IMOLA 2003
Hysterical original thread found HERE
Why is it that every time I go to Italy I fall in love?
It's either with a Girl or the architecture or the food or the lovely and sensuous environment that breeds the best existence on earth. Some will argue that assertion, I will not listen.
THIS IS GOD'S COUNTRY
Forget those TV fear merchants telling you about the War on Terror or Middle Eastern Mullas with a bullhorn and cross to bear!!
Yep...Just ignore what you are told by your "ministry of information"...
Imola,Easter,and the smell of the flora and fauna in the Parco delle Acque Minerale have conspired to seduce me in an orgy of the senses.
Arriving at the circuit on early Saturday morn I asked the old boys gathered outside the circuit on a street called via Rivazza where to buy a ticket..."Lascilo vedere. Su là " they said so I walked the 1/4 mile to a white hut where
I bought my General Admission ticket for a paltry €50,
Crossed over the bridge at Rivazza and there I was.... FINALLY.. at the track I had lusted over only 2 weeks prior.
Step One was some powerful Italian Cafe Badabimu
...and what would greet me as I walked up the hill from Rivazza to the Variante Alta?...
An alfresco cafe right next to the exit of the chicane!
'WOW..this rules' I thought to myself, as I supped up the tasty brew.
The PA system was playing Sade('I still really really love you') as Charlie W rumbled past in the course car...
a seductive chill runs down my spine
I finish the java and watched the start of the first session from there and then strolled down the hill into Acqua Minerale where I walked behind the grandstands to find a surreal scene as if from a Monet painting.
I sat under the stands for the rest of the session and thought to myself...
'Man, what a find if the rain does come down!!'.
When the session ended I walked down into the center of the circuit,following a long tree lined path, at the end of which I could just make out an elongated AGIP sign meaning only one thing...Tamburello, today bathed in an equally unreal hazy sunshine.
I decided to go down to the entry of the corner from the start line straight...It was there I met Gianni.
He had an obsession with sending his mates Live pics from the track via his 3g phone.
The poor sod never got the idea to click when the cars were in frame!!!
I said Divertirsi mio amico and made my way back towards the Villeneuve chicane .
Of course while I was walking down the path lined with beautifully fragrant plants and flowers I remembered that here is where the Senna statue was.
No sooner had I realised that did I spy a young woman sobbing her eyes out in memory of Ayrton. It was just then the cars started the second 45 min session and the site of her wiping the tears away and the sound of the V10's screaming through brought a tear to my eye and a lump to my throat.
I hugged her and said ..'Este é quase demasiado para mim demasiado... (This is almost too much for me as well...)
It was then I heard Bob Constanduros mention over the PA that Elizabeth Schumacher was gravely ill...
I had to go sit down and gather my emotions
Just before I made my way into the parkland area...
I saw the statue.
Cue the waterworks....
I sobered quickly..but then,
Half way through the session I spied a woman trying to control her two young boys with massive amounts of BREWSKI
..My mood changed instantly when I saw that and I decided to JOIN IN
Who cares if I withdrew my kids college fund to buy a six pack at the track...Big deal...They get good education from TV like all the other kids right?...
So off I went down to the Villeneuve chicane...my mood lightening with each step and gulp..
As I reached the exit of the corner I spied the perfect vantage point for tomorrow.
On the right before the underpass is a high bank next to a fence
This affords a view of
1) a LARGE screen
2) the exit of Tamburello and the straight into Villeneuve
3) the exit of Villeneuve into the braking zone at Tosa..
It's gonna be where I where I watch the race from, No question..
I pass under the bridge and decide to forego walking up Tosa in favour of a walk by the river up to the point of Senna's impact
(morbid perhaps, but I just felt pulled to the right instead of left.)
So back up the track I walked staying close to the fence all the while....Many fans were camping on the other side of the river bank and playing the WORST MUSIC EVER... I came upon some marshals at post 4 having lunch
the chef was working that barbie like JPM through the Piratella..His creations smelled devine.."Buono Appetitto" I said and headed downhill to see the plaque and scrawling on the wall there just below the impromptu lunch area.
Tributes I jumped the now torn 2nd fence to see the track from the outside ...
Chills-a-plenty here folks!!... AGAIN.
About this time I felt the Fosters guiding me into the paddock area...In search of a little mischief...
"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT" said Hans the Austrian pincer in charge of the Paddock Club entry...
Jast moof alonk please ...So I did .
I then saw another German speaking paddock dweller Christina from Koln trying to calm the local polizia down...
I passed along the alley where the TV compound was where I saw THIS ...I had a thought for everyone here when, after downing the last tinnie, I walked by the ITV compound and offered them our BEST WISHES
not....
Just as Qualifying started I had to return some of that Fosters..
It came as no surprise that the well equipped toilets even afforded a
peek at the track as well as toilet paper and a clean seat...Very impressed I was.
Qualifying came and went ...zoom
I watched a rather good F3000 race from Variante Bassa when over we went back to Rimini to eat drink and sleep etc..ready for the race tomorrow.
Race day dawned clear and sunny ..I brought all the rain gear though
I arrived early again and walked from the other side of Rivazza past the houses you see on tv ending up near the start finish area and intended to stroll around to look at...Uhh..NO YOU DON'T Jp
This is race day and everyone was taking themselves very seriously...
(except me of course) 
While taking my time strolling towards Tosa I hear a mighty argument in progress...
Some crafty locals had set up their own grandstands for their mates...(or paying customers!)
The authorities made him pull it all down...killjoys!!
I took up station at the exit of Villeneuve and listened to the marshalls tell their stories to the fans pressed against the fence.
I turned around to see the Tosa hill behind us a bit sparse...
At around 1pm the TV feed to the big screens focused on Michael as he was dealing with his Mothers death.
I could not watch for too long as the poor guy was fighting back the tears..
Very moving...
So incredulity suspended, I found myself cheering for the man and his Brother.
I was in good company...
everyone else was as well
The race came and went ...zoom
I must say however that the circuit TV coverage was WAY BETTER than what I watched on tape from our beloved ITV upon my arrival home last night!!! They had detailed corner entry/exit comparisons during the race as well as quals and constant in-cars front and rear..
After the race everyone invades the track...
I did too
The place was rammed with everyone who bothered going to the event this year...
I did manage to hear some guy asking a Ferrari tech person for a piece of the car to take home to the kids!!!
His reply involved a gesture well known in these parts!!!
Finally I walked past the TV compound again just to see what pass gets you where...
As my camera battery died just then... I was just able to catch the pass list
I left the track and went back to the room thinking..
If this WAS the last F1 at Imola..
I am glad I went...
Jp
Edited by jonpollak, 31 July 2020 - 23:22.
Very well done!
Gotta send that one to Pit Babe for her website!
