A Birthday Treat

For those readers with long memory's you might remember I turned 40 this last year.

I was given tickets to this years Grand Prix from my lovely and very clever wife. She always seems to know exactly what I want and this year she did me proud.

We didn't have a clue what to expect so I spent a few hours checking out a few fan forums and finding out some Do's and Dont's .

Do: leave at 4 o-clock in the morning and get there before the crack of dawn.

Don't: forget a chair, a cool box and a picnic for two.

Do: Set up camp on the grass banks as soon as light descends and a space the size of a cowpat is visible amongst the rows of folding chairs and cool box's.

Don't: wear a shiny pair of shoes and your best summer shirt.

Do:Bring a portable radio to listen to race commentary so you know who is actually leading who.

Don't: Get a general admission ticket if you want to see the race.

It was a shame that on the day we got our Do's and Dont's mixed up.



It was still an amazing day, if not also a massive learning curve. We learnt lots of things about Silverstone and I personally had a lot of myths about the place destroyed.

I expected a bit of glamour and ended up with a lot of clamour.

It was a tale of two tribes.

The Haves and the Have - nots.

The Haves, fly in, in wave upon wave of helicopters or are whisked in to private parking areas and surrounded by glamour and celebrity and usually pay nothing for the privilege.

The Have- nots, are the life blood of the sport, get up and queue at the crack of dawn , get corralled into pen like areas and treated like sheep, stumble around on rough gravel and crushed rocks, line up for in adequate toilets, get over charged for everything they buy and pay roughly a months salary for the privilege.

The Haves contribute very little, but the Have- nots create the atmosphere and provide the aura and the mystique that is Silverstone.

From what I am already telling you, you would be forgiven for thinking I hated it.

I can understand why you might think that but you would be wrong.

I cant stop myself thinking what I think, and I cant stop my self noticing what I notice, but I can see through all the wrongs and still get to the one big right.

Forget all the overpriced burger vans, the toilets, the gravel and the Haves and Have- nots because at 1 pm, a massive smile came across mine and 100,00 other faces when we heard the amazing roar of 20, highly tuned,perfectly balanced formula 1 cars fire into life and head for one spot on the tarmac in front of them.

All of them heading for it, only 1 of them ever going to make it.

The sound of the crowd and the cars brought the whole of this historic track to life and made us all feel good. Every single person in that magnificent arena was, for those few seconds connected.

It didn't last long, because a race lasts a long time, but it was still magical every time a car roared past and your stomach shook with the vibrations. Every time the wind blew the smell and the heat off the track toward you. Every time you heard that noise, that only the best cars in the world can make, you knew you were somewhere special.

This being a lorry blog I wanted to get pictures of the special wagons at the track but sadly, I couldn't get any where near them.

I found an amazingly popular truck though , one that should of been invited to Truckfest.And there were a few of these Volvo's about as well with a special trick on top of them.




This was the (alleged) chief pervert arriving.

My crap picture of Vettel going past and the other picture is Button. Same picture , different coloured blur !


This was the line for the toilets when we arrived.
Another tidy truck was this Renault simulator.
And this was as close as me and most of the other 100,00 fans got to the paddock and the pit lane.


A few legendary names but little else to see unless you were well connected or had deep pockets.
I did have a good time believe it or not and I will definitely make the trip again. I will be better prepared this time and maybe it will be still be at Silverstone.

I don't mind it going to Donnington next year because I believe that fans make a sport and most of the fans I saw today would follow these cars to the ends of the earth.