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14 Apr 2013, 22:14 (Ref:3234244) | #226 | |
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What a weekend. Probably not the best Silverstone race weekend to have camped at. Managed to survive it despite sleeping in the brace position. The wind was insane! Didn't think it could get worse than in the main grandstand but apparently it could.
After everything I got home and realised I got fairly well sunburnt today. Not sure when that happened. Maybe at 9am this morning watching the F3. Not a vintage six hours but I still find this type of racing riveting regardless. I feared going to watch this in April might take a bit of the shine off in June for the big one but I really don't think that is going to be an issue. |
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15 Apr 2013, 07:33 (Ref:3234393) | #227 | ||
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Well we managed to see/bump into quite a few people yesterday it was good to see many of the usual people and a few fresh faces
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15 Apr 2013, 07:33 (Ref:3234394) | #228 | ||
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15 Apr 2013, 07:35 (Ref:3234396) | #229 | ||
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Both the camera gear and myself survived the three days of weather Silverstone threw at us all. Glad I opted for a Travelodge this year though.
Enjoyed the endurance track action and the pit lane walkabout, managed to stumble upon a Ferrari photo shoot at the back of the paddock Sunday AM and so got some nice shots of the guys Shame the ELMS race got washed out but the new/resurfaced parts of the track just can't handle British rain anymore. The main event was good and the McNish final charge excellent entertainment. The F3 races were dull from where I was watching but might look better on TV. A couple of notes for Silverstone: If grandstands are shut PLEASE lock the gates. Fans will wander in and shelter from the rain/gales if there is access. Build a fecking tunnel/bridge at Vale. I will even pay a toll to use it if necessary. |
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15 Apr 2013, 07:39 (Ref:3234398) | #230 | ||
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I would agree Silverstone needs more tunnels/bridges to help spectators get about
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15 Apr 2013, 08:25 (Ref:3234435) | #231 | ||
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Frozen and wind-blasted on Saturday, watched live streaming of the second half of the race yesterday and appreciated the way the director kept giving us a variety of action, not just concentrating on the lead all the time.
Sorry not to have encountered a few familiar names around the track on Saturday. Even though I've never met any of you, I guess I would recognise Andrew from his photos. I can't understand why the most northerly race is run so early in the season. It should be run at its old date of mid-May or mid-September, when there's a a chance that the weather will be better. Just to rub it in, it hit twenty-five degrees in Le Mans yesterday...... |
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15 Apr 2013, 08:38 (Ref:3234441) | #232 | |||
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15 Apr 2013, 09:10 (Ref:3234461) | #233 | ||
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280 days...... |
15 Apr 2013, 10:51 (Ref:3234518) | #234 | ||
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15 Apr 2013, 11:54 (Ref:3234582) | #235 | ||
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There are some positives and some negatives..
I really liked the unfettered Paddock access (once we managed to get there!!) and liked being able to stand very close to the pit entrance. There are some good locations for taking photos without catch netting getting in the way. The commentary was it's ebullient self and generated interest in the races. Although they did seem to get the corners wrong a lot!! The buses on Saturday worked well The FanZone was a little shabby, but welcomed and a lot of freebie bits here and there. The screens were handy The negatives.. The lack of access from outside to inside the circuit is a real oversight. Even LM is easier to get to and from the outside of the circuit!! The lack of sheltered seating for eating was disappointing, again even at LM they have a few sheltered areas, just simple. Anyway, it was a good weekend of racing and the ELMS race was entertaining, until it just got too wet and we realised (a few mins before it happened) that it was going to be red flagged whilst behind the Safety Car, so left early. All in all quite good, but could do better! Not sure of the spectator numbers, don't know if they ever publicise or release such information. The fia live stuff on their website was good Even more so as I couldn't make it on Sunday. It makes Spa quite tempting!! |
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15 Apr 2013, 12:42 (Ref:3234623) | #236 | ||
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I was there all 3 days, and singularly failed to meet ANYONE, other than Roger Davies! Sorry if I passed you unknowingly...
Saturday was horrible. Thoroughly miserable, but a BIG thumbs up for the Fan Zone, as it kept an 8 year old interested, and happy. We had already started to bail out when he started to turn blue. Then they cut the race anyway, so we dashed to get the engine running, and turn him pink again. I have a couple of thousand images to check out. First pass looks promising, but I've just not had chance to edit properly yet. I had a ball all 3 days, but I think some more photo windows would help a LOT, and having covered grandstands open on Saturday as well as Sunday next time, please? I'll let you off Friday... |
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15 Apr 2013, 17:47 (Ref:3234781) | #237 | ||
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Gave it a miss due to illness, didn't fancy the cold, the rain or the wind the way I was feeling. Liking the race being live online (it gave a reading of over 17,000 viewers at one point) but would rather it be on a more accessible TV channel than Motors TV in the UK. Seems like you have to pay a small fortune to be able to get it on any TV package, and I have absolutely no desire to pay the extortionate amounts for a Sky subscription.
