Our Weekend at the 2010 British Grand Prix

Don't you hate it when people ask you if you're glad to be back when you've been away somewhere? I do. Especially when I have just come back from the best weekend I have had in years. We went to Silverstone this weekend, my seven year old son Christian and I, and camped with a great group of people at Whittlebury, the first Grand Prix I have attended since the 1999 Belgian round, and the good news is that it was at least as good as I remembered - maybe even the best time I have ever had at any of the seventeen races I have attended.
We left North Wales at 9am on Thursday morning so that we could get there nice and early and get ourselves settled before the rest of the group arrived, I even thought we might have a wander round inside the circuit while it was quiet, only to find that Bernie has now stopped anyone bar VIPs getting anywhere near the place before Friday morning. We had been to Silverstone in May to watch the FIA GT1 World Championship so we knew our way around the new layout, but it would have been nice to have a look around at the teams setting up, but it wasn't to be.
Friday morning Christian was up at 6am, and considering we had had quite a heavy night, coupled with the fact that we were sharing a caravan with my friend Lee, his son, Ben and mutual friends Gez and Phil, this didn't go down especially well, particularly the bit where Christian was using Phil's camp bed as a tunnel to race his toy cars through. Everyone seemed to excuse him because he was obviously so excited, and came out with responses to my apologies like "Don't be silly, one up, all up", it was very noble, but I could see they didn't mean it. We went and met the rest of our group at their motor home, Ronnie and Rhian, Steve and Dawn and their son Liam and the idea (well my idea) was to get into the circuit nice and early, in good seats ready for the 10am start of FP1. After negotiating the session times from a very confusing timetable on the tickets, which displayed everything in Central European time, we sat in the Becketts grandstand and waited for the first car to come out on track.
Christian was absolutely blown away by the sight of the cars that he watches on TV, and also by the noise, for which we needed to go and buy him some headphones, which was a drag because the view of the reconfigured circuit from Becketts is now absolutely fist class. We called back in the afternoon and watched FP2 from the pit straight grandstand, before ending our day at the track with a jug of Pimms, anyone would think it was Wimbledon; mind you had it been Wimbers, I doubt that we would have stolen the Pimms jug when we'd finished (does it count as stealing if you have paid a deposit?).
We spent another good evening on Friday at the pavilion bar, before heading back to the tent for the obligatory nightcap. I left the other three sitting up drinking when I called it a night about 1am, but heard them bouncing off the walls later on, on their way to turn it in for the night. When I woke up on Saturday morning there was an empty litre bottle of Bacardi (other Jamaican white rum is available) on the table outside that I know didn't even have the seal broken when I left them - no wonder I was first up. After a nice leisurely barbecued brekkie we ventured off to the circuit to find somewhere to watch qualifying.
The lads who we were staying with hadn't bought grandstand tickets so we all sat on the bank on the exit of Becketts and watched the Porsche Supercopa qualifying while we waited for F1 to start. We had purposely found a spot which was directly opposite one of the big screens so we could watch the action, but as we found to our frustration, they're great to watch the action, but unless you have binoculars (which of course we didn't) they're useless for the timing side. I began Q1 using the BBC live timing on my Blackberry for reference, but by Q2, I realised that the Twitter app was getting the news out much faster. I had already spotted that Jenson was in big trouble because I could see the green stripes of his option tyres half way through Q2, this was backed up by a tweet by Keith Collantine (F1 Fanatic) who observed that JB was in danger off missing out on the top ten shootout. The groans confirmed our fears, Button had qualified 14th, this wasn't supposed to happen. The rest of qualifying went as expected, Red Bull 1-2, Hamilton had wrung every last ounce of performance from the MP4-25 and put it on the second row.
Shortly after qualifying, news began to filter through about the implosion at Red Bull over “wing gate”, and some of our group saw this as maybe a chink in the armour and perhaps opening the door for a McLaren fight back on Sunday. After yet another barbecue on Saturday evening (I felt like I was on the Atkins diet by Monday) we headed off to the hotel within the grounds of our campsite where some of the drivers were rumoured to be staying, programme in hand, searching for autographs.
