Blizzard-World: Singapore F1 - 26th September 2008 (Practice)

Woke up to a huge Thunderstorm ! It was raining cats and dogs and horses and pigs as well. Really hope the rain will go away before the afternoon racing session begins at the Marina Area. The buzz word over the radio this morning was 'Water Ponding' I think practically half the island's roads had some form of water ponding. Train services was disrupted as well. Luckily by afternoon the rain had stop and the sun was out.

[** Fullerton Trackside before the races **]

I took half day leave today. But still had to finish off some work and finally reached the F1 area at around 3pm. I got in through gate 6 which was near the Fullerton area and was just in time to witness the practice sessions. But before going into the races, there were other things to see and do at the F1 Park. It was a hot afternoon, but there were food and drinks aplenty although the prices are not cheap. You can't bring in outside food/drinks except for a small water bottle, no umbrellas as well so the first thing you need to get was the Survival Pack !

The Survival Pack consist of the Poncho and Earplugs. (YOU WILL NEED THOSE EARPLUGS - trust me !!) There are many areas for food including side stalls and a food village at the Padang, but remember the prices are tourist attraction prices. Guess they need to cover the cost of setting up etc.

[** The F1 Survival Kit never leave home without it - Poncho and Earplugs, proceeds to the Salvation Army **]

[** FOOD VILLAGE along the padang **]

[** Typical charges for food and drinks **]

[** The Water I bought with the F1 logo for $2 !! -- can't be helped, it was hot and I was thirsty **]

The Padang Grandstand,which reminded me of those days when I was in the Army and the Battalion was assigned the task of putting up the seats for the National Day Parade at the Padang. The Crowds started trickling in most came after work, by 7pm it was almost full and the lights came on. Wonderful atmosphere once the F1's came down the straight. It really was like daytime on the tracks. The F1 park is huge, I did not even get to walk to the Singapore Flyer yet, you can get lost in the whole area, finally found my friend at the grandstand, he came late for the show and missed part of the action, but we managed to catch the qualifying for the BMW's.

[** The Padang Grandstand - at different times of the day from 5pm to 6pm to 7pm **]

Caught some of the support vehicles and staff in action, it seems they walk the track after each race just to clear the debris.

[** Safety Car and Rescue Vehicle -- at that time did not get a picture of the recovery vehicle but it was used a lot later **]

[** Clean Up Time **]

** THE RACES **

The Practice Races started with the BMW Formula Cars, Aston Martin Cars and the Porsche Cars before the real F1's take to the streets of Singapore.

[** Formula BMW Cars Practicing, along the Esplanade Bridge **]

As you can see below there were Standing Area for walkabout fans to watch the race. If you stood on the ground, you will not even be able to see the tops of the cars as they are lower than the barriers ! If you get walkabout tickets, come early, get your spot and wait for the races to start, it's not that bad a view, however be prepared to stand in the sun or rain till the races start.

[** Spectator Stands, free standing **]

For the Aston Martin Practice session, I made my way to the Padang Grandstand to catch it.

The final practice session was for the Porsche Race. I made my way to the Esplanade area to catch it.

[** Porsche Cars along the Marina area **]

[** Porsche Cars racing round the track, taken at Esplanade, The Marine Bay Area. Notice the Singapore flag painted car ! **]

After the 3 practice sessions by the BMW's, Aston Martin and Porsche, it was the Qualifying for the BMW's before the First Practice session at 7pm for the F1 cars. Now after the practice sessions where the drivers were basically not at full throttle, this was it the real thing the first qualifying held on the Singapore Street Circuit ! Well it did not last long before the first incident happen,a car had hit the wall, after which with about 10 minutes left in the qualifying slot, another crash and the Red Flag went up, all the drivers came in to the pits and that was it the end of qualifying. The recovery vehicles were working full time removing the cars. No one was hurt.

7 PM - The Real Deal the F1's are out. well actually once the practice session started, it was like watching a game of chess, no driver wanted to be first out, and they filtered out slowly one by one taking to the track. The night was cool with a gentle breeze which made watching the race enjoyable, not as hot as in the afternoon. Finally about 5 minute later all cars were out but by the time they did 1 or 2 laps, all cars went back into the garages, seems the roads were too bumpy and the cars were riding too low and some adjustments needed to be made. Soon they were out again and the real testing begins. Mark Webber was the first casualty as he miss judge the braking and hit the wall at the Floating Platform just as the drivers approached the Singapore Flyer. Recovery vehicles were made to work overtime but he got out of the car fine. There was also drama at the final turn where I think about 5 or 6 cars spun at that location, but no harm done to them all continued with the race.

How fast were the cars travelling !! DAMN BLOODY FAST if you ask me. too fast even for my small little auto camera, you notice those shots above you can actually see the cars right, well when the F1's start racing, they don't slow down for anything. What I got most times were blur images, half cars or abut 80% of the shots were just Track !! no cars in sight. they were just too fast hitting 300km/h on the straights. I had to resort to long shots but the cars were still a blur. Thank goodness to digital camera, otherwise I don't know how many rolls of film I would have wasted.

[** Above what I got from long shots and close up, just empty tracks cars are just too fast. Interesting thing about the 1st picture is that notice the guy in light blue and I have circled what he is holding it's actually a gadget that you can rent which gives you live feed from the drivers cockpit including stats on his performance, where he is on the circuit, live updates and even team radio communication. **]

So finally just to at least get some shots of the cars whizzing by I tried panning with my little camera, had some success, but of course I am no expert photographer still images not that sharp but at least I could finally get the cars.

[** The Ferrari, ING and Red Bull F1 Cars, lucky no Lehman Brothers sponsored cars in there **]

** THE ATMOSPHERE **

I have to say it really beats watching F1 on TV. When you are there at trackside it is a whole new experience, the engines give out a deafening roar, like a jet engine. Earplugs are definitely a must and this was just in the stands. You get to smell the burnt rubber when the cars brake hard. The sensation as the cars whiz by you. After a few laps of the circuit, if you look closely at the wheels just as they come in to take a corner you can see the disk brakes glowing red hot !!

Now what is an F1 weekend without the merchandising, there were lots of shops setup selling everything to do with the races from team jerseys to watches and even sunglasses.