It's back!

Summer is over! Well for Formula 1, and anyone who lives in Britain seeing as the weather is typical rain, great preparation for the Belgium Grand Prix not so much for the rest of us!!

With the people who work in F1 bragging about the luxury cars they are driving to Spa or just the fact they can drive and don’t have to fly, a certain Brazilian has landed himself a race seat.

Bruno Senna who is (one of many) Renault’s reserve drivers is taking Nick Heidfeld seat in the car and will driving for the team at Spa.

Last year we saw him fight at the back of the grid driving for HRT in a car that quite frankly was pretty awful, we weren’t able to see the full potential of Senna’s skills around a track, however earlier this year we saw him in the R30 doing a demo at the WSR event… driving Eau Rouge… backwards… while filming on his I-phone. Now we won’t be seeing him going backwards or using DRS as a ban has been put in place for the corner but I do hope we see him battling near the front!

This race is special for another driver too, it’s Jerome D’Ambrosio first F1 race at his home Grand Prix, the race I’m sure he’s been waiting for since the start of the season. Being a Jerome fan myself, I’m hoping he has a brilliant weekend on and off the track, enjoying every minute of it, after all we haven’t seen a Belgium on the grid for over 15 years.

 Good luck to both Bruno and Jerome (and the rest of the drivers of course)

Spa is always an action packed race, with every driver racing out of their skin to do well at such a famous track, the excitement is helped by VERY unpredictable weather - here’s hoping it rains enough to make it tricky conditions but not too much it doesn’t ruin the fun of the race.

Lets get the second half of the season going with a brilliant race to start it off.

Bruno Senna own film footage taking on Eau Rouge.

Brno, Czech Republic - low down.

I'll start of by saying, this weekend the MotoGP world remembered Shoya Tomizawa who took his last pole at Brno last year and finished in 11th, his last finish at a Moto2 race. We miss you Shoya!! A young talent and an all round lovely guy who will always be remembered, Misano will be a hard weekend.

With varying weather conditions throughout the weekend, race day was the highest temperatures, with limited knowledge of what setup to use the 125’s were first out in the blazing sunshine.

With Nicolas Terol, the 125cc championship leader, having to retire because of mechanical problems, Sandro Cortese was able to take his first Grand Prix win, followed on the podium by Johann Zarco and Alberto Moncayo.

It wasn’t a strong day for the British riders as Danny Kent went out in the 125’s,Bradley Smith crashing and retiring out of the Moto2 class and Cal Crutchlow later crashing out in MotoGP.

Moto2 was another cracking race with the top four battling out to the chequered flag.

Stefan bradl led comfortably for the first half of the race but his race soon came under threat by Andrea Lannone, Marc Marquez and Alex de Angelis, all battling at the front.

Just as you thought one was in the lead, it changed and the order kept shuffling around till the last lap (a little confusing amongst the excitement of uncertainty of who would finish where)

On the last lap the battle for the win at Brno was between Lannone and Marquez who fought till the last corner when the Italian, Lannone took the win, the Moto2 podium was completed with Marquez in 2^nd and Bradl finishing in 3^rd.

With the lower classes completed it was time for MotoGP to get underway at Brno circuit, all riders opted for the extra-harder compound front and soft rear tyre except Jorge Lorenzo and Alvaro Bautista who both took a gamble and went for the softer front option.

Dani Pedrosa looked strong all weekend and with a solid pole position he was unable to keep in front when off the line and Lorenzo swiftly passed him with the rest of the ‘aliens’ not far behind.

Just seconds after taking back the lead from Lorenzo, who slipped back behind Stoner, Pedrosa lost the front end and subsequently crashed his Honda (he is okay, luckily) meanwhile in the middle of the field Valentino Rossi -who’s been struggling all year with his Ducati bike- managed to take 7^th from his team mate Nicky Hayden.

Stoner ran away in first ahead of Lorenzo and Dovizioso with a 2.5 second gap while home rider Karol Abraham, who’s weekend had been far from perfect, crashed out, to rejoin the race to then later retire with a mechanical failure, a disappointing weekend for him and then team however the crowd still had plenty of action to enjoy.

