Tag Archives: silverstone

British Grand Prix

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Please don't go Dad

Please don't go Dad

Yesterday I made my annual trip to Silverstone to help marshal the spectators at the British Grand Prix. It was a strange event this year as it was supposed to be the last time we’d be at Silverstone, but doubts about Donnington mean many people expect to be back at Silverstone in 2010. Bad timing also meant that I missed my first Father’s Day so me and Jessica decided I could celebrate being a Dad on the 22nd.

We’re usually given a free programme and sometimes a baseball cap but this year the organisers also gave us a polo shirt – maybe they’re getting rid of all the stock before they lose the GP!

Our accomodation

Our accommodation

We had a capacity crowd of 120,000 on the Sunday with a large number of them sporting Jensen Button caps. Unfortunately for them Button was unable to improve on his grid spot, finishing in sixth. Vettel seemed to be in a completely different race and had no trouble leading for the majority of the race before winning. Hamilton was fun to watch but wasn’t able to get anywhere near the points – on the warm down lap he decided to do a donut right in front of where we were marshalling… which was nice.

Thankfully it looks like we’ll be required next year for the marshalling regardless of where the GP takes place. I’ve managed to get to eight consecutive ones now and it is something of a tradition. There is even talk of two Grand Prixs in Britain next year with the possibility of us hosting the European one.

As usual I wasn’t allowed to take any photos of the on track action so if you want to see more try the official site here.

Silverstone

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Last weekend was time for my annual trip to Silverstone to watch the British GP. As you can see from the picture the weather could have been better but it made for a very exciting weekend of racing. The bottom half of the course (where I was spectator marshalling) saw a large amount of action with lots of overtaking and cars spinning in the wet. The weekend finished on a high when Lewis Hamilton dominated the race and was first over the line – there is a great atmosphere when the crowd gets behind one of the drivers. Saturday’s GP2 race also produced some exciting racing with places changing right up to the end of the race.

I have a few more pictures from the event (including one of the Batmobile) which I’ll put online soon. Marshals aren’t allowed to take pictures of the race so if you’d like to see some pics of that try here.

Weddings and motor sport

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Things have been really hectic recently… attending weddings and Grand Prixs.

Firstly, I wanted to thank Liz’s parents for the fantastic wedding reception they organised for Zig and Liz (pictured left). Jessica and I hired a car and drove up to Essex for their wedding which was held on the 30th June. The wedding service was held in a local church and the reception took place in a marquee erected in Liz’s parent’s garden.

We had some lovely food at tables in the marquee and then some of the tables were cleared to make space for a band and dance floor. The band were really good but I have forgotten their name so can’t give their website a plug – perhaps someone can add the name to the comments? Strangely, just about everyone I spoke to at the wedding was in the process of planning their own – Jessica and me felt the need to defend our registry office in the face of castles and other fancy locations. I expect the castle would win in a stand up fight though – I doubt Russettings has the necessary armoury. Anyway, a great event (even the farm canine got dressed up) – I wish Zig and Liz all the best with their new marriage.

This weekend saw me resuming my spectator marshalling job at the British Grand Prix. This is the sixth time I have been, but it was the first time where I felt there was a realistic chance of a Brit actually winning the race.

Only my dad and me made the trip to Silverstone this year, (Zig was honeymooning) but dad didn’t disappoint… bringing the amount of food and equipment for which he is famous (in parts of Newcastle anyway!) Lewis Hamilton treated us to a thrilling qualifying session on the Saturday but the Ferrari’s pace was too great on the Sunday and Hamilton had to settle for a third position in the race.

I don’t have many pictures of the event as marshals are not allowed to use their cameras whilst on duty. So, I’ll leave you with a couple of shots – me in my marshalling get up, and my view of the crowd at 7am on a Sunday morning (note: there was nothing on track until 9am).

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Last Friday night I traveled up to Silverstone after work. This was so I could once again be a spectator marshal for the British GP (my 5th time). Dad came along too for his second year and once again he brought a large collection of camping equipment (marshals stay on a campsite). There are a few pictures from the event but I will not be able to put them up for a while due to the house move (see later).

The actual race was a little boring this year and my prediction of Raikkonen to win was incorrect (he came 3rd). Much more exciting was the GP2 race that preceded the Formula One. The crowd really got behind (potential F1 driver) Lewis Hamilton as he came from 10th on the grid to win the race.

A lot of people seemed intent on watching the England game on one of the three screens that would be showing the match. So high was the demand that all the screens on the track showed the football whilst the first GP2 race was being run. Why people would spend money to get into the event and then not watch it I have no idea.

If you were at the event – congratulations if you noticed that some of the Officials had “Offical” written on their tabards. It took us a while to spot this even after an Offical had asked us to “Spot the deliberate mistake”.

On Monday me and Jessica scribbled on the agreement for our new flat. We are due to move our stuff in very soon and we are praying that Ikea have the bits we want in stock whilst we have a van. The flat itself was a little disappointing as it had not been cleaned after the last occupants – we swept up a bit last night and it is almost ready to receive our possessions. The phone will not be connected for a fortnight and then there will be a wait for broadband after that. Hopefully I can put my GP photos up at work.