Something a little different

Ok I am taking a little break for this post. Instead of telling you what I think about the latest F1 news I'm going to discuss what it's like to attend a GrandPrix weekend. I have followed Formula One since 1998, however my first full season watching Formula One was in 1999 when I supported Eddie Irvine and Ferrari.

When Eddie moved to Jaguar in 2000 I moved with him. In 2003 I moved to Jordan Ford following Eddie's retirement. 2003 was a very special year for me as I attended my first GrandPrix when I went to the British GrandPrix in Silverstone.

When I followed Jaguar I was a member of the team's fan club and I joined the Jordan fan club in 2003. When I went to the British GrandPrix in 2003, we stayed in London which for anyone who has not been to Silverstone is a long drive from London. We arrived in England on Saturday morning on time for qualifying.

Following the qualifying session we went over to the JORDAN VILLAGE, which had been set up for the team's fans. Before the race I had been in contact with the head of the Jordan fan club and Saturday I was lucky enough to meet Eddie Jordan and get my photo taken with him which was fantastic.

The race was very eventful, the 2003 GrandPrix was the race that saw the Irish priest run out on track in front of Mark Webber Jaguar. Rubens Barrichello won the race for Ferrari. Following the race we headed back over to the Jordan Village, where once again I managed to meet Eddie again and this time I got his autograph, not only that but I also won a piece of a Jordan F1 car. A used bardge board from the 2001 car. It even has a burn mark on the bottom of it.

On the plane on the way home that night I was talking to people who had been at the race and they couldn't believe that I had met EJ and won the bardge board. That race was certainly a fantastic experience.

My second race was another trip to Silverstone in 2009, when I supported Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari. I went to the race with a friend of mine and when I was there I met a load of other F1 fans. I booked the  ticket's the day they went on sale in July 2008. I was extremely lucky. I managed to get Grandstand tickets for the main straight. It was incredible as opposite us on the grid was Kimi and his team mate Felipe Massa we also had a perfect view of the Ferrari garage.

Sadly I deleted a load of fantastic photo's that I had taken by mistake. D'oh!!! (as Homer Simpson would say).

In September 2010, we went to the Italian GrandPrix in Monza. For this trip with did things very differently. We got a coach from London to France and drove from there up through the Swiss Alps and the Goddard Pass and down into Italy arriving there on the Wednesday before the race. We had weekend Grandstand tickets and on the Thursday we were allowed to walk the pitlane which was an INCREDIBLE experience.

I managed to met a number of driver's, I met Timo Glock, Lucas Di Grassi, Heikki Kovalainen, Jarno Trulli and Bruno Senna. Fernando Alonso won the race for Ferrari which was incredible as we were surrounded by the tifosi.

I haven't been to any other races since then however I am planning on going to the American GrandPrix next season in Austin. I am waiting to see how the first race goes in November.

I would strongly recommend for anyone who has not been to a GrandPrix you should go as it is an incredible experience.