Thought I’d share the views around the Malaysian Grand Prix for you guys like I did for the Australian Grand Prix and I’ve got a few extra pictures for this one as Sepang is one of those circuits where you can see the cars going through one particular corner from a few different spots. First of all, here's a layout of the Sepang circuit:
Main Straight
Upper Deck
Me personally, I prefer watching the action from the upper deck of the main grandstand. It’s also a better spot for taking some pictures of the F1 cars as your pictures won’t get ruined by those damn catch fences that might just ruin pictures for anyone at the lower deck. Also, you can see the cars coming out of the pits better from up there.
Lower Deck
Ok, you can still get some good pictures from the lower deck like this one I got of Vettel from the 2013 race but as I’ve pointed out, the catch fences may ruin some pictures from down here. The one good thing about being at the lower deck is that you’ll get a better view of the pit garages and maybe even spot a few drivers getting ready for the action.
Turn 1– K1 Grandstand
East End
Turn 1 is the spot to be to watch some great racing and some overtaking action too. It’s quite a long grandstand itself too but I personally prefer watching it from the east side of the grandstand as you’ll see the cars from the main straight down into Turn 1 and Turn 2. Got quite a number of pictures of these guys overtaking one another so this spot gets a thumbs up from me.
West End
Now for the other end of the K1 Grandstand and this isn’t a bad spot itself but when you can get seats from the east end of the grandstand, why get seats here? And I have to say, this part of the grandstand was quite empty on race day! You can still get some good pictures of the cars but this wouldn’t be the reason you’d want to take pictures from this side of the grandstand or watch the action.
Also you can see bits Turn 1 from the main grandstand from the right spot and also a bit of Turn 2.
Turn 2
Once again at the K1 Grandstand and sticking to the eastern end of the grandstand as you can’t really see the action at Turn 2 from the western side of the grandstand. Good spot to watch the cars tackle this tricky bit of the circuit, not so good for taking photos unless they decide to collide with one another like Hulkenberg and Kvyat did. Even then, I couldn’t see all that much from where I was.
Turn 3
If you want to watch the cars at Turn 3, the western side of the K1 Grandstand is where you’ll want to be. It’s actually not a bad spot to get some pictures of these cars too, just try not to let the catch fences get in the way again.
Turn 4
I don’t actually have any proper pictures of any cars at Turn 4. You can see it from the K1 Grandstand from this picture too but it’s quite the distance away and as far as I can tell, there is no way anyone can watch the action from there too.
Turn 5
Well there are two spots you can see the cars tackle through Turn 5, the F Grandstand and also the Tower Grandstand but again, it’s quite the distance away at both spots and I didn’t get any good photos of any cars from there so no pictures from here sadly.
Just to let you guys know, Turns 5 to 8 can be viewed quite easily from either the F Grandstand or the Tower Grandstand. Here’s one pic of the F Grandstand, taken from the Tower Grandstand:
Turn 6 – F Grandstand
If you’re sitting at the eastern end of the F Grandstand, you might get some good pictures of the cars there and a few drivers have gone off at that corner before. There is a bit of a viewing spot next to the grandstand but the catch fences will ruin any pictures you try to take from there so you’re better off trying your luck at the grandstand itself.
Between Turns 6 and 7
The F Grandstand is not a bad place to watch the action from too. You can see some great racing at K1 but also at the F Grandstand and you can see more parts of the circuit from here. If you're not interested in getting seats at K1 Grandstand, this is the best place to watch the action from.
Turn 7 – F Grandstand
If you’re sitting at the right spot at the F Grandstand, you might just get some really good photos of the cars going through Turn 7. Even with the catch fences in the way, you can still get some great pictures from there. Many drivers have gone off at that corner so it’s also a good spot to watch the action from.
Turn 8 – Tower Grandstand
Ok so I don’t actually have a picture of any car at Turn 8 but here’s the closest I got to it, this time from the Tower Grandstand. This is just after Turn 8, it’s quite the tricky spot to get some pictures and as you can tell, I didn’t get much from there.
