Back from the Melbourne GP

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Well I got back from the GP in Melbourne.

I have never seen F1 cars in person before (neither V8's for that matter) so this was a big thing for me as I follow F1 religiously. Possibly the best Christmas present I have ever got (thanks to my wonderful and generous better half).

We will get to the F1 cars in a bit.

I only went on the Sunday for the race. Even though we only had general admission passes the event is great and really well spaced out so its not too crowded. We had a great view of the track from just before turn 3. I picked this corner specifically because it is the slowest and therefore going to be the most exciting with one of the few over taking opportunities sans the first lap/mistakes.

The first cars we got to see were the Mini's which are a great little category. Those things are pretty quick!

The next category was the Australian GT Series. This is a great class with some real exotica on show – Gallardo’s, GT3’s, F430’s, F360’s, Ascari A10, Viper’s, DB9 GT3 etc etc. These things sound the dogs. I would say the best noise came from the 430’s and the DB9. The vipers sounded a bit like a track with a milo tin on the back. The racing was good with lots of over taking due to the 3 classes on the track at once.

After this the V8’s came one. I don’t watch them that much on TV but having now seen them in person there is no wonder why this is the premier racing category in Australia. The racing is super tight especially in the mid field. They sound like God’s blender and spit flames – what’s not to like?

Next was the big race. The F1 cars. If you have never been to the race you simply must go at some point if you call yourself a car fan. These things are simply amazing in person. The speed difference is truly shocking. Even on the warm up laps they made the V8’s look like road cars going in reverse, over speed bumps, the size of big kevs gut. The noise is nothing short of frightening. It’s a fantastic shrill that just keeps on going. When you get a lone back marker you can hear a lovely bang between gear changes. Once then get moving and are in race pace the speed is almost impossible. This year in particular they are scary fast taking all things into account. Seb set the lap record this year by 2 tenths over Shuey’s 2004 record. Taking this into context is where it gets impressive. This years cars are over 200hp down and have NO driver aids compared to the 04 cars. In my book that is amazing.

On the first lap I got to see (and tape – video coming soon) Kobayashi crash directly into Nico Hulkenburg and Sebastian Buemi. I had an inkling that turn 3 would produce a crash on the first lap and it did! On the second or third lap Webber got one up on Massa with a great text book over taking move. After that the race went bad for Mark.

All in all it was a great race and if you can you really should go and see these things in person.

Photos to come.

[93_Clubman]

Great write-up! Usually happy to watch on TV, but you're right should get along for the sights, smell & sound of it all, particularly while it's still in Melb.