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Author Topic: Gran Premio de España  (Read 9290 times)

Offline Scott

Gran Premio de España
« on: May 06, 2015, 07:53:33 AM »
I will have the full intro up a bit later today...here are some pictures.  :D :D


The Honey Badger doesn't give a...

Offline Monty

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #1 on: May 06, 2015, 08:12:50 AM »
The cars will never get round the fountain roundabout.....

Offline cosworth151

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #2 on: May 06, 2015, 12:28:23 PM »
Just think of it as being a 360 degree version of Grand Hotel corner @ Monaco.  ;)
“You can search the world over for the finer things, but you won't find a match for the American road and the creatures that live on it.”
― Bob Dylan

Offline Scott

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #3 on: May 06, 2015, 06:16:59 PM »
The European season begins…

Last year at this time, I was pretty excited about going to the Spanish GP.  Only a few more days and I would fly into beautiful Barcelona and spend 4 days with our long lost friend Vintly and a couple of his buddies, one of whom lives in the centre of Barcelona. 

Vintly has moved on to a fixation with Cricket, but is missed from the forum.  The weekend was a bit of a party that I couldn't really keep up with, but we managed to make most of the sessions and ended up with a really nice spot in General Admission for the race.  Shade, a 6 Euro lawn chair and 12 Euro beers helped make a memorable race.

Barcelona is my favourite European city, an artists city, best known for its most famous son Gaudi, the architect of more than a few highlights of the city.  Capital of the Catalonia region, it is Spain’s second largest city with a little over 1.5million rimmed by beautiful beaches and spectacular harbours on the waterfront.  A safe city, it’s most popular culprit are pickpockets and mobile phone thieves (posing as newspaper salespeople…they drop a few newspapers on your table, on top of your mobile phone while you are at an outdoor cafe.  Then when you don't want any, they remove the newspapers along with your mobile phone.  Long gone before you realize.  No, Ian, it didn't happen to me).

The actual Spanish GP has been going on since 1913, with only an interruption of the World Wars.  The track in Catalunya that they use today was built in 1991.  It went through some hard times financially until Alonso joined the sport, and since then it has been near capacity almost every year since 2003.

Access to the track from Barcelona takes about 35-40minutes in comfortable trains from the edge of the city (with subway access).  After that expect a short 20 minute walk through the charming town of Montmeló with many outdoor cafes and bars (where we enjoyed a few beers after the race).  The facilities and layout for fans is top notch.  Food fantastic, beer cold and tasty, plenty of shade if you don't need to be right at the fence for General Admission tickets, with friendly, well behaved and very polite fans.  Prices for F&B are like those at any GP, insanely high, but quality is excellent.  I easily spent 75Euros on F&B (maybe I bought the boys an extra round), but never regretted it.

Schumacher has dominated this track, with 6 wins.  A handful of other drivers have recorded 2 and 3 each, but nobody close to Michael.  Lewis won last year, while Ricciardo posted his first F1 podium (official - DQ’d in Oz).  Hamilton's race win took him ahead of Rosberg in the standings. 

Last year tires were hard and medium.  I can’t seem to find what tires have been nominated for this race, but I imagine it will be the same.  Weather is supposed to be perfect for the entire weekend (wish I was there).  Will the Mercs be able to fend off the Ferraris is probably the biggest question.  Kimi has had mixed results in Spain while Vettel has had some success. 

I can’t wait to see RBR’s new nose which reportedly had to be crash tested 62 times before success.  That’s an expensive nose job.

Here are a few pictures from near where we were sitting.
The Honey Badger doesn't give a...

Offline J.Clark

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #4 on: May 07, 2015, 11:37:39 AM »
Buen adelanto Scott. Siempre es bueno cuando uno ha estado en un circuito y puede agregar algunas anotaciones personales y opiniones.

Nice preview Scott.  It is always good when one has been to a  circuit and can add some personal notations and opinions.

Sorry, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to practice my Spanish.   ;)
I lived in Spain for four years, but about as far as possible from Barcelona in el Puerto de Santa Maria.  It was only a 40 minute drive to Jerez and so I did get to that circuit; although, never made a F1 weekend due to assignments . . .  If I get the chance to return to Spain, I will do everything I can to make during this weekend so I can make this race.

You question regarding Ferrari and the Mercs is quite valid.  It is not without hope or information that I think if conditions are right, Williams may be close to making it a three horse race.  That would be fantastic.  They didn't have very good luck here in 2014 though.
Life is short - live each day to the fullest.

