asingh
Aspiring Novelist
^^
Cameras are allowed. No issue. I went today.
Well...just got back. I missed the first practice session (which had the canine incident), and reached when the F3 cars were doing a practice run. Now to put in a summary.
1. My pickup was at Nehru Place metro station. I reached there, and could just see some buses standing. Walking 50m down I saw 2-3 guys in Budh International Circuit (BIC). They told me to board the South Zone bus, irrespective of me being for West zone.
2. Bus moved, and after 45 minutes we crossed into Noida Extension. I think all of UP's police force has been deployed. At the 8km radius cut-off a straight well stretch started into the circuit. Errrrm....the driver missed a cut, and reversed on the expressway.
3. We were dropped off at South Zone. And told to take the shuttle to me respective zone. Here is where the mess started. No one was at the point to tell us which direction to take the shuttle which were zipping past. So for a while a bunch of us stood there. Then we found out the direction, and decided to board a shuttle. It was equivalent to boarding a DTC/Blueline at prime Delhi office time. People chose to hang on the door, reminiscing Bombay locals vs. stepping inside to the coach.
4. The gates were labeled large and clear, though security check was lame. Eatables and liquids were not allowed. Guards were standing.
5. Entered the stands and was shown my seat. F3 cars were racing -- am sure a lot of the crowd assumed this to be the 'thing'. Note: the engine noise was bearable.
6. The circuit broke for lunch. There were stalls which had food commodities but could be procured only using coupons. The coupon line took 30 minutes for acquisition. And then I dropped my chicken sandwich since it was not sealed in the packaging properly. Had a fight with the vendor and was given another one. Heck it costed 200 chips. Everything was extraordinarily priced. Way too high.
7. Moved to the stands...the crowd was chittering and chattering. Suddenly the air started to reverberate with engine sound. Boy was it loud. I was sitting so the north stand was in front of me -- so the start/pits stops were hidden. The rev up had begun. Suddenly one car shot off (I think the Williams) and made its way around the ~5.4 kms of F1 grid. Oh....man. That is one feeling/image/sound I will never forget in my life. I think my ticket price was redeemed there and then.....! And the rest 23 engines were unleashed, and hell fell upon the spectators. Everyone was dead quite and the cars started to circle around. Gosh...when they down-shifted the sound is so grainy and rough..and then they would speed up. Immediately I realized why F1 is eeef-one. Extreme conditions coupled with high grade scientific research -- the output was apparent and appalling and shocking but pleasant.
After a while it was easy to deduce that drivers were experimenting with the circuit. At times they would down gear on turns....or break after the turn or not slow at down. 3 sessions for heavy data collection. Practice 2 was stopped 2x. Once cause of an accident and once to let the teams re-think. Most moved to hard-compound rubber. The track ambient was 39C. After around 30 minutes of the blitzkrieg my ears started to tingle, and I used ear plugs for a while.
Overall it was an amazing experience, and worth the effort.
Cameras are allowed. No issue. I went today.
Well...just got back. I missed the first practice session (which had the canine incident), and reached when the F3 cars were doing a practice run. Now to put in a summary.
1. My pickup was at Nehru Place metro station. I reached there, and could just see some buses standing. Walking 50m down I saw 2-3 guys in Budh International Circuit (BIC). They told me to board the South Zone bus, irrespective of me being for West zone.
2. Bus moved, and after 45 minutes we crossed into Noida Extension. I think all of UP's police force has been deployed. At the 8km radius cut-off a straight well stretch started into the circuit. Errrrm....the driver missed a cut, and reversed on the expressway.
3. We were dropped off at South Zone. And told to take the shuttle to me respective zone. Here is where the mess started. No one was at the point to tell us which direction to take the shuttle which were zipping past. So for a while a bunch of us stood there. Then we found out the direction, and decided to board a shuttle. It was equivalent to boarding a DTC/Blueline at prime Delhi office time. People chose to hang on the door, reminiscing Bombay locals vs. stepping inside to the coach.
4. The gates were labeled large and clear, though security check was lame. Eatables and liquids were not allowed. Guards were standing.
5. Entered the stands and was shown my seat. F3 cars were racing -- am sure a lot of the crowd assumed this to be the 'thing'. Note: the engine noise was bearable.
6. The circuit broke for lunch. There were stalls which had food commodities but could be procured only using coupons. The coupon line took 30 minutes for acquisition. And then I dropped my chicken sandwich since it was not sealed in the packaging properly. Had a fight with the vendor and was given another one. Heck it costed 200 chips. Everything was extraordinarily priced. Way too high.
7. Moved to the stands...the crowd was chittering and chattering. Suddenly the air started to reverberate with engine sound. Boy was it loud. I was sitting so the north stand was in front of me -- so the start/pits stops were hidden. The rev up had begun. Suddenly one car shot off (I think the Williams) and made its way around the ~5.4 kms of F1 grid. Oh....man. That is one feeling/image/sound I will never forget in my life. I think my ticket price was redeemed there and then.....! And the rest 23 engines were unleashed, and hell fell upon the spectators. Everyone was dead quite and the cars started to circle around. Gosh...when they down-shifted the sound is so grainy and rough..and then they would speed up. Immediately I realized why F1 is eeef-one. Extreme conditions coupled with high grade scientific research -- the output was apparent and appalling and shocking but pleasant.
After a while it was easy to deduce that drivers were experimenting with the circuit. At times they would down gear on turns....or break after the turn or not slow at down. 3 sessions for heavy data collection. Practice 2 was stopped 2x. Once cause of an accident and once to let the teams re-think. Most moved to hard-compound rubber. The track ambient was 39C. After around 30 minutes of the blitzkrieg my ears started to tingle, and I used ear plugs for a while.
Overall it was an amazing experience, and worth the effort.
