Day 28 & 29: Rugby, Racing and Beer (or 2 out of 3, at least)

Date: Friday 25th & Saturday 26th April
Staying: Circuit de Catalunya – Barcelona, Spain
Distance Travelled: 42.2 Miles (Saturday)
Song of the day: Cars - Gary Numan

This was a weekend devoted entirely to the F1. We made it out to the Circuit de Catalunya having only driven an extra 20km out of the way. Once again we had an "Oh dear, we seem to be in town" moment. This time we took the bull by the horns (appropriate for Spain), and decided to go through the centre of Barcelona since it would, theoretically, put us on the north side of Barcelona and near the track (and because we couldn't figure out how to turn around). Fortunately the nice people of Barcelona helped us by providing signs to the circuit.

We were camping at the track and by the time we arrived, there were already hundreds of campers there, flags flying. Jarno took this opportunity to decide he didn't want to reverse anymore, so we had to "manually reverse" ourselves into a spot, helped by our new French neighbours.

Camping at the track is rather like camping at a festival, except it is a lot drier and everyone is better equipped. Music plays into the night, and the smell of generators pervades the site. Women are outnumbered by men at about 15 to 1, so you are viewed as an object of some curiousity. There are basic facilities (chemical toilets, showers), but essentially you are parked in a field.

Let me explain a little about an F1 weekend for those of you who are not acquainted. Although the main race is on a Sunday, the weekend really starts on Friday with the practices, one from 10.30 - 12 noon, the second from 2 - 3.30pm. In between, other practices are run for the GP2, Porsches and BMW's. Saturday has a 3rd practice session in the morning for the F1, then from 2 - 3pm is qualifying which decides the grid (who gets to be at the front of the starting line). Sunday is race day, and the F1 has a drivers parade at 12.30 (all the drivers on the back of a truck, waving to the fans). By 1.30pm they are on the grid, and 2pm the race starts.

The Spanish Grand Prix is really all about one driver for the Spanish fans - Fernando Alonso - and he can do no wrong in their eyes. He's driving for Renault this year, so between the normal contingent of Ferrari fans and thousands of Spanish Renault supporters, that's about 95% of your crowd. Cam supports Ferrari. I do not. I support Honda and Jenson Button, and have been for about six years now. I believe that there were approximately 12 Honda fans at the track. I can tell you that you get a lot of looks if you are:
1. A girl
2. Not supporting Ferrari or Renault
3. Not supporting the same team as the guy you are with (because 99.9% of the women here are with a boyfriend/partner).

When at the GP, earplugs are a must. I don't know if any of you have ever heard an F1 car before, but it's a bit like having your ear next to a jet engine. GP2 cars are a little quieter, though still ear-splitting. The Porsche cars sound like a swarm of angry wasps just behind your right ear. During practice, qualifying and racing, Cam and I spend the time communicating by shouting (ineffectively), and hand gestures.

Anyway, to dispense with descriptions, the Spaniards went bonkers when Alonso looked for a moment as though he had gotten pole position on the grid in qualifying, only to be pipped 30 seconds later by Raikkonen (Ferrari), who left it to the last minute to put in the fastest lap, making Cam just too happy.