A nice security guard came out of the hotel and gave Christian a Ferrari hat, which was nice (although I was cringing with fear that he might proclaim his passion for McLaren – thankfully, he didn’t), and then a buggy turned up with some site staff on it, telling us that David Coulthard, Seb Vettel and Christian Horner were going to be making an appearance at the beer tent on the site at 5.30 to meet the fans and have a pit stop competition. When we arrived at the beer tent, surprise, surprise, Coulthard was there but had brought test driver Daniel Ricciardo along with him, stating that Horner had some management issues to address (I bet he did), and offering no explanation as to why the pole man was not in attendance.
After spending some time there we went back to the hotel where we met loads of other names from the world of F1, who I will tell you about in this week’s instalment of Christian’s Autograph Book (includes a World Champion), and we rounded the day off with pub again and bed.
The masterstroke of buying grandstand tickets paid off massively on Sunday morning as Christian and I didn’t have to rush when the rest of the gang were off to find a bank to watch the race from, and we strolled into the circuit at about 11am. We took up our seats which were dead opposite the McLaren pits, level with the start line, two rows up, just as the Porsche race was about to start, and I was made up to see Nick Tandy not only on pole, but win the race after holding off an early challenge from championship pacesetter Rene Rast. Fellow Briton Shaun Edwards drove the race of the day, battling up from the back of the field into points contention, only to be crudely stopped by compatriot Tim Bridgman. Great news for Tandy though, who after everything he has been through in the last year or so got an unbelievable reception when he mounted the top step of the podium, and I for one came over all emotional for him as he received the national anthem.
The F1 drivers then took to the circuit on a flatbed to wave at the crowd, and then the Red Arrows gave a great display which had the crowd ‘oohing’ and ‘aaghing’, I don’t know if they are much better than they were when I was little or whether I just appreciate it more now (probably the latter).
Then the action started, we watched as Martin Brundle went off with Coulthard for the grid walk, and as the cars went off on the parade lap, and then sat with tears in my eyes in awe of the whole package as the lights came on, and then went out and BANG, it was like an explosion, everyone jumped to their feet and the crowd went absolutely wild as we all realised that Lewis had got the jump on Alonso, another huge cheer half way round the lap when they showed Vettel limping round on the big screen. Everyone was back on their feet as the cars came round at the end of the first lap, willing Lewis (rather naively) to catch Webber, the roar doubled as Jenson came round in 8th.....8th from 14th on the grid, could the first lap have been any better? Further big cheers were heard as Alonso received a drive through, as Jenson drove a remarkable few laps prior to his pit stop to elevate him to within a few seconds of Rosberg, which ended up giving him 4th place, and Vettel’s battle back up through the field to 7th was well received (he could have finished even higher had he not made a meal of trying to get past Sutil).
We went back to the caravan after watching the podium celebrations feeling that it was about as good as we could have hoped for, Webber was a popular winner with Lewis a driving one of the performances of his life to even stay within touching distance for second. Sunday night saw one last Barbie and one last trip to the pavilion bar, where we were delighted to see Spain overcome the disgraceful Dutch hackers.
Next morning we were up early and the dynamic of the group had totally changed, we were all in ‘getting packed up and going home’ mode. It made me feel a bit sad to be honest; we had had an amazing few days, where acquaintances had turned into great friends sharing experiences that will never be forgotten. In some ways the racing becomes secondary to the atmosphere and the experience. If you want to know every strategy detail and sector time, you’re better off staying at home and watching it on TV (I have Sky Plus’d it to make sure I can still enjoy the geeky bits). Christian is still getting over it a few days later, my ears are still ringing from being too tough for ear plugs, but we are definitely going to go back next year, to the same place, with the same people.
If you are thinking of going for the first time, in terms of pure atmosphere, don’t travel in and out by car, it’s all about the camping. Even on Monday after everything had finished Christian didn’t want to leave, in some ways neither did I, it’s like being transported into a fantasy world of things that only usually happen on TV. But I thought we’d better go; as the golfers were ready to turn our campsite back into a driving range, and that wouldn’t be much fun - for us anyway.
Follow me on Twitter: @daimccann
I'll stick the photos on Flickr: ifitsgot4wheels this week.
Coming up this week, an international edition of 'Christian's autograph book, and various other waffle.