With another UK-based rant (involving plenty of wishful thinking), if ITV4 can be devoted to the BTCC package for a whole day, why can't BBC Three or Four be switched on earlier in the day just a small few times per year for six hours to cover something like WEC? Given that the ACO sort out their own TV feed with RLM commentary, they wouldn't need to take any cameras or people to the circuits. Admittedly difficult this weekend with the Chinese GP clash but does it really cost that much to implement? |
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15 Apr 2013, 18:33 (Ref:3234800) | #238 | ||
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Just back from Silverstone . We need 2h for the last 50km
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15 Apr 2013, 19:03 (Ref:3234817) | #239 | ||
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I ventured there on the Sunday, mainly to have a bash at taking some images. It was just so windy that it made taking the kind of images I was after very difficult, (panning shots mainly). Still, I managed to get a few decent shots, lots of blurred ones though, I was just being blown around so much, maybe I should gain some weight...?!
Silverstone continues to baffle me with some of their policies. Yep, i'm going to have a moan about the lack of a bridge/tunnel again - OK done. Does anyone know why there are so many G4S staff? Do they really need that much security? I tried taking some photos through a gap in the fence, only for a security bloke to tell me to stop shooting and I had to leave the area. I was puzzled as I wasn't in any out of bounds zone, I told him it was ridiculous. I came back about 20 minutes later and there were about 5-6 guys all gathered around the same photographers shooting hole, I guess they either gave up or he had wandered somewhere else to killjoy and cause misery elsewhere. I just don't get the logic, its "ok" to freely walk by these things, but standing still in the same area isn't allowed? Another jobsworth security guard told us it was for media only, then another said it was out of bounds for safety reasons, so it just seemed like it was any excuse really. Silverstone is fast becoming my most loathed circuit for this kind of thing, though its never been amazing for viewing or photography, (unless you have media bibs). On a more positive note, I did find other fence holes that were open and there were no stewards around to move us on. There was a hole on the exit of Chapel, where I got these few shots... Last edited by Sodemo; 15 Apr 2013 at 19:22. |
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15 Apr 2013, 19:37 (Ref:3234829) | #240 | ||
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The security issue affects us all, I signed on as FIA/ACO Stewards runner and on arrival at the wing had to out bully the security guard who wanted to see a pass I needed to be issued with inside the Wing! Those that know me know I would take a lot of scaring, so it was with this erk. We became quite friendly once I re-appeared with said pass. But the FIA seem to have this effect of putting the paying punter off by use of over officious officials.
By the way, I may have seen a few of you in the paddock but apologies for not knowing or recognising you if I did, I was a tad preoccupied after all |
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15 Apr 2013, 21:10 (Ref:3234880) | #241 | ||
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I was told to move out from that Chapel hole by G4S staff. I even didn´t get to shot one pic there.
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15 Apr 2013, 21:12 (Ref:3234882) | #242 | |||
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Yes, loadsa G4S staff, but not enough to open up any more stands - or parts of stands. One even came and chucked us out of the small covered stand at pit entry - just as it had started raining.... Sweet move that one. I think where and where you happened to be moved on from was a totally arbitrary decision by G4S staff who really didn't have any other useful function, the potential for a riot by WEC spectators being fairly limited... |
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15 Apr 2013, 21:27 (Ref:3234892) | #243 | |||
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Silverstone has long been at the top of my list for the most officious officials and that goes back to the 70s and 80s when it was referred to as Stalag Silverstone. Even the many amateur stewards at Le Mans manage to do their job with a smile and a sense of humour. |
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15 Apr 2013, 22:24 (Ref:3234924) | #244 | |||
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16 Apr 2013, 12:05 (Ref:3235261) | #245 | ||
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Red Zone areas are barred to media for early laps of races. So the Pros have to go shoot through a hole till the first laps are done. Most are set up by a standing committee, who advise circuits where they need the holes!
Why Silverstone doesn't do a Spa, and cut 'windows' in the fence, I have no idea. Perhaps it's the 'flatness' thing? |
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16 Apr 2013, 22:57 (Ref:3235535) | #246 | |||
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The ones on the loop are a little different and I can see why someone with nothing better to do might think you should be discouraged from shooting there. A shame really but I'm happy with the shots I got. |
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17 Apr 2013, 02:31 (Ref:3235589) | #247 | ||
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/lemansf...7633257666727/
First Pics are uploaded . Special Thanks to Andrew and James for helping to organize our Visit to Silverstone |
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18 Apr 2013, 07:52 (Ref:3236067) | #249 | ||
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some interesting thoughts from trussers and mcnish there
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