Turn 9 – Main Grandstand
To be honest, I’ve not spent all that much time at this part of the circuit even though it’s just opposite the main grandstand overlooking the back straight. It’s another place where a few drivers have gone off at, Hamilton spun off at that corner last weekend during practice so it’s even caught out the world champion. It’s not a bad spot to watch the action as you’ll get to see the cars going past you on the long straight too. Can’t really say the same about getting pictures from there, those of you who might have the longer lenses might have a better time getting pictures from there.
Turns 10 to 14 – I’ve got nothing from those corners or the run up to those corners
Back straight
This is the bit I was talking about for Turn 9. You might not get some good pictures of the cars at Turn 9 but you sure can get some good photos down the straight and it’s one of the rare places where you’ll get to see the DRS open on the rear wings of these cars.
Turn 15 – Tower Grandstand
Turn 15 might be my favourite spot in Sepang for getting pictures of the cars, especially from the Tower Grandstand. You’re not that far away from these cars so anyone can get some good photos of those F1 cars from that spot. One of the best parts of watching the action from the Tower Grandstand is that you can easily move around if you’re at the top floor and get pictures from any part of Turn 15 and they’d all look great. Also a good spot for those who just want to watch the cars go by with views of Turns 5, 6, 7, 8 and also 9 from some parts. So here’s two pictures I got from Turn 15 at that grandstand.
Turn 15 – F Grandstand
Over at the other side of the circuit you can watch the action from F Grandstand and it’s one of those areas where overtaking is bound to happen. Getting photos of the cars from here is a bit trickier but you might still get a picture of cars racing each other like this one I have. Vettel and Webber from 2013, Multi 2-1 anyone?
And now we’re back to the front straight for these drivers to start another lap and for us to cheer them on for another lap! So as you can tell, it's actually quite a good circuit for taking photos of these cars. It'll be a while before I do another one of these as the only other circuit I've visited apart from the first two on the calendar is Singapore.
Besides the obvious interest for F1, Me and Kash also share 2 other interests, Photography and collecting F1 Diecast models. Therefore a series around F1 without including these two topics would be impossible.
Me and Kash are small time collectors, Lets start this chapter with introducing "Ticko" the Collector, And lets go way back in history we can not do this without bringing up the build of the Anderstorp RaceTrack, The story about this track will also be told in another chapter. But without this track being built it is not certain if interest in and for racing had become as big as it did for Ticko.
1967 the track was completed and the following year it held its first competition. With Journalists being told that in 5 years time there would be running of F1 races there, all of them laughed and thought that "Smokey" delivering this message had got Grand Delusions. Ticko age 10 was at the first race due to his father gotten free tickets for helping with the construction of the track. It would still take the time until 2003 before Tickos sense for business and collecting of memorabilia would emerge
It is sometimes funny how we start and develope an interest for different things, for myself a lenghty time in hospital where i was given model airplanes to build to make time go by more quickley, Add that i was given a Scalectrix slotcar track for my 9th birthday, that in terms grow a fascination for F1 that never let go. I did never build any F1 models though and diecast i was not interested in until 1993 when a friend with same F1 interest told me about a diecast shop in city of Värnamo. In 1995 i moved to this city and become a frequent customer there.
H: How did your interest for collecting diecast of F1 start Kash? K: I got hooked on F1 when watching it with my dad who was following it, And on my 14th birthday i decided to buy 3 diecast models because they looked really cool. I bought them for fun and to have something F1 related of my own. But 3 years later i started to buy a lot more after seeing other peoples collections, Yours included :). I wanted a collection of my own and now it has become my No1 hobby. I am upto 92 diecast models right now with latest 4 bought in Japan, Visiting my brother i found a great shop nearby his home.