Lorenzo’s tyre choice gave him no favours and after having a few wobbly moments, Marco Simoncelli overtook the current world champion for 3^rd (yes, cleanly and stayed upright). Honda’s powered the front followed by the Yamaha boy’s n 4^th and 5^th with Rossi holding on to 6^th after having been pressured by Bautista who then crashed out.

Stoner went on to take his sixth win of the season, increasing his lead even further in the championship. Dovizioso came in 2^nd and it was a long time coming but Simoncelli finally got to step foot on the podium and enjoy the celebrations.

The best of the rest saw Lorenzo finish in 4^th along side his team mate Ben Spies, who despite having a trapped nerve causing trouble in his arm and neck came in a triumphant 5^th seeing as he was unsure as to whether he’d complete the full race distance. Rossi took 6^th a massive boost for the team who finally seem to be going forward rather than hanging around at the back of the field, somewhere we are not used to seeing Valentino Rossi, with his team mate Hayden finishing in 7th.

 [MotoGP Brno, Czech Republic podium - Casey stoner (1st) Adrea Dovizioso (2nd) Marco Simoncelli and his hair (3rd)]

With a test day taking place at Brno tomorrow with the new 2012 bikes,  MotoGP will be back in the USA in two weeks time.

Next up, Indianapolis, Indiana, aka the brickyard. 

MotoGP - Japanese Grand Prix is go!

So I may be a bit late on the subject but I thought I might as well make a blog post about my own opinions on the go ahead of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix in October.

I’m happy the GP is going ahead not just because I’m a fan and I like watching it but like the report from the ARPA said it IS safe to go there, so if it’s safe why shouldn’t they go race? That’s what they do.

I know Japan is still recovering and I agree no Grand Prix should have been held at the start of the year but surely now the benefits of hosting would be a lot greater?

After making a comment about radiation level’s [at the Motegi circuit] on Twitter, I got linked to an informative website. Now I’m not claiming I know much about radiation levels because I don’t but I do know a bit and it seems to be accurate enough (feel free to correct me If I’m wrong.)

My comment on Twitter went along the lines of… ‘If you consider how many x-rays most of the riders have had, the amount they’ve flown and will continue to fly around the world, especially on the long flight to get to Japan, as well as general radiation we are all exposed to daily, then they’ve more likely than not already been exposed to more radiation then they will for their duration of the weekend.’ … Which, according to the chart is an understatement.

[Take from this website i got linked to]

Casey stoner still claims even though it’s been deemed safe to stay, ride and eat in the area he still won’t be going and it’s up to organisers to figure out what to do.

Well he might change his mind if he doesn’t win any of the next few races (unlikely!)
Saying that, his closest challenger is Jorge Lorenzo who said he wouldn’t go if it wasn’t safe but as far as I am aware hasn’t made a comment since the results came out last week, lucky for some, he’s been holidaying in the Dominican Republic...

N'aww! 

[From Jorge Lorenzo's Facebook page] 

With a short summer break more or less over the MotoGP will be in Brno, Czech Republic, Karel Abraham’s homeland by the end of the week AND Moto2 and 125’s are back, for more exciting, unpredictable racing from the lower classes! 

Grand Prix experience

Seeing as I have only recently stared up this blog and we are now on the summer break I thought I’d share and reflect on my fairly recent F1 experience  – The British Grand Prix.

After going to my first Grand Prix at Silverstone last year, I thought that nothing would beat my first GP experience. The first time I heard a Formula 1 car, the first time I saw them fly past me, seeing the drivers in person or more like thinking ‘Ahh they really do exist!’

 I was very wrong, this year’s blew last year well and truly out of the water, no, not quite literally.

Not only did i hear the sweet sound of Formula 1 car's roaring round the track and the new pit straight and paddock complex but experiencing the atmosphere over the weekend was incredible, despite the rain the weekend was ‘buzzing’ and everyone you met had a beam from ear to ear and displayed a kiddy-like excitement, slightly different from last year when most of us were melting over the weekend.

For the first time this season -in my opinion- the race had a very unpredictable sense of who would achieve, who wouldn't, what was the weather going to be like in 5 minutes let alone in a few hours, what effect will the new rule changes have on the teams, how will Daniel Ricciardo fair in his first Formula 1 Grand Prix after replacing Narain Karthikeyan at Hispania. From a fan perspective this all very thrilling!

