by kloerch » Wed Apr 28, 2004 5:17 am
I'll be there as well. Hard to pass up an F1 race 2 hours from my house.
That being said, I understand the concerns some people have with working the event. There is an incredible amount of downtime (and few support events), during which we're expected to be fully staffed and ready. Last year, we got there at 6:30 am for a 10 am start time (because of where they allowed us to park). Actually, I consider it sort of an "low intensity" weekend, and a nice rest break from a "normal" regional or national. And, once you get past the speed, noise and technology, the racing actually kinda sucks. 'Course, like I said, it's close, and we've been offered a place to stay each year, so it's cheap and easy for me.
I started watching F1 in the mid-80's, with the Prost/Senna/Mansell battles. Got hooked enough to pull me to Adelaide in '87 (I was AF, cost me $10 Space-A from Hawaii), worked the last turn (16?, right-hander just past pit-in) where the cars were literally running less than a foot away from me, albeit on the other side of the concrete wall, no fencing to get in the way. Good times! One of the Minardi broke late, parked it Driver's left across from start/finish, so our job was to form a human chain around it to keep spectators from grabbing souvenier mirrors and such. After the crowd cleared the front straight, we pushed it back to the Minardi pit stall, which happened to be directly underneath the victory stand, so we stood there while winner Gerhard Berger sprayed champagne on us.
But, I digress.
The speed/technology/noise/crowd still offsets the pain-in-the-ass factor for me. It just facinates me. I've worked it all 4 years, and, while it's not neccessarily my favorite event of the year, I do enjoy it.
So, assignment lists aren't out yet, so I don't know where I'll be, but I'll be there!
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Loerch</span><br>-------<br><span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>Leave no turn unstoned</span>