I am sure that the many things Ticko did until 2003 only sparked his interest and during the time Ticko since joining ARC (Anderstorp Racing Club) 1974 he got involved with racing as a driver but also as Fire Marshall,Assisting Race Director for Roadracing World Championship rounds at Anderstorp 1987 he made a bit of a history as being the first to grant start access to a female in a world championship round, Namely Finnish fast lady Taru Rinne. Then later he become Vice President of ARC,Starting Raceteam 1991. Then in 2003 he went to a fair for old cars and memorabilia,Seeing that there was a genuine interest made Ticko devotedly purposely going to dig out and get racememorabilia that would tell the story of the track Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp.
The Summer of 2006 saw Ticko taking a big step in opening up the motorsportsmuseum Nostalgia in center of Anderstorp. The plan was then to take the Museum to the track but this never got finalized cause of internals struggles among track management. in the end Ticko moved to Halmstad and sold the museum and its artifacts to his now business partner Greger Petersson(Sportpromotion)
Museum and Tickoraceshop
where he is now running his collector shop Tickoracingshop,in the perfect location of Gregers collection of cars
One of just 5 built Zakspeed Escort, 2 remains.
BTCC Rickard Rydell´s Volvo
I can tell you Ticko has a perfect view from his office overlooking Teo Fabi Benetton F1, Several Stefan Johansson Formula cars
Office view to kill for :)
and all of his own collections of Posters,Stickers,Photos,Ronnie Peterson memorabilia all with their own dedicated walls. They also share the premises with Powerhouse of Swedish Racing, Team Westcoast Racing.
It is time to head out and meet Ticko at his new place in the city of Halmstad. After 1 hour of Bikeride i arrive at this coastal city.
in front of the building
And when entering,One of the first things you see is an F3 car hanging from a wall :) You are thrown into Swedish Racinghistory.
Anders Olofsson´s Ralt F3
Some questions for you Ticko:
H: When did you start to collect and why?, And were you decided from the start what the collection would concist of or was it something developing over time? T: I had gotten a F1 model by a seller at a fair for helping him out, later it was at the fair in Halmstad city when i sold old carparts,posters,decals and photos of Scandinavian Raceway, I realised then seeing another one selling the same thing that this was what i should collect to start the museum. And get carmodels that had connections to the track. Since F1 was running here 1973-1978 those were the models primarily i was going for. In 2008 i started upscaling by buying from international retailers.
H: Any advice for the ones wanting to start a F1 collection of some kind? T: The advice would be to focus on a certain thing to collect and not just everything Check also to see how and why and what memorabilia increase in value, In case you want to sell to get other things in the future or to pass on.
H: Do you reach buyers from other countries aswell? T: Through my webshops www.tickoracing.se and www.tickoracingshop.com i am able to sell outside Sweden, And also by facebook and visiting classic motorfairs in and outside Sweden i reach new customers using a trailer purposely built for selling my artifacts.
H: Name one thing only you are proud to be the owner of. T: A handbuilt Ronnie Peterson BMW Touring Car Scale 1:18 from German series given to Ronnie by BMW. The model was placed in Ronnies home and i bought the model from Ronnies brother Tommy 2014.
Ticko in front of the Ronnie Peterson wall with the handbuilt BMW model
H: Do you remember the first F1 related object you did get. T: Yes - It was a JPS cap from the 1973 F1 race in Anderstorp, Unfortunately i throw it away,Something i of course regret today.
H: Is there something you regret not buying when you had the chance to do so? T: In 2004 there was a Ronnie Peterson model of his 1973 GP win in Italy where he got his arm stretched up in the air. Model made by exclusive Exoto. I hesitated at the price given to me,When i finally had decided the car was sold :( Several years later i got the chance again and bought the model but now priced 7 times higher..... But still the value of the car is now twice than when i bought it :)
H: Something else than F1 related you collect? T: I collect Carmodels of Swedish drivers from all classes in the scales of 1:43 and 1:18
H: When has collecting gone to far? (Hoarding) :) T: When you have as much and shelves are not enough and you need boxes to stuff the artifacts into. But it is a dilemma we all got i think :)
H: if you got to choose one thing to own currently not owning now, what would it be? T: I wish to once again get hold of a genuine Ronnie Peterson Helmet. I have had the priveliege of owning one in the past, but i sold it at an auction in England 2012. I sold one of Ronnies racingoveralls to Japan also,His yellow one i can see in the museumshop each day :)
H: You become retailer for Spark models now, Why did you choose them? T: When i visited Toy Fair in 2010 i was asked if i wanted to become importer and wholeseller for them in Sweden. I saw that most of their models were that of motorsports which is my main source of modelcars for sale. I was also impressed by the quality in their models, So i represent them now with pride and also Team Classic Lotus.
