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Post by René on Jul 31, 2023 18:54:15 GMT
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Post by René on Jul 31, 2023 19:07:52 GMT
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Post by mikael on Jul 31, 2023 19:28:50 GMT
Great photos, René - thank you for sharing :-) Wonderful that the weather behaved Sunday!
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Post by Carl on Jul 31, 2023 22:42:18 GMT
Awesome pictorial, René! Your photographs beautifully convey the sights and and sounds (and aromas) of being at the track. I want the tiny blue French convertible carrying Pierre Gasly in the drivers parade.
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Post by mikael on Aug 1, 2023 6:44:41 GMT
Yes, a really nice rear-engine car, the Alpine A 110 (or, is the cabriolet an A 108?). Personally, I would prefer the A 110 coupe version, of rally-fame. The new (2017-) version is also very nice indeed - but quite a bit too expensive, I think ... But it seems that they keep their value well, in the used car market.
Alpine A 108 Cabriolet
Alpine A 110 Coupe
Alpine A 110, 2017 - version
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Post by robmarsh on Aug 1, 2023 7:23:54 GMT
Lovely pictures Rene, thank you for showing us.
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Post by René on Aug 1, 2023 16:56:26 GMT
Thanks guys, glad you like'm and my pleasure to share.  And yes, the little classic Alpine is a very charming car. Always had a weak spot for Renault and Alpine in the seventies. At Spa every morning we walked past a hotel that was clearly used by the Alpine F1 team. Shuttle buses with Alpine colors were parked outside and there were also a number of modern Alpine A110s and also a classic A110 and an A310 parked. Very cool. |
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Post by robmarsh on Aug 2, 2023 7:43:45 GMT
Shuttle buses with Alpine colors were parked outside. I think these were more like used for removing and installing the senior management at the team.
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Post by René on Aug 2, 2023 14:43:22 GMT
Shuttle buses with Alpine colors were parked outside. I think these were more like used for removing and installing the senior management at the team. Ha ha, spot on Rob.  What's going on there? Throwing racing people out and putting corporate people back in place can't be the right way. And how much is Renault still behind this project? Maybe a good time for Andretti to jump in. Buy the Enstone team, get the racing people back and you don't have to start from scratch and pay silly amounts of entry and compensation money. It will still be a few hundred million but that should be doable. And the other teams won't be against it because it will still be 10 teams. Just a thought... |
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Post by robmarsh on Aug 2, 2023 15:18:59 GMT
Good thought Rene. I can't think of anybody less suited to an F1 team than a corporate person. They are bad enough in a corporate environment.
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Post by René on Aug 2, 2023 17:59:28 GMT
Good thought Rene. I can't think of anybody less suited to an F1 team than a corporate person. They are bad enough in a corporate environment. Indeed. I sometimes run into them and they are often people who think they know everything, but rarely really understand anything. Disastrous for a sports/racing team of course. |
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Post by Carl on Aug 3, 2023 2:34:14 GMT
Thanks guys, glad you like'm and my pleasure to share. And yes, the little classic Alpine is a very charming car. Always had a weak spot for Renault and Alpine in the seventies. At Spa every morning we walked past a hotel that was clearly used by the Alpine F1 team. Shuttle buses with Alpine colors were parked outside and there were also a number of modern Alpine A110s and also a classic A110 and an A310 parked. Very cool. Where did Ferrari stay? Could you and Raymond have stayed in the same hotel?
When I would spend a Can-Am weekend at Riverside, everyone (except mechanics) stayed at the Holiday Inn in downtown Riverside. You'd be on the elevator with team owners and sit across the aisle at breakfast from top drivers. There was an unspoken rule that they were not to be bothered, but some fascinating conversation was overheard.
Race fans seldom interact or comingle with drivers today outside of prearranged public appearances mandated in driver contracts. Motorsport used to have a more relaxed atmosphere than Hollywood, where nobody objected when Errol Flynn would arrange rendevouzs with overwhelmed adolescent girls at film premieres.