A Scientific Study of Motorsport Nations

After spending twenty minutes yesterday trying to explain the concept of the football World Cup to Christian, I thought I’d had the breakthrough with it seemingly sinking in that Manchester United couldn’t play Brazil, until, in typical seven year old fashion, I was faced with a new poser; who would win in a world cup of motor racing? Frustrated at losing precious BTCC watching time, Christian was duly sent back to his room, with the instruction not to come back out until he was twenty five. The seed was sewn, though, and I started to consider his question. I could have dug out the A1 GP results for the time that the now ill fated series was running, but it wasn’t exactly conclusive in that respect, was it? There was no historical value to it, most drivers and teams that have made any impact on motorsport haven’t been anywhere near it, and the cars were identical – sourced from a single supplier. So how would I do it? I would look at the World’s most prominent racing nations and score them on certain areas; F1 World Champions, current top class drivers, race car production and national racing series, and see how they came out. Which countries would I choose to represent this highly scientific survey? I don’t suppose it would take long to assess the merits of motorsport achievement in Burma, Gabon or St Lucia. So I would select a few nations with the richest motorsport heritage. Here comes the controversial part; feel free to lodge displeasure at any omissions:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Spain and the United States. A special mention at this stage goes to Denny Hulme and Jody Scheckter, whose nation’s – New Zealand and South Africa are the only ones with a World Drivers Champion in F1 not to be considered, and to Russia, India, Poland and Switzerland, who all have current F1 drivers; it had to stop somewhere. Now let’s consider them individually:

Argentina – F1 World Champions – Juan Manuel Fangio (x5) 8/10. Current top class drivers – Jose Maria Lopez nearly made this year’s F1 grid (albeit with substantial state funding), but sank with the USF1 mess 1/10. Other – Potrero del Fuego in San Luis is probably the most picturesque circuit anywhere in the world, and will stage a round of this season’s FIA GT1 World Championship, while national touring car series, TC2000 (where Lopez is reigning champ) is in good health 4/10
TOTAL 14/30

Australia – F1 World Champions – Jack Brabham (x3), Alan Jones 8/10. Current top class drivers – Mark Webber, Jamie Whincup (Double V8 Supercar champ), Indycar stars Will Power and Ryan Briscoe, David Brabham (Current ALMS Champion and 2009 outright winner Le Mans 24 hr) and Daniel Ricciardo (2009 British F3 champ and Red Bull test and reserve driver) 7/10. Other – Great racing pedigree and infrastructure, V8 Supercar championship is thriving, where the Holden/Ford battle is almost tribal. Bathurst endurance race is iconic, and Melbourne is a favourite F1 destination 7/10
TOTAL 22/30

Austria – F1 World Champions – Jochen Rindt, Niki Lauda (x3) 8/10. Current top drivers – FIA GT1 driver Karl Wendlinger, IRC’s Franz Wittman and 2009 British F3 runner-up Walter Grubmuller, whose Dad seems to have enough money to make up for any shortfall in his boy’s talent 2/10. Other – Red Bull F1 team hails from Austria, which has hosted many Grands Prix in the past, latterly at the A1 Ring 4/10
TOTAL 14/30

Brazil – F1 World Champions – Emerson Fittipaldi (x2), Nelson Piquet (x3), Ayrton Senna (x3) 9/10. Current top drivers – Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, veteran Rubens Barrichello, and F1 rookies Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi, Indy legends Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan and WTCC ace Augusto Farfus 8/10. Other – Interlagos has seen the F1 title decider in each of the last three years, and is always one of the most entertaining races on the calendar, Indycar, GT1 will also visit this term 5/10.
TOTAL 22/30

Canada – F1 World Champions – Jacques Villeneuve 5/10. Current top drivers – Villeneuve had been tipped to return to F1 this term, but didn’t, Bruno Spengler (DTM nearly man), Indycar legend Paul Tracy, Alex Tagliani (Indycar) 5/10. Other – Gilles Villeneuve’s life was cut short and would surely have been F1 champion had it not, F1 returns to Montreal this year, while Indycar has two races in Canada, and NASCAR holds a Nationwide race there 6/10.
TOTAL 16/30

