Canadian Grand Prix

[BIGSHOT]

I couldn't make Saturday's SAMOA meeting because my daughter Alix and I were in Montreal for the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix. We're F1 fans and this is a special year for us, so we took the plunge and booked a trip to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The entire weekend -- our first F1 experience -- was amazing. The weather was great, the people of Montreal were gracious, and the car stuff was incredible.

I quickly pulled eight photos from the hundreds I shot to give you a quick look at some of the racing action. I don't think I came close to accurately representing the heart-pounding excitement of 22 screaming (18,000 rpm) racers, but here's a hint.


The start of the race. We had seats in the grandstand overlooking turns 1 and 2. That's the start/finish line at the top of the shot.


Here's a wider shot from our seats.


Lewis Hamilton leads Fernando Alonso late in the race.


Alonso's Ferrari.

More in a second.

Dan

[BIGSHOT]

Eventual race winner Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren.


There were three other races held in association with the Canadian Grand Prix: one for Formula Fords, one for Ferrari F430s (the Ferrari Challenge series), and one for vintage F1 cars. You might recognize this car from February's post-meeting tour of the Goodman Racing garage. It's the Ferrari Jackie Ickx drove to win the 1971 Monaco Grand Prix. It was out there dicing with Brabhams, other Ferraris, a Shadow, a Yardley BRM, etc., etc...


...and this car, an ex-Jackie Stewart Tyrrell. This car can usually be found racing at SOVREN's NW Historics at Pacific Raceways.


After all the racing was done, Alix and I walked the track. We saw the start/finish, the podium where the trophies were presented, and the garages that back up the pits. Niki Lauda was being interviewed as we wandered by. Here's a shot of the Ferrari garages. Most of the cars had been spirited off by this time, but almost every garage had a nose or two waiting outside (center of the photo).

All in all, an unbelievable weekend.

Dan

[Cheleker]

Yeah, well, so what. We got...we did...We had fresh baked cookies!

[DaveB]

that's telling him chuck! that's why we keep electing you president! (and dan, we're gonna elect you again for this. just you wait and see!)