Offline Scott

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #5 on: May 07, 2015, 11:43:49 AM »
'assignments'...were you a journalist by any chance?
The Honey Badger doesn't give a...

Offline Scott

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #6 on: May 07, 2015, 12:05:21 PM »
A little tidbit I forgot to add to my intro is that Kimi holds the lap record:

Lap distance: 4.655km. Total distance: 307.104km (66 laps)

Race lap record: Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari, 2008, 1:21.670
The Honey Badger doesn't give a...

Offline J.Clark

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #7 on: May 07, 2015, 02:11:44 PM »
No Scott, I was not a journalist.  I was in the US Navy, stationed in Rota, Spain.  I didn't get sent places often and did do a lot of traveling on my own, but it seemed I was always in the Azores, Sicily, or Germany every year when it was time for the Spanish GP.
Life is short - live each day to the fullest.

Offline Scott

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #8 on: May 07, 2015, 03:50:33 PM »
That's far more impressive than a journalist.  Bet you've seen a Littoral up close and personal.  I love marine anything...
The Honey Badger doesn't give a...

Offline Scott

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #9 on: May 08, 2015, 10:19:12 AM »
FP1 times:

Major issues for RBR and Ricciardo
The Honey Badger doesn't give a...

Offline Scott

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #10 on: May 08, 2015, 01:30:03 PM »
"Romain, where'd you forget your engine cover?"
The Honey Badger doesn't give a...

Offline J.Clark

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #11 on: May 08, 2015, 02:54:35 PM »
Some strange happenings in FFPs.

Ferrari look to have perhaps closed in a bit more on the Mercedes duo; although, Hobbs and  company were discussing that the Mercs turn down the wick a bit in FFPs.

Williams, I hope are holding back a bit, but we shall see come tomorrow morning.

1.  Hamilton   Mercedes   1m 26.852
2.  Vettel      Ferrari   1m 27.260
3.  Rosberg      Mercedes   1m 27.616
4.  Raikkonen   Ferrari   1m 27.780
5.  Kvyat      Red Bull   1m 27.943
6.  Verstappen    Toro Rosso   1m 28.017
7.  Button      McLaren   1m 28.494
8.  Bottas      Williams   1m 28.525 
9.  Sainz       Toro Rosso   1m 28.674
10. Massa      Williams   1m 28.712
11. Alonso      McLaren   1m 28.723
12. Grosjean   Lotus    1m 29.086s 
13. Ricciardo   Red Bull   1m 29.098
14. Maldonado   Lotus    1m 29.217
15. Nasr      Sauber   1m 29.333
16. Ericsson   Sauber   1m 29.361
17. Hulkenberg   Force India   1m 29.601
18. Perez      Force India   1m 29.707
19. Stevens   Manor    1m 31.929
20. Merhi      Manor    1m 32.751

Worthy of note perhaps is that Susie Wolff did relatively well in FFP-1 with a time only 1 second off from P5.
14. Susie Wolff   GBR   Williams-Mercedes   1m 29.708
Life is short - live each day to the fullest.

Offline Scott

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #12 on: May 08, 2015, 03:35:44 PM »
At least they got Ricciardo going finally. 
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Offline cosworth151

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #13 on: May 08, 2015, 04:22:07 PM »
Ricciardo is now on his fourth (and last) powerplant in five races.

The Grosjean incident shown in Scott's picture was very odd, and worrying. His rear bodywork just exploded while he was running flat out down a straight. I hate to think what could result from that happening during a race with traffic close behind. I wonder if it was caused by:

a-A design flaw that would be common to all of them,

b-A manufacturing flaw that might effect some others, or

c-Improper attachment i.e. it wasn't properly fastened to the car
“You can search the world over for the finer things, but you won't find a match for the American road and the creatures that live on it.”
― Bob Dylan

Offline Irisado

Re: Gran Premio de España
« Reply #14 on: May 08, 2015, 04:30:37 PM »
Me parece bien que escribimos en español en este tema :).  Me encanta escribir y hablar en español.  No tengo tantas oportunidades de escribir en español hoy en día.

I'd best revert to English for my thoughts on the race though, I suspect ;).  I'm not sure that it's going to be that much to write home about though.  It will be down to the tyres.  If they wear out, as has often been the case in the past on this track, then it could make the race a bit more unpredictable, otherwise, it will be a Mercedes versus Ferrari battle again, with Williams most likely to be best of the rest.  I'm expecting it to be a bit of procession, unfortunately.

Espero estar equivocado y que sea apasionante e interesante.
Soñando con una playa donde brilla el sol, un arco iris ilumina el cielo, y el mar espejea iridescentemente

 


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