H: A F1 race you missed but wish you had gone to see? T: Polar GP of Sweden 1975, its the only race i missed in Anderstorp due to me then working at a bakery 250km from it and without a car :(
H: For future,A track and F1 race you would like to see? T: I Would like to be at and see a F1 race at Paul Ricard circuit. It was one of the first tracks i visited and been there a few times but never at a race.
H: Which is you favourite current running F1 track, And also Favourite non current F1 track? T: SPA track of Belgium first and foremost it is not as changed as current F1 tracks with wide runoff areas and such. Today is too easy to drive in F1 in my oppinion there needs to be a challenge. SPA has it all, The speed, the overtakings and ofc Eau Rouge that is unpresidented. No non current F1 track is favourite above SPA.
H: In 1978 The Brabham BT46B(Fan Car) made its only allowed race on Scandinavian Raceway in Anderstorp SWE GP Should it had be allowed to race in your mind? T: Brabham BT46B should not been allowed to compete in my mind, This due to safety. The car itself brought up a lot of dirt,rubbles and stones which it ejected backwards to oncoming drivers and cars.Bernie Ecclestone owned the team and almost F1 already. And thats the reason i think he could race with it that single time.
H: Todays F1 18-20 cars against 26(and more if you count the pre-qualifying) when was F1 as best? T: With the costs of today i think 18 cars is enough the reason being, rest of the cars can easily become a hazard being too slow and a lapping might cause problems But 26 was good, Not many of them made it back then though cause of failures. I feel F1 was at its best before 1980 when people could come into pitlane and see drivers and teams upfront. Think of all those memories those kids then had growing up which the kids of today not being able to get. People that was blessed with that time hold onto F1 more easily than kids growing up today that cannot get a memory like that to plant.
H: Best Swede in F1 that never got to drive in an F1 race out of Kenny Bräck, Björn Wirdheim, Alx Danielsson? T: Easily Kenny Bräck!, Outstanding among them.
H: Best Swedish Formula Car driver today? T: My Favourite of current Swe drivers is Felix Rosenqvist who has capacity to become an F1 driver.
H: Is it time to replace Bernie Ecclestone? T: I think it is time to replace him, It is important that F1 is king of the formula class That both has speed and sounds and that makes the driver more important, then audience might be returning to F1.
H: Finally, Are you involved in any racing nowadays? T: No Neither as mentor or in marketing of racing, Today i following the series with my mobile shop being at the races in Sweden hoping to generate more supporters.
Photowall
Teo Fabi´s 1998 Benetton F1
Driver Reine Wisell Helmet
Diecasts scale 1:43
Front Shelves of models
That was it for the interview that took place early summer, In the end 4 hours never passed so quickley. I got home with a smile and 5 new diecast cars, The smile stayed until i went to sleep.
Pictures now fixed and are fully up for all to enjoy!
Nice one Hookee, even though I knew what was coming! I wouldn't really say we're small time collectors haha. Sometimes I get jealous of the stuff you get to do and see like this one. :)
First of all happy new year to all of you in GPRO. Make 2016 a good one for yourselves!
For some reason I kept forgetting to post my story from Suzuka on here but since I'm free for a few days, I've finally got the time to get this done. I've always thought that of the four circuits I've been to, Sonoma Raceway was the best of the lot and it wasn't even hosting a Formula One race. It took me just one day in Suzuka to change my mind.
