I have exciting news to share from last week. As you can see from the title of today's blog, yes indeed I did attend the Bahrain Grand Prix- a 3-day race in a series held throughout the world. These are the fastest racing cars in the world and so the charged atmosphere is simply thrilling. Here is a picture of the race track. The circuit itself is just under 5.5 kilometers. The race cars, in teams of 2, spend the first 2 days qualifying for the grand finale, in which they all race together and complete 57 laps.
I had not originally planned on going as tickets are expensive, but a last minute offer from a friend sporting free tickets... I could not pass up. I mean, this IS the sporting event in Bahrain so how could I resist? I must say, my little host nation continues to amaze me. So, off we went. We had pretty decent seats as well. From the picture above, we were at the top of the bleachers at Turn 1 (the front right side of the picture). Since it's a hairy turn, we got to see loads of action, including Esteban's car flipping over 2x when Pablo rammed him. He managed to walk away unassisted. We were all amazed and cheered him on when after a few nerve-wracking seconds, nothing happened and we didn't see any movement once the car stopped (rightside up). Slowly he got out, jumped on top of the car and waved his hands up. The crowd roared!!! As well, other cars were still racing at this point so none of the ground crew could run out to help him. Soon enough, the Porsche safety car came out to lead the rest of the cars while everything was cleaned up.
Here are some more pictures from the days leading up to the finale, in which Lewis Hamilton took the grand prize. He dominated the entire race actually. I was rooting for Brazil's Felipe Massa (only because I know someone who worships him). I honestly didn't know any of the driver's, or what the race was about, but just by watching and talking to my neighbors in the stands, I soon learned the ropes.
The venue and main sponsor. Exciting to walk inside the gates and instantly feel the energy. Security did take away my carrots though...
In true festival form, everything one needs was there: food, booze (inside the Gulf Air VIP tent), entertainment, swag for purchase (I don't think anyone that attended got away without purchasing merchandise, me included). Carnival acts & contortionists were also there, along with many sunburned tourists & females wearing completely inappropriate attire! This part I loved. Felt like back home! Sheiks & Sheikas were walking around in mass as well attached to their cell phones. Everybody was having a great time in essence.
Couldn't resist a photo opp with these two...
Anthony met up with us and gave us all the insights into race theory and terminology. He was our ticket sponsor!
Oh yes, marching bands were present as well.
We ran into people we knew (not too hard to do on a small island).
Hanging out in the stands with Dr. Starr waiting for the action. My neighbor was glued to his phone the entire 3 days. Unbelievable.
The end!
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