Monthly Archive for September, 2008

Singapore Grand Prix 2008 - Friday Practice

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acroamatic
on Friday, 26 September 2008
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Crowd Issues

A short post to say that I’m back from the Friday practice session.

Really tired.

Donated blood in the morning, then headed to the circuit.

Went in when the gates opened, walked around, took photos, watched Formula BMW practice, watched Vicky Cristina Barcelona (sorry, Aston Martin and Porsche races practice sessions aren’t my cup of tea), then back to the track for the first practice session.

In between the two practice sessions was what tired me out. Some very serious bad planning and inflexibility by the organisers.

The walkway between the Bay Grandstand (where NDP is held) and Gate 7 (Marina Square entrance near Starbucks and McDonald’s is way too narrow.

That small passage cannot cater to the 25,000 people in the Bay Grandstand. It’s the only way to get to the Esplanade/Padang portion of the track where the majority of the food/drinks/merchandising is located.

There is an emergency exit which leads to the rear of Marina Square, where the cinema is located. This gate was kept firmly closed. (On Saturday, it was opened, but small notices indicated that it was a no re-entry exit. Would it have seen so hard to place a few of the people with those re-entry chops to make that a exit-only gate? People could have been given the chop and re-entered from Gate 7. Spectators happy. Marina Square shops happy.)

It took me slightly over an hour to get from Bay Grandstand to the hawker village at the Padang.

While in the jam, I was stuck next to some Finnish dude who kept on moaning about how terrible this situation is and how this doesn’t happen at other venues. (He also complained about the lack easy access to alcoholic beverages.)

As embarrassed as I was at this lack of foresight, I have to agree.

Not acceptable.

Practice itself was good fun. A few drivers seemed to have problems with the final turn before the start/finish straight. Mark Webber ploughed into the barricades before the tunnel. If this is what happens when it’s dry, I wonder what will happen if it rains…

Anyway, I’ve gone on long enough. It was meant to be a short rant.

So, I owe posts on the following:
Meeting the BMW Team
Previewing the circuit from the Singapore Flyer
Friday Practice review

Oh yes, my modem went kaput this morning, so I’m on Wireless@SG temporarily. That means my huge photos will take a long while to get uploaded. Haven’t even finished with the Pandan Mangrove Cleanup set.

Time to hit the shower.

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Peter Chan - Another walk around the Singapore GP pit garages

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acroamatic
on Thursday, 25 September 2008
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My intrepid friend, Peter Chan, took another walk around the F1 pit garages and start-finish straight yesterday evening. (View his earlier walkabout.) Once again, he has shared his photos with me and given me permission to blog these. Here we go…

AF1 START-FINISH line at 703pm-2008

Work going on at the start-finish straight. I’m imagining 20 cars on the grid, waiting for the five lights to go out, signalling the start of the race. The sound is guaranteed to give you goosebumps. Hair raising, indeed…

AF1 and Singapore Flyer-2008

Suzuka’s famous Ferris Wheel may no longer be an F1 feature since the Japan race moved to Fuji, but we’ve got our Singapore Flyer dominating the paddock skyline.

F1 worker and buggy stuck at Turn 23-2008

Valerio Maioli lighting engineer in his buggy.

F1 garages-2-2008

Renault team at work.

F1 garages-7-2008

McLaren Mercedes keeping a firm lid on things.

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Singapore Grand Prix video previews

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acroamatic
on Wednesday, 24 September 2008
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Oh yes, yesterday’s event with Darren Heath began with a screening of this video. It shows Red Bull’s Mark Webber in a digitally animated simulation of a lap of the Singapore Grand Prix. Among all the simulations I’ve seen, this one is the best. The animation and the sound are spot on. Turn up the volume when watching it!

I hope the racing is as good as the battle between Webber and Vettel in that video, although I know side-by-side racing along straights in F1 nowadays is very rare. Heh, Vettel spins in the clip and somehow manages to catch up with Webber by the end of the lap - more fantasy stuff. Oh, Webber’s narration is pretty good too. Except that he makes Padang sound like Penang. His pronunciation of Esplanade is a bit suspect too, come to think of it.

The next video shows McLaren’s special preparations for the night race. Don’t let it be said that their outfit is stuffy and mechanical. Would your CEO do a video like this?

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An Evening with Darren Heath, Award-winning Formula One Photographer

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acroamatic
on Wednesday, 24 September 2008
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I attended a talk - no, a gathering - with Darren Heath, a photographer who makes F1 look fantastic.

Darren, whose career roughly follows David Coulthard’s motor racing journey, has been taking trackside photos for about 20 years. His interest started when he was a teenager. With the support of his father, he attended races all over Britain, honing his skill and interest.

He is as British as they come, with a dry sense of humour and a mock (at least, I think its mock) disdain for the French and their race. I also sense that he favours Hamilton and McLaren, but acknowledges that Ferrari makes most F1 photos look terrific, thanks to that striking scarlet red.

What stands out about his shots are his panning shots. Shots that track the cars as they zoom by on track. Doing that, you get a blurred background, car in focus effect, giving the photos the feeling of motion and speed. His panning shots are truly amazing. He hates what he calls (and I paraphrase) the car-parked-on-the-side-of-the-road shots.

While he has taken some cliched shots - hey, you have to please clients - he tends to infuse those with his own brand of style. Darren talked about what he has to do during a race weekend. There is a lot of planning and preparation involved. When up close with the characters of F1, communication and camaraderie is essential.

The photo which got the biggest reaction from the crowd is the one which you can see at the top. Despite all the planning and anticipation that goes into his photos, often, it is the totally unexpected which makes the best shot.

Critter vs Hamilton - that photo speaks for itself. If you look closely, you can see that the little fellow’s front feet are off the ground. The timing, the framing, the juxtaposition in the shot… just astounding.

Darren also had some tips for the general photographers in the crowd. He takes shots from the stands sometimes, so I’m sure his tips will come in useful. Despite the fact that I don’t have a lens which costs five figures…

Oh yes, Darren, you were wishing for rain - you got it this morning. But that was more like a light shower. I’m afraid if it really pours during the race, it will probably be too unsafe…

Thanks to NLB for hosting this event!

NLB’s Pod (the UFO top level of the National Library) has a nice view of the Esplanade portion of the track. Too bad I left my big-ass camera at home.

Marina Bay Street Circuit

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Night race infographics

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acroamatic
on Tuesday, 23 September 2008
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Full throttle under floodlights

F1 Technical has a couple of nice infographics about F1’s first ever night race: Full throttle under floodlights.

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