2005 USGP Day 2

We were up early again and it was pleasantly cool as we headed to the speedway. We tried a slightly different route and found a Starbucks, which was nice. At the speedway, it was early, but for a reason. On friday and saturday of the F1 weekend, Indy is all general admission seating, so it's good to get there early. Our seats were in the corner 10 complex (the real tight "S" before the cars return to the speedway proper. We got to our desolate stands and moved right up to the top and camped out waiting for on-track action, besides the safety car and medical. On the Jumbotrons, they replayed the interviews from the previous day, that you couldn't hear from the rock music blaring from the speakers, but it was all good. I have very strict moral principles and decided I'd wait until 0900 for my first beer. IMS was selling the Fosters oil cans and if you bought a coozie (the little foam insulator for your beer) they'd put a handful of ice at the bottom to keep the beer a little cooler, very nice touch. In case you're interested, it was well before 0900.







At 900, the Indy Pro Series rolled out for practice. They sounded like NASCAR and were about as agile, but it was something to look at on track. They rolled around for 45 min. and allowed me time to get another beer before FP1.





One thing I like about F1 is how precise they are, right down to the opening of practice. At 1000, from across the track, you could hear them as they took to the track, it was of course a Minardi followed by a Jordan. I didn't care, I was now watching a Fomula 1 car live! The track announcer's were two guys, one guy witha British accent and an American. The American said something I'll never forget. As the first car went through the gears toward turn 1, he said, "I don't care who you are, if that sound doesn't put a smile on your face, there's something wrong with you". How true.





It was late into the practice before Ferrari showed up. Watching that car live, while not a Ferrari fan, was meaningful to me as this was a world-wide icon of elite motorsports. I had my camera with telephoto lens getting what ended up to be fairly decent shots of the cars as they rounded the tight corners. As the hour of practice came near a close, the track was full of cars. One thing that I miss from the loss of traction control is the sound of the cars as they accelerated away. It sounded like two engines with in the car. The Jordan-Toyota's had this weird hum as the accelerated as well as the rough engine sound of the traction control. The only thing that happened of note near us was that David Coulthard went wide onto the grass trying to make the turn off Hulman Blvd.

After practice, there was a 20 min break, then the Porsche GT cup was out practicing, sometime after that the Formula BMW USA series went out. We ate and drank in shifts so that our perfect seats stayed ours. Near the Museum (behind our grandstands) were all the team merchandise trailers as well as alot of the food and beer stands. In a large grassy area, a bunch of Brazilian fans spread out a huge Brazilian flag and commenced to have a big party there. The energy of the place was awesome.

To this point, I hadn't decided on a favorite driver. I'm always pulling for the Minardi team, you know, "Come on, just get a point". I wondered around the merchandise trailers and for some reason stopped at the Williams trailer and decided, "Yeah, Nick Heidfeld. That's my guy". I returned to my seat and John saw my hat, "Okay is this for real now?". I didn't really know....I was just making a stand.

During the afternoon practice Ralf Schumacher had a hard impact with the turn 13 wall, which looked similar to his crash the year before in a Williams. Little did I know, this would start the weekend in a downward spiral. I forget which practice session but Ricardo Zonta spun off the track in the 3rd Toyota, which was also to be a tire failure. The only real action took place off track. A guy in our grandstands dumped his cooler of melted ice without looking below. Before long an irate, wet man came stomping up the grandstand stairs. I immediatley looked around to make sure I did not have a cooler, so I could not be blamed. Words were exchanged and the security personnel escorted the man away....no real harm, no real foul.

Funny thing about an F1 weekend, it always leaves you wanting more. The pit-walkabout the previous day was great, but only hearing the cars rev, was incomplete. Friday was only practice for F1 and practice and qualy for the lower classes. In 2005, there was the single lap qualy so there would be no actual F1 competition until Sunday. John and I left the speedway and could only fill our emptyness with beer.