Alan and I had a great day and it started early in the morning of November 18, 2012. We drove to the Expo grounds south of Austin, TX to park the car and connect with a bus that then would take us to the Circuit of the Americas racing facility. There were two pickup points for the race. One in downtown Austin and one at the exposition grounds. We chose the exposition grounds for parking. The buses were there waiting when we arrived around 8:00 AM. I forgot how close school bus seats are for “grown-ups”. We were let out at a drop off point which we were warned was about a mile from the entrance. I snagged a ride on a golf cart but Alan walked it. Sometimes white hair helps.
There were already many people waiting to get in. Alan and I found a guide and he told us to get on a shuttle bus and ride around to the Turn One grandstands where we had tickets. This was not the main grandstands but they were still big. I was impressed how many guides were available to help you find everything. The people that did the planning did their homework. We showed our tickets and were told how to get to our seats. The seats were really good. We were among the first ones there but I'm glad we were early. It was a cool but sunny day. Of course, some views could see everything.
I should take a moment here and tell how we got these tickets. The company Alan works for makes all kinds of pre-stressed concrete beams and had the contract to make such for the main grandstand. One day Alan noticed a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board for free tickets for the race so, of course, he signed up for two tickets and called me to see if I wanted to go. You bet! Nothing happened for quite a while and we were beginning to think nothing would. Then he called and said the boss had just handed him the tickets. So I bought airline tickets and flew to Texas two days before the race.
There were actually three races that day. A run off race for Porsche cars was run about 9:30 AM. It was an exciting race especially the first lap at turn one. We were at turn one so we saw the mix up as they all tried to make the hairpin turn at the same time. Some got a little bent but the race went on. Alan said they were usually more careful than this. Maybe since this was the final race of the season they just wanted to win! When the Porsche cars got done with their bang and crash the Ferrari cars got ready for their race. I was surprised that the lap times (2 + minutes) for the Ferrari and Porsche cars were essentially the same but the Ferraris didn't nerf each other and they all made turn one with no problems. These races were 24 laps.
After
completing these two races it was time to begin the Formula One. Lots
more Hoopla for this. The University of Texas Longhorn marching band
was there for the beginning. Drivers were announced and the line up
at the start was really something. There were so many people around
the cars that you couldn't hardly see them. Eventually all this
settled down and cleared up.The race started with the cars making a
circuit of the track and then lining up on the starting grid. When
everyone was in place the race started with a ROAR. Click
to hear the start. We had been warned to wear earplugs and they
were appreciated. Everyone made it through turn one but it was
exciting. After that the cars were spread out more and turn one was
no longer a traffic problem. The cars would come down the grandstand
straight and up the hill in front of us at around 180+ mph into the
hair pin turn which required down shifting and braking to around 65
mph. The noise from the engines and down shifting was incre
dible.
Of course, they immediately accelerated away downhill into a gradual
right hand turn and out of our sight. The track is 3.4 miles long and
we could see maybe a third of it. We didn't have long to wait as lap
times for the F1 cars was about 1 minute 35 sec. Actually within a
few laps (54 total) there were always cars going by. It became
difficult to know who was leading. There was a big outdoor TV screen
in front of us that showed other parts of the track and race info.
Even in bright sun light the screen was readily visible.
The facilities were first class from seating to restrooms. I don't think I ever saw so may Job Johnnies. There were regular restrooms as part of the track but with 120,000 people around the more restrooms the better. There were even trailer setups which were complete restrooms with a men's room in one end and a women's room in the other end. There was food service in kiosks and permanent buildings. They were run by local Austin businesses. We got our food during the early part of the F1 race at the Salt Fork Grille. We had about a 15-20 minute wait which may seem long but you didn't see how many people were in line. You had better be ready to say what you want when it was your turn the girls waiting on you didn't have time to wait for you. They were fast and the food was good.
Back to the race by this time things had settled down to just going around a fast a possible. We could see into the pits from our seats. Pit stops were so fast that by the time I got zoomed in and framed for a picture they were gone. The picture which shows the car leaving was still being worked on when I tripped the shutter. I got the second one I tried.
(Grrr... slow digital cameras)The
camera also made it “fun” to get pictures of the cars as they
were going past. I learned to swing with them and to shoot as they
were going slower after the hairpin. The race didn't involve a lot of
passing but things got interesting over the last few laps as the car
in second place was catching the lead car. Somewhere out of our
immediate sight during the last two or three laps number two caught
and passed number one and managed to hold on until the end of the
race to win. He was not favored to win. We did get to see this on the
big screen in front of us. O yes, there was l
ots
and lots of TV coverage. Helicopters with cameras, cameras on
platforms and swing arms and photographers wandering around with
lenses that looked like they needed wheels.
With the race over and the awards presented it was time to leave. We had to walk slowly up the hill to the shuttle buses then wait until one came along that wasn't too full the get on. We finally got back the the start of the trail back to the parking area for the buses that were to take us back to where we had parked. I was not so lucky this time and I had to walk back. It went OK until the line stopped about 2/3s of the way and then crept slowly forward. Eventually we came in sight
The Winner
of all the buses that were waiting. Someone finally figured out that if they spread us out so we could board buses in parallel things would move better. The bus we got must have been an el-ed one because a few of us had to sit sideways in the seat. We just didn't fit! When we got back to the Expo park we got off quite close to the car. I was sure glad to see it. It took about an hour to get out of the park and on the road but traffic wasn't too bad after that.
What a day at the Races!