Travelling, much like in Sepang, can be quite the pain, if not even more painful if you have weak legs. It is a good 20 minute walk from the train station to the entrance of the circuit and depending on where you are sitting, it could be another 20 minute walk. If you plan to make the trip to Suzuka sometime in the future, I would recommend to stay in Nagoya, it would make things way easier than having to take the bullet train from Tokyo. And the weather does not help at all. Luckily for me the only time the rain hit when I was at the circuit was Friday.
Here is the cool thing for Suzuka, you can sit anywhere for the Friday of the Japanese Grand Prix, except the main granstand as their seats are reserved for all three days. Everywhere else is just Saturday and Sunday. Since it was free, I thought I'd check out the area near the first few corners for FP1. And of course it was raining during that time.
I decided to start the day off at the C Grandstand, which gave a good view of the first two corners and the run up to the S curves and the first two bits of it. Not a bad place to watch these cars go around but there weren't many cars going around because of the rain. Still, at least there was one car going around the circuit for the most part of the circuit so I couldn't complain about that.
But as there wasn't much going on, I thought I would walk around and check out the rest of the stands around the S curves. I really liked the view from the D1, D2 and E2 grandstands, mainly D2 as the cars were close by. And the best part about Suzuka I noticed right away, there is a lot of good spots to watch the action. And for those of us who like taking photographs of these racing cars, there weren't that many catch fences in the way too, so that is double the bonus to enjoy a day out at Suzuka watching these F1 cars in action.
As I had time to kill after the first practice session, I decided to check out the F1 Village area to see what was happening at the main stage and just to see what is there to get around Suzuka. And yes, there is a lot of those weird merchandise you would not see anywhere, especially the puppets. There were a number of cars on show, 5 classic cars that would have the demo runs during the weekend, one of them being the MP4-6 that won the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix with the same guy who won it driving that very car (Gerhard Berger). The last two McLaren F1 cars were also on show. I showed up at the right time too as Fernando Alonso showed up to speak to the fans for a bit.
I didn’t walk around much for the second practice session. I started out at the Q1 Grandstand, sitting at the very last row just so I can get the best view possible and it sure was. You could see Turns 1, 2, 5, 7, 16, 17 and 18. That had to be one of the better spots around Suzuka. You would never know where to look with the cars going by either side of the circuit which I really didn't mind, beats having just a four second view of the cars like what I had at the Bay Grandstand most of the time in Singapore the week before (that grandstand seat really was rubbish. If you do decide to visit Singapore for the race, DO NOT buy tickets at that grandstand).
It turned out to be a good spot, I saw the likes of Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo all running off at the chicane. Spent the last few minutes seeing what the view was like at R and S Grandstand but it was nothing compared to Q, it was decent but not as great as Q. Really wanted to check out the view from that big ferrish wheel too but I just did not have the time to do it. If anyone else has been up there, help us out here.
For those of us who like to take photos for these racing cars, Suzuka actually have a number of spots just for those with a "photographer's pass" and I’m not talking about the professional guys but people like you and me. Those lucky buggers had some really good spots too so those into photogrpahy and planning a trip to Suzuka, give that a try. I bumped into this while walking past Turn 7. Don't really know what else to say so I'll let the picture do the talking. I'm just glad I happend to see it by chance. Shame he was taken way too early in his career.
I ended up watching the last half of FP3 at Turn 6, which wasn’t a bad place to see those cars. There was a superscreen close by and I wanted to see how everyone was doing timewise. Also, I didn't want to see the action from my seat just yet, I was curious if there was any free spots and as it turns out, those spots were actually near the 130-R so I was at the wrong spot.
For some reason I didn't watch any of the sessions from there which was my one big mistake of that weekend. For qualifying I watched it at our seats at I Grandstand which had a great view of the Hairpin Curve (Turn 11), or as I like to call it, the Kobayashi curve, you lot probably know why (if you've seen him in action in Suzuka). If not, ask Jun Ho. :P
It turned out to be a really good one. Lots of stuff happening at the hairpin curve and the cars were really close to my seat. But I got my money’s worth later on when Max Verstappen stopped his Toro Rosso car right in front of us, giving me tons of great pictures so thank you Max for that (I got a picture with him too in Singapore the week before, nice guy).
