Monza Photoreport. Dialup, forget it.

Manic Moran

Going on from last year's Hungaroring photoreport, found here.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055132712

Sadly, I did not have the same level of access as last time, but still got a few good pics out of it. All photos fit on my screen at my resolution. If it's too big for you, tough!



This is not a course for the faint of heart to go visit. As the third race I've been to, I have to say I found it behind both Indianapolis and Budapest in terms of 'visitor enjoyment.' Perhaps it was the effect of the rain, but it just didn't strike me as being as suited for the average punter.

The first problem is in getting there. I cannot overstress this enough: If this is your first visit to Monza, perform an advance recce the day before. Even having done so, I still ended up missing first Friday practice, sitting in traffic in the pelting rain. Something I didn't realise is that Monza is basically in the middle of an old Italian town. Old Italian towns are not well-designed for the level of vehicular traffic which results. If you're going to drive, be prepared for traffic, and difficulty parking, until you can find your way around. Watch out for atrocious signage which is inaccurate, incomplete, and not in English. The maps and info on the tickets aren't in English either. Perhaps a better option is to stay in Milan city, and take the train to Lesmo, but I couldn't figure out the schedule. The lines at the train station were horrendous as well. I ended up finding a way of looping around Monza and coming at it from behind, parking near Lesmo. Not too much of a problem, as our seats were at Ascari.

First, the entrance at Lesmo.


This is the main entrance to the North (Lesmo) end of the track. The train station is about 100 yards away. You'll note it doesn't look up to much.

When you go through the gateway, and go about 50 yards, you end up standing where this photo was taken.


Note that the pathway is not paved. There were places where you had no choice but to get muddy. Not good if you wore sandals. The mud was a particular problem in the area of the main grandstand, most of the merchandising and constructors' stands were in what was basically a field. Ordinarily fine in Italy in the summer, but the weather was miserable, and so was the field. I should have photographed it. As you can see, the track (Which goes under the entrance to Lesmo 2) is basically under 100 yards from the entrance. Unfortunately, it's a fair walk to the areas by the main straight.

Still, it's scenic enough. Probably quite nice on a sunny day.


This is the infield, the main walkway from Lesmo to the centre of the track. You can hear the cars screaming by a hundred yards away as they loop around you, but you can't see them for all the trees and shrubs.

The old banked oval.


As you can see, there's quite a lot of banking for not a very steep turn, they must have gone around at a heck of a pace.

And yes, the banking is as steep as it appears in this picture.

Manic Moran

Moving on to the track itself, I got the opportunity to take a few shots of the surface.

This is the outside of Lesmo 2. Note the 'ribbed' curb before the astroturf and then the gravel trap. Such ribbing was present on many of the turns, on both the insides and outsides, but I couldn't see a pattern to when it would be there, and when it wouldn't.


Looking down to Ascari under the old track. It's not all that wide, you'll note.


This is the Ascari right-hander.

Note the variety of surfaces. Plain concrete red/white, turning into a 'guttered' red/white. Then spaced brick. Then more concrete, then basically a bit of grass. Finally the gravel trap.

At least the main straight is simple enough.


Which brings us onto pit lane, and a Honda.

Interesting to note how the teams have taken different ideas as to how those front wheel covers are supposed to work.

Both Williams and Ferrari were doing dry runs. A couple of mechanics would push the car into the bay.


Nessie, of course, supervised from the pit wall.


The back end of a Toyota. Not much to it, really.


Now, this is last year's Ferrari, from the Hungaroring report.


For comparison, here are this years'...

STR


BMW


Toyota


Red Bull


McLaren

Manic Moran

Trying the same thing for steering wheels.


RBR (Wrong map, I know)


Ferrari


Toyota


And for the sake of it... the far simpler GP2 steering wheel.


From this car.


Anyway, enough of this. Onto the racing.
Set up all the hi-tech safety things.


Friday afternoon practice. Fairly dry.


I honestly don't know why people pay so much money for grandstand seats on the start line. They whizz past you so fast, you can't see much of them. You're far better off at the first corner.

Saturday morning practise was dry enough, but as you can see, not entirely so. Still, the cars go by fast enough to blur. Sat and Sun we were confined to our ticketed grandstand, in this case, at the entrance to Ascari.




And just to show I know how to pan...


Got a little more damp as practice progressed.


Immediately afterwards, one of the support races.

Fairly hurtling those cars around for the water. I was a little disappointed there was no historic car race as there was in Hungary.

Manic Moran

They had a couple of these going around. Big industrial-strength hairdryers to blow the worst of the standing water off the track.


Qualifying started out a little damp.


Then got worse.


You can definitely see the standing water, and the lines of water thrown up by the tyres.


Next morning, more support races. The GP2 people seemed more willing to get close.


Of course, some tried too hard. Whilst the winners celebrate on TV, a less-fortunate vehicle gets a lift.


The Porsches went out next. As you can see, it's actually fairly dry.


