Post by René on Oct 6, 2019 11:23:20 GMT
I am glad I still had a little taste of how Grand Prix racing used to be in the old days. When I visited Zolder and Zandvoort in the late 70s and early 80s, accessability and pricing were uncompareable to modern times. As a young boy I could safe enough money over a year to even buy a paddock ticket. And in the paddock I could access almost everything and watch the mechanics work on the cars upclose and collect autographs from my heros.
At Zolder I can clearly remember the large scaffolding construction near the Jacky Ickx chicane which was there every year. It was build/owned by the Ferrari Club Genk and it had banners with the Club's name and huge Ferrari flags made out of at least twenty normal sized flags stitched together as one. It was all about passion and added so much to the overall atmosphere.
The area surrounding Zolder and the nearby city of Genk was known for the coal mines and the first foreign workers in the 1960s were mainly Italian. So there is still a large Italian community in this area with several sports fan clubs like Inter Milan and Juventus clubs but also the Ferrari club which is a real fan club so not so much a Ferrari owners club. It was also this club that initiated the creation of the Gilles Villeneuve memorial statue at Zolder. Not really beautiful but made with passion.
At Zolder I can clearly remember the large scaffolding construction near the Jacky Ickx chicane which was there every year. It was build/owned by the Ferrari Club Genk and it had banners with the Club's name and huge Ferrari flags made out of at least twenty normal sized flags stitched together as one. It was all about passion and added so much to the overall atmosphere.
The area surrounding Zolder and the nearby city of Genk was known for the coal mines and the first foreign workers in the 1960s were mainly Italian. So there is still a large Italian community in this area with several sports fan clubs like Inter Milan and Juventus clubs but also the Ferrari club which is a real fan club so not so much a Ferrari owners club. It was also this club that initiated the creation of the Gilles Villeneuve memorial statue at Zolder. Not really beautiful but made with passion.