999, I'll be in Malaysia over the weekend for this year's GP. Awesome. And yeah, I blew up some money on Grandstand seats right on the start-finish straight.

Looking forward to doing some catching up with teemus and code_martial there.

Sepang, here I come :D