Tales of an Amorphic Destiny

French F1 Grand Prix

July 2nd, 2007 at 10:04am James

After the relative tranquility of the Loire Valley we made our way to Magny-Cours for the French F1 Grand Prix. After winding our way through the massive parking/camping area, we arrived in time to find a good spot and settle in to watch the qualifying. Being the first time we’d seen F1 live, the sheer noise and speed of the cars was electrifying, and this wasn’t even the race!

The Ferraris and Lewis Hamilton did predictably well, but Alonso had a bit of a shocker with car trouble and ended up 10th on the grid. It turned out to be the first afternoon of really hot weather that we’d had and so by the end of the day we all walked away quite a bit redder than we’d started.

We drove the short distance to our campground and set up our tent in the paddock. The place was an odd combination of a nightclub located in the middle of nowhere on a farm. We’d cunningly purchased a 5 litre drum of French wine earlier in the day and after sampling a couple of glasses we went inside for a cold beer and to check out the live band.

The next morning we decided to skip the 7:30am bus and so caught the one at 10am to the race track. Compared to the previous day the place was already packed but even with our later arrival we still managed to score a decent spot, right near the big screen. This was our home for the rest of the day and we braved the early rain until the sun came out.

Before the main event we saw a 16 lap leg of the Porsche Supercup which was quite amusing due to the amount of water on the track. Half a dozen cars left the track, spinning out on corners during the first lap. Cars continued to fly out of control until they became used to the conditions but by the end of the race the track was fairly dry.

Before the big race began there was some entertainment to get the crowd in the mood. First up, Filipe Massa did a guest lap of the circuit in a production Ferrari, much to the delight of the numerous Ferrari fans in the crowd.

Next, a troop of military parachutists jumped out of a plane above the circuit and landed at various points on the track.

Finally as the race was almost upon us, the drivers were chauffeured around the track in vintage cars, waving to the cheering crowds.

Not too much later, the deafening roar of 22 of the fastest cars on the planet all revving in unison filled the air and the race was on. It was a spectacular event and being on the back straight we were treated to the cars flying past us at speeds approaching 300km/h!

In the end it was Ferrari who won the day, with Kimi Raikonnen edging out pole-positioned Massa to take first place. Lewis Hamilton had to be content with 3rd place this time round but team mate Alonso would’ve been far less pleased, never really recovering from his low place on the grid.

The traffic out of the circuit was horrendous and so after falling asleep on the bus we awoke 2 hours later a few kms away back at the campground. We tucked into the organised BBQ and then continued drinking in the bar, where we met loads of English F1 fans and drank until the wee hours.

Apparently there were a few sore heads amongst our fellow revelers the next day but we weren’t feeling too worse for wear, so we set out towards Burgundy. There’s a few more photos of our trip to the French GP here.

Entry Filed under: Europe