Finland – F1 World Champions – Keke Rosberg, Mika Hakkinen (x2), Kimi Raikkonen 7/10. Current top drivers – Raikkonen, Heikki Kovalainen, Ford WRC stars Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, and Williams test and reserve driver Valtteri Bottas 6/10. Other – Climate doesn’t suit top level racing, although ideal for WRC round and other major rally events 4/10.
TOTAL 17/30

France – F1 World Champions – Alain Prost (x4) 7/10 Current top drivers – Sebastien Loeb (on his way to an unparalleled seventh straight WRC crown), Sebastien Ogier, F3 Euroseries champion Jules Bianchi (firmly on Ferrari’s F1 radar), touring car ace and former BTCC and WTCC champ Yvan Muller, Romain Grosjean and Sebastien Bourdais 7/10. Other – Le Mans (say no more). Has lost its F1 race at the moment although still represented by Renault team, Citroen dominate WRC, while Peugeot replicate this in IRC and won the 2009 24 hours. ART are clearly the top feeder series team in European motorsport, and World Series by Renault has become a huge series of events 9/10.
TOTAL 23/30

Germany – F1 World Champions – Michael Schumacher (x7) 9/10. Current top drivers – Schumacher heads a list of six F1 drivers comprising Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, Timo Glock, Adrian Sutil and Nico Hulkenberg. Double DTM champion Timo Scheider and current GT1 champion Michael Bartels 9/10. Other – Two of Europe’s most iconic circuits (Hockenheim and the Nurburgring) rotate the staging of the F1 round, whilst all top European based series’ visit the country. DTM is Europe’s premier touring car category, German based F3 Euroseries is struggling for numbers this term, but has launched the careers of many current F1 stars. Audi, Mercedes, Porsche and BMW all have huge motorsport pedigree, only minus is lack of a presence in top level rally, with only Walter Rohrl’s two WRC titles in the early 80’s to consider 8/10.
TOTAL 26/30

Great Britain – F1 World Champions – Mike Hawthorn, Graham Hill (x2), Jim Clark (x2), John Surtees, Jackie Stewart (x3), James Hunt, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button 10/10. Current top drivers – Hamilton and Button; the two latest F1 World champions. Reigning Indycar champ Dario Franchitti, and previous champ and Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon. DTM frontrunners, 2005 champ Gary Paffett, soon to be F1 driver Paul di Resta, Jamie Green and David Coulthard. IRC champion Kris Meeke, and triple WTCC champ Andy Priaulx 10/10. Other – Britain struggled to hold on to it’s F1 round this year, until Silverstone came to the rescue, like Germany, Britain holds rounds of most top European series’, and it’s BTCC is a great spectacle, although not on the scale of the DTM, while the British F3 series has become the top F3 championship in the world. The UK no longer manufactures large volumes of vehicles, although Ginetta and Aston Martin continue to thrive, and most F1 teams have their main base in the UK 7/10.
TOTAL 27/30

Italy – F1 World Champions – Nino Farina, Alberto Ascari (x2) 6/10. Current top drivers – Lotus F1’s Jarno Trulli and Ferrari test driver Giancarlo Fisichella, WTCC Gabriele Tarquini, GT1 champion Andrea Bertolini, Max Papis (the only European in the main NASCAR series) and double BTCC champ Fabrizio Giovanardi 6/10. Other – Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Maserati, Monza – brands which exude the spirit and history of F1, Auto GP and the Superstars touring car series are fast becoming big name championships on the European scene, and talk of a second Grand Prix around the streets of Rome will only add to the country’s racing stock 8/10.
TOTAL 20/30

