Monday, April 16, 2007

The Grand Prix Third Strike


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Originally uploaded by *A*L*I*.
Yesterday I attended the Bahrain F1 GP for the third year in a row (and yes, I always go in for free!). I only missed the first one because I was abroad at the time. The 2007 GP was pretty good. A great race by all accounts. But it was the sheer size of the crowds that really surprised me this time around!

Never have I seen large flocks of people flooding the BIC for the GP in the past 2 or 3 years, certainly a progression from the debut race four years ago. I think people in general and Bahrainis in particular are now getting round the F1 and its become an event I think people look forward to, which I suppose is a very good sign. At least for the BIC guys. Because, lets face it, it won't last. by 2009 Abu Dhabi will have its own GP and so will Dubai eventually (they are building an F1 Theme Park after all!).

Nonetheless, it was another wonderful experinece and everybody seemed to be having a great time. And even at the end of the race, and as I and my sister made our way out, we saw more and more crowds coming in! What really annoyed me to the point of huffing and puffing and cussing, was the way the traffic was handeled. See, if you took a wrong turn and ended up NOT on the highway, you would've ended up going round the entire island to get home, just like me! It took us a little over an hour to reach home, which is in Isa Town, as all entries into the main highway were shut.

Anyway, you can see some pix from the race on my flickr and you can also watch this clip I took from the Victory stand.


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