And then came Qualifying 3. Those of you who saw that session knew what happened. THAT crash. Daniil Kvyat had that massive shunt at Turn 10, he lost control of his car and he hit the barriers quite hard, flipping his car too. And guess where I was? Yup, right opposite where he hit the barriers.
I noticed a few sparks right awat (at that point I didn't know he had put a wheel on the grass) before he crashed so I thought something broke. Biggest shunt I've seen live, glad that Kvyat walked away from that one. Didn't realise he did a barrell roll until I saw the replays (I'll blame the gravel flying around for that).
Got in time to see the F1 driver’s parade and thank god they did the parade with those classic cars individually and not the whole “everyone together in one bus” that the other races have been doing, I really don't like those bus parade. At least Suzuka did it right. I saw the parade opposite from my seat just after Turn 9 and it turns out that was another good spot to watch the action and free seating there and for such a good spot too because you don’t just get to see the cars go one way but both ways with that section where the track layout crosses one another.
Most of you might remember seeing the crazy stuff those people would have brought to Suzuka and I can tell, these Japanese fans are really creative when it comes to these stuff. I saw so many hats with cars on it, the famous DRS hat that actually works, a bunch of Samurais in Ferrari colours and even a guy wearing Kimi Raikkonen’s overalls and the helmet too! Even their marshalls did their own dressing up during the track parade just to put on a show for the fans.
The area at the I Grandstand was a good spot to see some close racing, but not as many overtakes as I expected (F1 in 2015 right?). Most of them came from Daniel Ricciardo who had a puncture early on. Good spot to take pictures of more than one cars and also for just one car as the view was quite clear. I think it was the closest I was to the cars of any of the areas I’ve watched F1 cars at any of the four circuits I’ve been to.
If you’re thinking about going to Suzuka, watching from I Grandstand is probably the one place I can strongly suggest. Really liked it there in Suzuka, it probably won't be my last visit there. Easily the best F1 circuit I've been to yet so if anyone is looking for a new race to check out, give Suzuka a look! Language and weather aside, I can promise anyone heading there that they will enjoy it. :)
Well it's been a while since I posted anything on here and I noticed that of all the races I've been too, for whatever reason I've not talked about my own experience at the race I've been to the most, the Singapore Grand Prix (since I live just 15 minutes away from the circuit). And as you guys know, we just had the 10th running of the Singapore Grand Prix this past weekend. Sure was a historic one too.
This being a street circuit, travelling is not a bother unlike Sepang or Suzuka. If you're staying at a hotel, there's a good chance the hotel you're at is close by any part of the circuit. If you happen to stay further away, the easiest way to get to the circuit is through our trains/subways/whatever you call them in your area. It's quite easy to move around in Singapore with the public transport we have here.
The biggest problem for me about the Singapore race is the insanely expensive tickets. This race might be the one with the most expensive of all the races. The usual ticket I get is the premier walkabout which means you can go to all four zones and that itself is already S$400. The cheapest grandstand ticket is S$250, need I say more.
As much as I hate the prices, it's still very worth it to me. For a street circuit there is a lot of good viewing spots around the circuit and off track and there's lots to do and see around the circuit too with the fan village areas (pit-stop challenges, F1-simulators and picture booths to name a few). Those things have been getting better lately.
And if you're a music junkie, the race does tend to bring in some big names for the concerts around here (Maroon 5, Bon Jovi, Noel Gallagher, J-Lo and Ziggy Marley to name a few). Didn't really bother with it this year and all the "big name" acts were those I've never heard of before.
This track might also be the easiest to see the drivers without going for an autograph session (for Singapore, you have to win tickets to go for their autograph sessions unlike in Melbourne which is open to all). If you've got a ticket to zone 1 and show up at the circuit at around 3pm and you're at Gate 2/5, there's a good chance you'll see the most of the drivers walk by that area. Some of the drivers will stop to for autographs and pictures but there's always those few who will run off and not entertain us fans (Ferrari drivers/Hamilton/Alonso), most of the time at least.