All three day’s were packed out so everyone scrambled for the seat they longed for on Friday and Saturday. One of my favourite was Club corner, being able to see the drivers fighting their car’s around the last corner in FP1 was a good laugh with several off track adventures, one not-so-nice crash from Sauber driver Kamui Kobayashi.

The racing was (and i believe always is if you are watching it live) fantastic to watch however this year i had an added extra to my Silverstone adventure: Marussia Virgin Racing weekend. A campsite set up and organised by the MVR team, and i may have already thanked them many times but i honestly couldn't thank them enough for helping make such a fun and entertainment filled weekend.

The MVR weekend included; lots of up and coming bands who were a lot better than my expectations, Jamie Oliver’s fabulous feasts, meet and greet the drivers and reserve drivers as well as all the team, DJ set's going on long into the night -expect little sleep over a GP weekend- in particular Marussia Virgin's own reserve driver DJ Sakon Yamamoto, games and competitions, re-runs of the day's action on the big screen, movie's- Cars 2 and Senna, all mixed with meeting lot's of friendly fans.

I have to admit Friday evening was one of the highlight’s… possibly of my life.

All four drivers (Main drivers: Timo Glock, Jerome D’Ambrosio. Reserve drivers: Sakon Yamamoto and Robert Wickens) took part in a Q&A session on stage, a few gags and fan questions later they came off stage to meet and greet, all four were polite and lovely! Followed by bands and drinks later Saturday had rolled around and it was time for FP3 and Qualifying.

Saturday saw Mark Webber take pole for the second year in a row with Sebastian Vettel 2^nd and Fernando Alonso in 3^rd. For the Brits it was swings and roundabouts or tyres and down force so to speak, Jenson Button pulled up to the grid in a satisfactory 5^th, while Paul di Resta impressed in 6^th however Lewis Hamilton started in a disappointing 10^th.

The support on Sunday was still positive will every McLaren fan looking forward to what both Button and Hamilton could do to make us all cheer with happiness.

Lucky for me I was on the new international pit straight for the race so after celeb spotting on the grid (including Prince Harry) it was time to get down to business.

Lining back up on the grid after the installation lap I could feel the tension growing and I was starting to feel nervous but very excited

I’d recall the race for you but you already know what happened. The atmosphere went from silent nerves to roaring encouragement every time Hamilton and Button (till his retirement) went past, with the occasional Ferrari and Red Bull fans leaping up of their seat every so often.

The last lap was magical, watching the moment when Felipe and Lewis battled it out till the very last second; I’ve never felt so many emotions and nerves. Although McLaren weren’t on the podium 4^th was still better then 5^th and made Button’s retirement that bit easier.

Champagne sprayed with Alonso getting his championship underway, winning his first race of the 2011 season followed by Vettel in 2^nd and Webber in 3^rd for RBR.

One of the highlights for me was seeing the swarm of fans running on to the track just as the podium was wrapping up. My reaction was “Look, look! That is something special, let’s join them!” this lasted all of about 2 minutes when they guy minding our grandstand said no more people were allowed to climb under the scaffolding. I waited eagerly and he turned round to me about 5 minutes later and said walk round to the gate that’s open. Nothing like making me think I’d not get on the track!! Needless to say I literally ran to the gate, my one goal/wish was to get on the track and I was able to.

I felt like a 5 year old at Christmas I was that excited, an hour’s walk later, both my camera’s dying on me and with a handful of marbles I went to check out the after party. I wasn’t in the midst of it it but I had a good view of the stage and got to see a fair few drivers as well as iconic faces such as Jackie Stewart.

After the day’s activities, back at MVR weekend they showed ‘SENNA’ on the big screen. I’d go on about how amazing it was but to be honest it was far, far more than that, it was emotional to say the very least, and no words justify how brilliant it is, he was a great man off the track and he was one, if not the best driver’s. He’ll always live on.

To sum up this post, Silverstone was the best weekend and I advise if you haven’t already that you get yourself to a Grand Prix, you’ll love every second of it, promise!

All again next year?!

In Pictures:

To check out more of my photo's from the weekend...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/64623434@N07/