A sad weekend for Formula 1 fans at Indy. On the 6th running of the United States Grand Prix a history making event, or non event as it may be was put behind us.
Tire manufacture Michelin www.michelinsport.com reported that its tires were faulty for this race 48 hours before the main event. All of this while fans were pouring in from all over the world including Australia, Japan, Columbia, Europe. Over 150,000 people were in attendance at the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Practice and qualifying events went well with the exception of a couple of mishaps.
RACE DAY! The grid is lined up and out the pits they go. After 1 warm up lap half of the field pulled back into pit lane and parked the cars. Fans were puzzled, announcers were puzzled. Six out of 20 cars were still on the track. People all around were awe struck as they find out over the PA that the teams were not going to race on a perfect day.
Even though safety was the main concern, fans erupted with anger as their hard earned money just encountered a big flushing sound. "Racing is supposed to be dangerous" one fan screamed as he packed up his family and headed down the bleachers. Thousands of unhappy fans began to leave vowing never to return.
At this point the six remaining cars were racing. Fans still furious, started to get more uneasy. Bottled water, and beer cans began to fill the track. One almost hitting a Ferrari team drivers' car. Track security just went from yellow alert to full on red as fans started to show their displeasure.
Amidst all of the troubles, anger, and utter disappointment some fans made the best of it. Rules are rules and safety is paramount. This year F1 made a new rule stating that you have to run the tires you qualified with and you cannot change, even for manufacturer defect. I imagine that in order to keep a dwindling F1 following in the US the rules will have to be modified to prevent this from happening again.
Below are some photos from the event.
Schumacher's Ferrari team running Bridgestone tires decides to race and there are no tire safety concerns for teams running Bridgestone.
Tempers flare as a Ferrari fan from Italy throws a beer onto the track endangering drivers and track crew. Common sense and courtesy unfortunately don't calm people down when they are furious as this man attempted to do. A grandfather and his grandson look on at the disappointing display of unsportsmanlike conduct.
Unfortunately Pope Ferrari is unable to calm the people. Disembarking from the Pope Mobile, a Ferrari 355gt no less, angry fans were not repenting their sins. The Pope continued to offer his blessings on the crowd with no assassination attempts reported.
Amidst all the anger, disappointment, and sadness that such a fine racing event was now a major debacle that would go down in the history books, at least one fan supported his team and tried to make the best out of a bad situation.
My friend David,
Thanks,
Patrick
All photos copyright 2005 nikoncafe.com and Patrick G. Bramlett
Tire manufacture Michelin www.michelinsport.com reported that its tires were faulty for this race 48 hours before the main event. All of this while fans were pouring in from all over the world including Australia, Japan, Columbia, Europe. Over 150,000 people were in attendance at the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Practice and qualifying events went well with the exception of a couple of mishaps.
RACE DAY! The grid is lined up and out the pits they go. After 1 warm up lap half of the field pulled back into pit lane and parked the cars. Fans were puzzled, announcers were puzzled. Six out of 20 cars were still on the track. People all around were awe struck as they find out over the PA that the teams were not going to race on a perfect day.
Even though safety was the main concern, fans erupted with anger as their hard earned money just encountered a big flushing sound. "Racing is supposed to be dangerous" one fan screamed as he packed up his family and headed down the bleachers. Thousands of unhappy fans began to leave vowing never to return.
At this point the six remaining cars were racing. Fans still furious, started to get more uneasy. Bottled water, and beer cans began to fill the track. One almost hitting a Ferrari team drivers' car. Track security just went from yellow alert to full on red as fans started to show their displeasure.
Amidst all of the troubles, anger, and utter disappointment some fans made the best of it. Rules are rules and safety is paramount. This year F1 made a new rule stating that you have to run the tires you qualified with and you cannot change, even for manufacturer defect. I imagine that in order to keep a dwindling F1 following in the US the rules will have to be modified to prevent this from happening again.
Below are some photos from the event.
Schumacher's Ferrari team running Bridgestone tires decides to race and there are no tire safety concerns for teams running Bridgestone.
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Tempers flare as a Ferrari fan from Italy throws a beer onto the track endangering drivers and track crew. Common sense and courtesy unfortunately don't calm people down when they are furious as this man attempted to do. A grandfather and his grandson look on at the disappointing display of unsportsmanlike conduct.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Unfortunately Pope Ferrari is unable to calm the people. Disembarking from the Pope Mobile, a Ferrari 355gt no less, angry fans were not repenting their sins. The Pope continued to offer his blessings on the crowd with no assassination attempts reported.
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Amidst all the anger, disappointment, and sadness that such a fine racing event was now a major debacle that would go down in the history books, at least one fan supported his team and tried to make the best out of a bad situation.
My friend David,
Subscribe to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Thanks,
Patrick
All photos copyright 2005 nikoncafe.com and Patrick G. Bramlett