Formula One

I got up around 8am to get ready to head to the F1 race track, which is about a half hour train ride away from Barcelona - http://www.circuitcat.com/en/index.php. The actual Gran Prix is on Sunday, but Friday they are doing two separate sessions of practice laps, where the drivers push their cars to get the fastest lap-times. On Saturday they will compete for the fastest time on the track, and the order of their times decides the order they start in the race on Sunday. I grab a sandwich and put it in my bag for lunch, because I'm sure the prices at the track are going to be obnoxious, and I head onto the train. Simple. There are a ton of signs in the station because it's such a big event, and already I see tons of people wearing Ferrari gear - classic. So I get to the racetrack stop and get off with hundreds of others, and on the way to the track there are a ton of people selling food and drinks, so I grab a cheap water and quickly get to the track. The first practice session for F1 cars is at 10am-11:30am, and it's already 10:15am, so I'm hurrying. I get into the course and ask an information person about my seat and he says today is open seating except for two VIP areas that are off limits. SICK. I'm planning to meet Guillem at our seats at 2pm, so I head there to check out their location anyway. As I'm walking I hear what sounds like jet airplanes flying overhead. Nope. Those are the F1 cars. We are talking 220mph here. Insane. I pass an area on the way to my seat where I can see the cars and it's a RUSH. Wow. I can see why people get addicted to this sport. I take some pics in this first area and then get to the seats, which are AMAZING. They are in section F, which is at the end of the straight-away, so we can see/hear the cars come into the first turn after going as fast as they can on the track. The sound is immense. I'm not joking, it sounds exactly like an airplane going bye, except when they hit the 50m mark before the first turn, you hear them all downshift about 5 gears in an instant, just before hitting the turn and accelerating into it. So badass. I sit and watch the practice session, and then the GP2 cars come out to practice. GP2 is the next level down from F1, but for some reason the engines are louder - they sound more like motorcycle engines…you know when they pop all the time? Anyway, I check them out for a while and then when they're done there is an hour break, so I walk around the entire track and take it all in (pics below). There are some classic cars on display so I enjoy those as well. So cool. I hurry back to my seats and get there by 2pm and then Guillem shows up around 2:30pm and he's just as impressed as I am. We walk around to a few different spots and check out the cars from different angles, then head back to the seats to enjoy the GP2 and then the Porsche racing group. The Porsche Mobile 1 Supercup is a league where all the cars are supped up 911's, but they all have the same horsepower and design, so the racing really depends more on the drivers. In F1 the cars are really the main difference in the winning and losing - something I didn't know about previously. So we watch the Porsche cars for a little bit but then head out soon thereafter. The sun really beat me down today. It wasn't terribly hot, but there weren't any clouds and I was just out there all day, so I'm tired and groggy by the time we get home. Luckily Guillem drove so it's a nicer and quicker ride home. I take a nap and then we hit a very cool low key tapas place near his apartment to close out a fantastic day.

The reason I was even interested in F1 racing in the first place was Brooke. We lived together in SF and I loved her, but I wasn't good to her and I thought about that throughout the day. She was (and is) a very special woman to me, and so when I was alone at the race track I thought about her all day. Wish I could go back in time sometimes and slap myself upside the head for the stupid things I've done, but such is life. All I can do is try not to do those stupid things again. Something I'm still working on. I do wish Brooke was able to be there with me today - she would have loved it.

Some Videos I took:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx2z8TMTt2U
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJv4CkkUVIU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivvK5n_j6w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKK30EqZbbw