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Post by Carl on Aug 3, 2023 2:36:23 GMT
Good thought Rene. I can't think of anybody less suited to an F1 team than a corporate person. They are bad enough in a corporate environment. Indeed. I sometimes run into them and they are often people who think they know everything, but rarely really understand anything. Disastrous for a sports/racing team of course. The corporate mentality is toxic to everything good. |
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Post by René on Aug 3, 2023 12:02:19 GMT
Thanks guys, glad you like'm and my pleasure to share. And yes, the little classic Alpine is a very charming car. Always had a weak spot for Renault and Alpine in the seventies. At Spa every morning we walked past a hotel that was clearly used by the Alpine F1 team. Shuttle buses with Alpine colors were parked outside and there were also a number of modern Alpine A110s and also a classic A110 and an A310 parked. Very cool. Where did Ferrari stay? Could you and Raymond have stayed in the same hotel?
When I would spend a Can-Am weekend at Riverside, everyone (except mechanics) stayed at the Holiday Inn in downtown Riverside. You'd be on the elevator with team owners and sit across the aisle at breakfast from top drivers. There was an unspoken rule that they were not to be bothered, but some fascinating conversation was overheard.
Race fans seldom interact or comingle with drivers today outside of prearranged public appearances mandated in driver contracts. Motorsport used to have a more relaxed atmosphere than Hollywood, where nobody objected when Errol Flynn would arrange rendevouzs with overwhelmed adolescent girls at film premieres. Carl, I have no idea where Ferrari stayed. I am sure the pasta was good!  The sport has changed so much over the years. Some things for the better but much has also been lost. Your memory about the Holiday Inn sounds wonderful and I feel very fortunate myself that I have experienced Formula 1 at a time when everything was still accessible for fans. Only just though because the professionalism and the apparently associated distance from the fans grew rapidly, already during the 1980s. For the 1980 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, my parents gave me a wonderful present when they bought Paddock tickets for the weekend. They gave access to the main grandstand and the paddock area. My parents stayed in the grandstand and I could walk back and forth between grandstand and paddock. And that was heaven for me, a 15 year old lad completely fascinated by this sport. My heros were all around me and I could collect autographs and touch the cars. I remember how Keke Rosberg suddenly stept out of a camper and looked at me and said 'hi'. From my scrapbook, Zolder 1980.   Jody interviewed by journalists from Grand Prix International, a very popular F1 magazine at the time.  Up close and personal with Tyrrell mechanics.  Bruno 'Jack'O'Mally' preparing his helmet. |
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Post by Carl on Aug 3, 2023 18:27:50 GMT
Where did Ferrari stay? Could you and Raymond have stayed in the same hotel?
When I would spend a Can-Am weekend at Riverside, everyone (except mechanics) stayed at the Holiday Inn in downtown Riverside. You'd be on the elevator with team owners and sit across the aisle at breakfast from top drivers. There was an unspoken rule that they were not to be bothered, but some fascinating conversation was overheard.
Race fans seldom interact or comingle with drivers today outside of prearranged public appearances mandated in driver contracts. Motorsport used to have a more relaxed atmosphere than Hollywood, where nobody objected when Errol Flynn would arrange rendevouzs with overwhelmed adolescent girls at film premieres. Carl, I have no idea where Ferrari stayed. I am sure the pasta was good! The sport has changed so much over the years. Some things for the better but much has also been lost. Your memory about the Holiday Inn sounds wonderful and I feel very fortunate myself that I have experienced Formula 1 at a time when everything was still accessible for fans. Only just though because the professionalism and the apparently associated distance from the fans grew rapidly, already during the 1980s. For the 1980 Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, my parents gave me a wonderful present when they bought Paddock tickets for the weekend. They gave access to the main grandstand and the paddock area. My parents stayed in the grandstand and I could walk back and forth between grandstand and paddock. And that was heaven for me, a 15 year old lad completely fascinated by this sport. My heros were all around me and I could collect autographs and touch the cars. I remember how Keke Rosberg suddenly stept out of a camper and looked at me and said 'hi'. From my scrapbook, Zolder 1980. René, I didn't mean to imply that your enthusiasm for pasta or Ferrari was overdone. I know that seeing the cars and drivers at 9/10ths ( dalla vista e dal suono ) is 9/10ths of your focus.
The level of access you enjoyed at Zolder was, as you say, heaven for a young race fan and a wonderful gift from your parents! My love of racing was never understood at home. My father valued soft boulevard ride and big engines (the Pontiac Bonneville and 389 cubic inch V-8) so we spoke different languages.
There is a mysterious inclusion on the paddock pass, "Toto" repeated across the entire width. I wonder if there was a fortune teller on the staff at Zolder warning of arrogance to come...
Cheers, Carl
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