I got myself grandstand tickets for once at the Esplanade Waterfront stand (Turns 16 & 17, just before the "tunnel"). But since it's a street circuit, I didn't bother with my seats until Sunday. I spent most of my friday at the same turn but it turned out to be a good spot to see the cars up close. At any point you could be seeing the cars from the side view, the back view or the front view around that Turns 11-12 area. Good spot for taking pictures of the cars too.
If you're ever at the Singapore Grand Prix and all you've got is a zone 4 ticket, the only good spots are at Turn 8, 11/12 and 14. I even tried to see the action at the turn 13 hairpin but you had to stand on a railing just to see the cars. There is an interesting spot on top of the Esplande building, you can see the cars from the view of the 4th floor and since the building is inside the circuit, anyone with a ticket can watch it from there.
It's also one of the few spots around the track where you can get a picture of these cars without those catch fences being in the way but only for one specific spot. The bit before Turn 14 is also another good spot, that's the place where you'll hear the cars at their "loudest" and also the easiest place to see sparks flying off these cars.
The atompshere was amazing with fans from everywhere coming down to Singapore. There were people from Netherlands (lots of Dutch fans here), Denmark, Mexico, Canada and even good ol' USA but the main ones are the Brits and the Aussies. I ended up sitting around some of them during the race and of course they had a friendly banther with one another with Hamilton and Ricciardo fighting for the win.
There's no clear cut favourites on who the fans all support so it's nice to see all different supporters, as it tends to be the case around here. You'll always hear a cheer for either the Ferrari guys, Mercedes guys, Red Bull guys or the McLaren guys (McLaren fan here). Oh if you were wondering, there was a loud cheer when the two Ferraris crashed into each other during the race. Guess my area was the anti-Ferrari zone.
Sunday was fun in some ways. The weather didn't help one bit. It was raining, then it stopped, then it rained again, then it stopped again, it went on and on. Especially around 10 minutes before the race started, the rain came down again.
Oh a piece of advice here, always bring a poncho! I forgot to bring mine and I had to buy one (just for $2) because they didn't allow umbrellas to be used in the grandstands. I should have known better from my experiences in Suzuka and Melbourne.
There aren't that many good grandstand seats in Singapore but the one I had at Esplanade Waterfront was not so bad, I'd recommend that over the Bay Grandstand. Oh there was a fireworks display right after the race was over, if you're a sucker for those like I am, you'll want to stay in your seats for those after the races here.
Overall it was another good experience despite the price and the weather (and some might say the lack of racing too), it was still a fun weekend. I hope that was enough to let you guys know what it was like being there last weekend (if I missed anything out, my apologies for that). Glad to see Singapore is staying on for another 4 more years. :)
The fact you have to pay full price for the ticket despite living there is quite ridiculous :o But looks like a fabulous place to go to for a race, if you have the cash to splash
Yup the pricing is a bit silly but it's well worth it to me, I tend to save up during the year just for this race. Like you said, not a bad place to host a street race for sure, especially during the night time.
Very nice reading Kash! Hope next season you get better weather and you are able to make it to the race once again :). Sadly for me Formula E won't have a Argentina E-prix next year, so I'll have to suck it up :/
Quote ( Roy Mitchell @ September 22nd 2017,20:29:20 )
Thank you for the post, very interesting. I am envious of your good fortune.. ;)
You're welcome. Haha I wouldn't think of it that way. :P
Quote ( Florencia Caro @ September 22nd 2017,21:03:18 )
Very nice reading Kash! Hope next season you get better weather and you are able to make it to the race once again :). Sadly for me Formula E won't have a Argentina E-prix next year, so I'll have to suck it up :/
Thanks! Yup I'm already planning on which tickets to get for next year's race. Oh dang that's a shame to hear, I really liked the races there in Buenos Aires. I mean it was cool seeing your pictures at those races too. I hope they'll be back. :)
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