Japan – F1 World Champions – None 0/10. Current top drivers – Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi, Kazuki Nakajima, Indycar stars Hideki Mutoh and Takuma Sato, HRT reserve driver Sakon Yamamoto and British F3 frontrunner Daisuke Nakajima 5/10. Other – Japan holds a popular F1 race at Suzuka, Twin Ring Motegi holds the only Indycar race outside of the American continents, Japan holds top level rallies, and its Formula Nippon and Super GT championships are as big if not bigger, than any domestic series in Europe. Toyota’s withdrawal from F1 marked the end of Japanese involvement as an F1 constructor, but Toyota and Honda (especially their engine department) have massive F1 pedigree, Mazda have won Le Mans outright, and Nissan run a successful GT programme. Subaru and Mitsubishi have had huge success in rallying, producing two of the sports most iconic and successful challengers of all time, in the Impreza and Lancer Evolution respectively 9/10
TOTAL 14/30

Spain – F1 World Champions – Fernando Alonso (x2) 6/10. Current top drivers – Alonso (in my view the most talented driver on the F1 grid), fellow F1 drivers Jaime Alguersuari and Pedro de la Rosa, Le Mans winner and Ferrari tester Marc Gene, F2 champ Andy Soucek, and WRC Citroen driver Dani Sordo 7/10. Other – Spain holds two F1 rounds and all of the official F1 testing, due partly to its climate, but more to its excellent facilities. Three International rally events will be held this year, as will rounds of all of the top European series’. Carlos Sainz is a former double WRC champ and his son is moving quickly through the ranks of single seater racing, HRT is Spain’s first F1 entrant although their cars are made externally by Dallara 8/10.
TOTAL 21/30

United States – F1 World Champions – Phil Hill, Mario Andretti 6/10. Current top drivers – Jimmie Johnson has won four consecutive Sprint Cup titles, while Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart also star in the States’ top series. Indycar stars Graham Rahal, Marco Andretti and the only woman ever to win a top level car race Danica Patrick (a PR man’s dream). Ken Block is a popular rally star and Alex Rossi is making waves in the junior formulae on this side of the pond 8/10. Other – The NASCAR brand, including its many series’ is a huge organisation, so much so that the US audience is totally switched off to F1 (a situation not helped by the 2005 US Grand Prix fiasco), and most single seater enthusiasts are mopped up by Indycar. Some of the world’s most iconic races take place in the States, including the Indy 500, Daytona 500 and Sebring 12hrs, while an F1 return is being mooted, either to Indianapolis, or as a New York street race 9/10.
TOTAL 23/30

RESULTS
1) Great Britain, 27; 2) Germany, 26; 3) United States, 23; 3) France, 23; 5) Brazil, 22; 5) Australia, 22; 7) Spain, 21; 8) Italy, 20; 9) Finland, 17; 10) Canada, 16.

So there we have it, its official, England beat Germany in the World Cup, and it’s been a long time since anyone said that. Scientific, of course it wasn’t, but I am not biased towards Britain in any way; I would be just as happy to see Webber, Massa or Alonso win the title this year as I would Lewis or JB. Doubtless people from this country will disagree with the scoring, as I’m sure people from other countries (the US and Germany, in particular) will argue the result, but I think before they start pulling holes in it, I’ll let Christian out of his bedroom, tell him it wasn’t such a silly question after all, and give him the answer he was after. Let’s hope they (or England at least) can make it a double in South Africa.