One of the two Irish cars.


Not sure what to make of Fiat Panda races though. Lap times are a bit slow.


The drivers not entirely enjoying their tour around. It starts raining again at this point.


They get pulled over for speeding.


When the race started, under the safety car, compare the road surface with the pictures above.


Still, it started to dry out.


When the race ended, go return the Kangaroos, and do some final merchandising. This is not the muddy field I referred to earlier, this is just a small bricked plot in the infield with a few stands.

Manic Moran

Track invasions permitted.


Some disappointed Alonso types, I'd wager.


Everyone wave a flag! Sadly, I forgot to pack my California flag, but I did have a small tricolour sticking out my bag.


The police ready for battle. Maybe if the Tifosi got annoyed by a McLaren win or something.


The remnants of a race completed, by Lesmo.


And finally, the traffic jam trying to get out. Parking wasn't helped by the fact that some of the fields we were supposed to park in became unusable due to rain.


And that's it. Another fine photoreport brought to you by... Me!


Sadly, I do not anticipate one for next year. I've got an Afghanistan trip coming up which will pretty much encompass the entire season.

NTM

Edwardius

Fantastic pictures man. Jealous!

aidan_dunne

Fan-fecking-tastic pics! Imagine if it had been a Ferrari win, though? The pics would have been absolutely manic (pardon the pun!), I bet!

Monza is one of those tracks on my wish-list to visit someday before I shuffle off this mortal coil (along with Spa and Indy) but from your report, Manic, it doesn't look like one of the most spectator friendly circuits, as you said. Still, though, I'd gladly sacrifice all that just to stand in such a historic place. Those pics of the banking, in particular, would send a shiver down your spine when you think of the greats who tore around there in cars that were basically fuel tanks on wheels! :eek: Scary and fascinating at the same time. You can almost sense the ghosts wandering around the place, I bet!

EvilMonkey

Cool pics.

viking

Great post/pics!

Having been there myself for the Sat/Sun I'd agree with what you've said regarding it. May as well put forward my 2c worth

It was the first wet F1 race in Monza for 27 years and its no wonder that its not set up for the wet weather however, having said that, there is no excuse for them not adapting to the rain and doing something about the muddy fields (laying down outdoor event flooring for example). It was hilarious though on the Sunday to see the glammed up Italian women with their Gucci shoes etc stop and stare with mouths open when confronted with the mud that they had no choice but to walk through.

We missed all but the last 3 mins of Qualifying on Saturday but it was good to know how to get to the circuit and where to find our seats (Prima Variante - First Corner). There was a shuttle bus that brought us from the train station to the edge of the park, however the length of the queues were incredible and we decided to make our way back to the train station on foot and we ended up being quicker than if we had have waited. GPS tracking from my phone showed that the walk from our seats to the train station was 7.7km:

http://www.buddyway.com/trip/gpelly/Monza-to-Race-Circuit

To say we were wrecked afterwards would be an understatement!

On saturday evening after showering and getting some food we decided to head to the San Siro to buy tickets for the Inter Mila V. Catania game. Queued at the box office only to be told that tickets were only being sold to residents of Lombardi, no exceptions! Met so many disappointed people there who were over for the grand prix and had tried to get tickets for the game. Milan must have lost themselves a fortune with the amount of people they turned away. Having gotten soaked wet and been shattered from walking so much earlier in the day we were well p*ssed off by these events...

Having already made our way to the circuit on Saturday, we knew what to expect on Sunday and made sure to make an early start to get to the circuit. Got to see the Porsche Cup race before the F1 and we enjoyed that, apparently one of the Irish drivers is the son of the Toyota F1 Team Director (Creggan I think it was?). The rain eased off just as the race began, we were disappointed when we realised it would be starting behind the safety car due to the conditions. Knowing we had good seats at the first corner, we had been hoping for some first corner "incidents" but it wasn't to be. We had a good view of the first corner and there was a giant TV screen to watch too, I couldn't understand why anyone would need the KangarooTV thingies at our seats but a few people had them and seemed to be more distracted by fiddling with them rather than watching the GP.

After the GP, the queues for the shuttle bus back to the train station were strangely not as long as Saturday and the buses seemed more frequent.

Overall, it was a fantastic experience and I'm very happy to have finally attended my first, but not last, F1 race.

Pros about Monza/F1:
Had excellent seats at Prima Variante, giant TV screen also.
The engine noise of an F1 car, OMG! TV does not do it justice!! Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Easy enough to get to the circuit, special buses/trains are laid on and timetables are accurate

Cons:
Milan is a dump. It may well be the centre of fashion but it has sweet FA going for it.
The prices of things at the track were a joke. €5 for a bottle of 500ml water, €7 for a hotdog, €8 for a can of Heineken.
The mud. Really, it was baaaaad...!
Refused tickets at San Siro

Some pics:

More on my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gareth_p/sets/72157607311541781/