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Empty seats won't take away from excitement of canadian grand prix by ferujkll sdff
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Empty seats won't take away from excitement of canadian grand prix |
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MONTREAL - The crews went about their jobs on Circuit GillesVilleneuve's pit lane and in the paddock Thursday in relativeprivacy, watched only by reporters and security guards. This was the Open Doors Day that wasn't, the island closed to anenthusiastic public that for a few hours each year swarms thegarage area to watch engineers - please, they're not mechanics -preparing two dozen cars with a precision that would shame asurgeon. The 43rd Canadian Grand Prix roars to throaty life Friday morningwith 8:10 a.m. ET qualifying for the spindly legged Formula 1600s,cars that sound like a mosquito flying into a chainsaw.
Actioncontinues a half-hour later with practice in the Ferrari Challenge,the F1 main event rolling out at 10 a.m. for 90 minutes. It will be an extraordinary weekend, this 33rd Grand Prix on thehistoric Villeneuve circuit, the first in as long as anyone canremember playing with empty seats in the grandstands erected aroundthe 4.361-kilometre layout. In as many words, race president Francois Dumontier said Wednesdaythat protesting students can bang a pot to celebrate their role inkeeping spectators away, even if demonstrators aren't making theirracket on site.
Dumontier suggested that the students' months-ago, globallypublicized violent downtown rumbles with riot police drove a stakeinto the heart of ticket sales. For the first time in more than a decade, fewer than 300,000visitors are expected to attend the three-day festival of speed,Montreal's unofficial kickoff to summer. But those fans who do make the trip to Ile Notre Dame are in for atreat, this Formula One season so wildly unpredictable that youcould use F1 and NASCAR in the same sentence and maybe not bespanked for it by open-wheel racing's purists. So far this season, six different drivers have won the six races;that's NASCAR, for pete's sake, when almost anyone on the grid whostill has four Goodyears bolted on his car on the final lap has achance to be first to the checkered flag.
Would Dumontier be happy to see a seventh different winner sprayingchampagne come Sunday afternoon? "Of course!" replied the energetic head of Octane Racing Group, theoutfit that organizes both this race and August's NASCAR NationwideSeries NAPA 200. "It's been an exciting beginning of the season and I'm excitedabout Montreal. I don't want to speak badly about other grand prix,but Montreal is often the most exciting race of the season." Indeed, the Canadian Grand Prix has historically proven to be ahinge on the F1 calendar, a team's fortunes and momentum oftenchanging for good or bad. This weekend, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso hopes to have his mirrorsfull and the view through his helmet visor uncluttered by anything.
"Hopefully this weekend we will see a competitive Ferrari and thatwill be very important for us, not just for this race but also forthe rest of the season," said Alonso, the season's worldchampionship points leader, in a team release. "It's hard to say inadvance, as this season has been so unpredictable with ups anddowns for everyone over the course of six races. However, I don'tsee any reason why Ferrari should not be competitive in Canada,fighting for the top places come the end of the race." They'll run 70 laps or thereabouts on Sunday in a race that can beso hairy, at least one British bookmaker is laying odds on thenumber of times the safety car will be deployed. The Villeneuve circuit has its fans and its detractors among thedrivers, the riverside track forever windblown with dust thatreduces grip and can make cars more squirrelly than an episode ofRocky & Bullwinkle. But it's the same for everyone, the piranhas and the planktonalike.
Dust wasn't as much a problem last year as the prospect ofdrowning, a deluge overwhelming the track and its infrastructure.If Gilligan's S.S. Minnow had been entered in this four-hourcruise, it would have had a shot at victory. Dumontier wouldn't say the Force India-friendly monsoon was thebiggest challenge organizers faced, the race red-flagged for twohours, but it was the centrepiece of it. "It was something unexpected," he said of the rain that came downmore in quilts than sheets.
"When we started the race, the radarsaid we'd have light rain. Then we were hit with what we had.First, there was so much water on the track, the drainage systemcouldn't handle it all. The challenge was to get rid of the waterso we could restart the race. "And it wasn't clear whether the FIA would even restart the race.Many fans thought we were finished, so they went home and saw thefinish on TV." There is nothing that escapes the planning and anticipation ofDumontier, a seasoned promoter, and his outstanding support team.
"But I always say that as the organizer of an outdoor event, theonly thing we can't predict is the weather," he said. "I cancontrol everything but an act of God." In fact, it might have been pine intervention that carriedMcLaren's Jenson Button to victory last year, roaring past RedBull's Sebastian Vettel on the final lap. Button and his colleagues will find just cosmetic changes to theVilleneuve circuit this weekend, a guardrail in the hairpin havingbeen replaced by a concrete wall. "The layout's the same," Dumontier said. "The FIA asked for justsmall things, as usual, but there was no big work." FIA race director and safety delegate Charlie Whiting arrived inMontreal on Wednesday, again this year seeing no need for apre-race inspection of the venue.
That speaks volumes about thepreparation of local organizers. Dumontier is hardly stressed by a recent report that F1 supremoBernie Ecclestone was said to be seeking $15 million inimprovements to the aging island venue before he'll considerextending the sport's Montreal stay beyond its contracted 2014. "We're looking at a 10-year contract, to take us to 2024,"Dumontier said. "Back in February, Bernie took the path thatinstead of coming here and asking for a big chunk of money for the(sanction) fee, let's spend some money on the track, garages andinfrastructure and we'll sign an extension. "Bernie's not being confrontational.
It's a discussion that makessense. The money will stay here - we'd be paying local guys to dothe work and the site can be used for other purposes, too. "My offices are here," added Dumontier, headquartered above thestart/finish line. "The garages were built in 1988 and I can tellyou, seeing them every day, that they need improvement.
They'vemissed some love over the years." The boardroom talks are ongoing, 2014 or 2024 not on anyone's radarfor the next few days. The only growling you'll hear this weekend will be from the powerplants that engineers wrenched to life on Thursday, having donetheir work in unfortunate peace and quiet. Montreal Gazette Twitter.com/Dave_Stubbs. I am a professional writer from Special Purpose Bags & Cases, which contains a great deal of information about truck tarp systems , nine million bicycle, welcome to visit!
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