After my long day yesterday I overslept a bit this morning, so it was all a bit casual. After breakfast in my hotel I strolled down to see whether my car was here yet, and to find out what goes on here. Just a short walk, but the town sits quite high over the valley, where the paddock is, so I took the funicular railway down, meeting Aussie chum Don Thallon on the way. Eventually found my way into the paddock, found Iain and my car, tucked up in it's marquee/garage.
Iain has brought 5 cars down here, 4 FJs and one Formula Ford - so he's going to be busy keeping us all going (and usually he keeps half the rest of the grid going too!), especially as he's racing himself. Mate Mike Bell has come down to help out, and he has an HGV licence too, so was able to share the miserable wet 12 hr drive down through France yesterday.
We all got signed on, and scrutineered, eventually, although no problems for me this time. So set about cleaning, prepping the cars, applying the event sponsors logos etc.
I enjoy the atmosphere before any race meeting, catching up with people you've not seen since last time, chatting and the general buzz as the paddock fills up, everyone keen and enthusiastic. Here the town has really taken to it, next weekend they have modern championships racing on the same track, so for about 10days Motorsport takes over the town, and there are automotive-themed presentations, shop window displays, and flags / banners all over. It's great ... Such a shame we can't have a historic Grand Prix round Guildford...
No comments:
Post a Comment