Part 6 - final part
Managed to meet up with Fran and grabbed a coffee but I was anxious to get to my stand before the pit lane opened and I didn't know how long it would take me to get there. Would I have to go back the way I came in and up in to the town again? Turned out I had the easiest route of all and I could walk from the paddock right past the bridge over the track in to the pit lane and in through the back of my stand. Found my seat. Hmm opposite de la Rosa'a garage - not quite what I had yesterday but then the drivers wouldn't be in the garage long anyway. Bit of a shame in Monaco that you can't see the starting grid as it's all hidden round the back of the garages but the TV was right in front of the stand and there was certainly no problem hearing it!!!
I won't describe the race as such as I'm sure you all saw it but the noise! I haven;t worn ear-plugs at a GP in a long long time but my God did I need them and my ears still hurt with them in! The stand I was in just funnelled the noise in. Next year I'm going to get ear defenders too.
It was fantastic to watch Michael race again and I was so pleased with how he did. He overtook Nico at the start then got Rubens in the pit stop but it was the pass on Alonso at the end I was most proud of. To be honest, when the commentator announced that he'd overtaken Alonso my first thought was that he couldn't do that surely but texts back to the UK and discussions with others and I realised there had been a change in the rules and I remember the green flags being shown and me being surprised to hear the cars gunning it out of the last corner to cross the line. You can imagine how frustrated I was to read on my phone later of the penalty but the point was he'd made that move and the Michael I knew was back!!
We had to wait to get out of the stand after the race but using my special pass I went straight out of the back of the stand and back down to the paddock. The party had already started at Red Bull and I wasn't stood there long when all the mechanics plus the trophies came past followed by Christian Horner who I congratulated and he said 'thank you' the top 3 drivers were being interviewed in the paddock and eventually Vettel and Webber came out and went in to the Red Bull Motorhome too. Those of you that saw the pictures on the BBC of them jumping in to the swimming pool - well I was looking up at that - couldn't see anything from ground level though.
Went for a wander along the paddock again and met Fran. We managed to get a table at Stars and Bars by the fence for a meal and saw Jake Humphrey and DC and finally Martin Brundle after not seeing him all weekend! On my way back up to the train station I bumped in to Rachel and Christine from my hotel - 2 very excited Mark Webber fans!
Finally it was time to leave Monaco. I eventually got home a daye late thanks to the Volcanic Ash cloud so got an extra day in Nice - not that I'd seen much of it until then.
It had, quite simply been an amazing weekend. I've been to many races but I've never got as close to all the drivers for the entire weekend as this and I can see now how easy it is to do Monaco without breaking the bank and also how easy it is to do on my own.
I would most certainly be back!
I won't describe the race as such as I'm sure you all saw it but the noise! I haven;t worn ear-plugs at a GP in a long long time but my God did I need them and my ears still hurt with them in! The stand I was in just funnelled the noise in. Next year I'm going to get ear defenders too.
It was fantastic to watch Michael race again and I was so pleased with how he did. He overtook Nico at the start then got Rubens in the pit stop but it was the pass on Alonso at the end I was most proud of. To be honest, when the commentator announced that he'd overtaken Alonso my first thought was that he couldn't do that surely but texts back to the UK and discussions with others and I realised there had been a change in the rules and I remember the green flags being shown and me being surprised to hear the cars gunning it out of the last corner to cross the line. You can imagine how frustrated I was to read on my phone later of the penalty but the point was he'd made that move and the Michael I knew was back!!
We had to wait to get out of the stand after the race but using my special pass I went straight out of the back of the stand and back down to the paddock. The party had already started at Red Bull and I wasn't stood there long when all the mechanics plus the trophies came past followed by Christian Horner who I congratulated and he said 'thank you' the top 3 drivers were being interviewed in the paddock and eventually Vettel and Webber came out and went in to the Red Bull Motorhome too. Those of you that saw the pictures on the BBC of them jumping in to the swimming pool - well I was looking up at that - couldn't see anything from ground level though.
Went for a wander along the paddock again and met Fran. We managed to get a table at Stars and Bars by the fence for a meal and saw Jake Humphrey and DC and finally Martin Brundle after not seeing him all weekend! On my way back up to the train station I bumped in to Rachel and Christine from my hotel - 2 very excited Mark Webber fans!
Finally it was time to leave Monaco. I eventually got home a daye late thanks to the Volcanic Ash cloud so got an extra day in Nice - not that I'd seen much of it until then.
It had, quite simply been an amazing weekend. I've been to many races but I've never got as close to all the drivers for the entire weekend as this and I can see now how easy it is to do Monaco without breaking the bank and also how easy it is to do on my own.
I would most certainly be back!