How it all began: Part 1

I have bought tickets to take Christian to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix this year and it got me thinking about my first experiences of racing generally, and how I came to love the sport. My Dad had always enjoyed watching Formula 1 on television but had never attended a race, until 1986 when I was six years old, when he came home from work and told me that he had booked us a coach trip to go to Spa to watch the Belgian Grand Prix. I won’t pretend to be able to recall huge amounts about this particular weekend, or many of the others that will follow in this account, but I have some wonderful memories that I will share, please forgive the gaps. We travelled to London the day before the Page & Moy coach was collecting us and stayed with my Dad’s brother, spending the day doing the touristy bit around the capital, Buckingham Palace, Natural History Museum and the like. Next morning we boarded the coach, and then the ferry, and once on the continent the guide on the coach came around so that everyone could draw a sweepstake entry for the race winner, my Dad went first from our row and, due to there being more passengers than race entries, drew a piece of paper with the word ‘sorry’ written on it, he took it a lot better than I would have and joked that he would now be rooting for ‘Ayrton Sorry’. My fortunes were slightly better than those of my Dad, however, as my piece of paper said ‘Mansell’. Can you imagine, Nigel Mansell, the only driver I knew anything about, fast becoming my hero, and I had drawn him. We spent the Saturday night in Brussels, in a hotel overlooking the Atomium, and on Sunday morning we went to the Circuit to watch the race. It was a very hot day, so hot that later in the afternoon my body warmer that I was sitting on melted to the tar at Eau Rouge and my memories of the race are sketchy at best. I remember, obviously, that Senna was the arch enemy, and that from the inside of Eau Rouge, where we watched the race, I could see the cars coming down the hill towards me, but I could only just see the top of the roll bars as they came up the hill, because I was too little to see over the barriers. I remember my Dad’s excitement that Mansell was doing well, and then my disappointment to hear that he’d spun; surely he couldn’t still do it. Of course he could, this was Nigel Mansell, and he did, taking the victory and in the process winning me the top prize of £23 pounds in the sweep. We ran, or it felt like we did, back to the coach to pick up my money and went to the stalls opposite the old pits, where I duly spent all of my winnings on model F1 cars (you could get a lot for £23 in the days before Minichamps). We returned to the coach where I was greeted by cheers from the other passengers for my debut victory. What a way to start my love affair with Formula 1, watching from Eau Rouge as ‘our Nige’ won the Belgian GP, in the sun, with my Dad who was just as much my hero as Mansell could ever have been, and cleaning up in the sweepstake in the process; I often wonder if my passion for the sport would have burned so bright for so long had it not started with such a bang, anyway it’s hypothetical, it did and this was the start of a very special personal relationship, not only with Grand Prix racing, but also with Spa.
Part 2 will follow shortly.
Follow me on twitter: @ifitsgot4wheels

Is that exciting enough for you?

All of those who urged caution after the processional season opening Grand Prix in Bahrain, stand up, for you have been vindicated.
Sunday's Australian GP at Albert Park proved the perfect tonic after the criticisms levelled at F1 a fortnight earlier. Sure the rain helped but this one had everything, a safety car, knife-edge strategy calls, plenty of overtaking and a British winner. It didn't just provide today's entertainment, it set things up for the races to come, consider some of the sub-plots arising from Oz.
Was Lewis Hamilton's bad weekend simply that or is he missing the calming influence that father Anthony provided, Lewis was blameless for the accident and the tyre call, but comments about Mark Webber's possible retirement from the sport and a brush with the law, leave questions to be answered, it was hard not to note the reaction of Martin Whitmarsh as JB took the victory, is Jenson suddenly McLaren's golden boy?
Has Michael Schumacher made a catastrophic error by risking his reputation on a comeback which has so far seen him humbled by not only his team-mate, but by 20 year old Jaime Alguersuari today, who he spent over half of the race trying to get the better of?
Are Red Bull's reliability issues set to rob Sebastian Vettel of another crack at the title?
All fascinating aspects of a season which is now firmly on course to meet expectations. Crisis, what crisis?
Check out my twitter: @ifitsgot4wheels

Everyone remembers their first time

Blogging that is. I have decided to create a blog dedicated to all forms of motorsport, the serious part will have some news and feature articles about all aspects of British motorsport, alongside F1, WRC, NASCAR, Indy, DTM, GT, BTCC, WTCC, GP2, F3, V8 Supercars and anything else that is considered appropriate. The other, arguably more exciting, although almost certainly less enlightening, part will be about my own personal take and experience on motorsport and life generally, seen through the eyes of someone desperate to break into motorsports writing, although not quite daft enough to believe it could happen. I will offer my slant on the big motorsport stories, introduce you to my F1 mad son, update you regularly on my almost certainly fruitless attempts to fulfil a childhood (or maybe just plain child-ish) dream of being involved in the sport by probably the only door left slightly ajar.
You will soon realise that my passion for the sport is probably only matched by my grumpiness and cynicism. I will attempt to illustrate my rants with, where possible some very unprofessional photography. Do try to encourage people to keep an eye on my blog if you think they will enjoy it, as I do tend to lose interest in things if they are not going my way.
Let's hope this is the start of an incredible journey, although it probably isn't!
By the way, I also have a twitter account:@daimccann.