Saturday 11 June 2011

Montreal big race weekend sat

Sat morning just about to catch the media shuttle to the Gilles Villeneuve circuit. its a great short journey..as the circuit looms closer you see more people  slowly making there way... like the pilgrims approaching mecca..thousands!....racing is certainly a religion here...street parties everywhere...TV companies can't get enough...more popular than Spain, didn't think I would say that.
Yesterday, first and second free practices, in my very humble opinion I believe too much emphasis and importance is put on the team placings....I think the teams tend to play mind games too...holding back a little as Ive said before, this was more evident yesterday, although Vettel crashing as is customary in practice wasn't planned I'm sure.
Such a hot humid day yesterday, I arrived at the circuit picked up another photographers tabard to wear as it's another street circuit; it's difficult to navigate....but with tabard  I was able to follow the path around the track...I must say the path in some areas is so narrow with little space between the track and the St Lawrence seaway...quite an adventure..  saw a beaver too!....
The grandstands were almost full, amazing for quali...these French Canadians are devoted followers and very knowledgeable too. 
The circuit is built around the old Olympic park used for water based events, rowing etc. There was also a big Expo there, what remains is a huge Bio-Sphere built by the Americans as their pavilion..this is now part of the Montreal skyline...it's a thing of Beauty, will deffo go into my painting.
Back in the Paddock, because it's so narrow, one can hear all the conversations between TV commentators ..teams...There was a lot of excitement around Sauber when Pedro de la Rosa appeared as a new driver....moving from Mclaren...I followed 'Crofty'... David croft from BBC 5 live as he managed to interview De la Rosa walking down the paddock....a remarkable feat considering there were so many people in the way...these commentators have developed a way of clearing the path ahead with their arms...I like to photograph them do this...it's a sport within a sport!..

No comments:

Post a Comment