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BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2006
Manama, Bahrain
Situated on a small island in the Arabian Gulf, Bahrain is very much focused on water ... it's swimming in it; which is good because it rarely falls from the sky. Sadly, you'd never know there was any water nearby when checking-out the Grand Prix TV coverage. Watching the TV coverage of the race when living in Saigon, the words: "It's a sandpit! I would never live there!" did actually pass my lips. The sooner they move the GP track to the beachfront, the better.
Hooning Pilots
The Gulf Air A330 performs a nifty handbrake turn around the Bahrain International Circuit Sakhir Tower, followed soon after the bigger A340.
First Race
This year because the Commonwealth Games was being held in Melbourne. On a number of fronts, it works well. On the day of the Bahrain race it was a pleasant 26 degrees whilst Melbourne was a sweltering 36. Its also a logical progression from Europe with easy 8 hour weekly flights to Bahrain, Malaysia and Melbourne.
Why Wait Until You Get To The Track?
Imagine what the Vietnamese will be like when they trade their scooters for cars! Bahraini and Saudi drivers are like that. For some reason only 88 people of the population of 650,000 were killed last year. 35% of the population are expats from other countries. Putting them all on the same roads at once, with petrol less than 20 cents a gallon makes for some high speed action. Saudis flood the place over the 25km causeway every weekend. Next year they start building a new causeway linking Qatar.
Blue Vs Red
Renault Vs Ferrari. A battle of Gladiators that everyone can understand. It sure beats when the Williams team was on top in F1 ... it's not easy to wander in to your showroom and buy a Williams. Whereas every girl in Paris has a Renault, and every boy in Italy dreams about owning a Ferrari. The battle has brought F1 into the realm of the common man at last.
Ralf's Car
The newcomers to F1, Toyota, have had a rough start to the season with both their cars failing to perform to expected levels. While everyone else has a fairly relaxed start to each day, (there are no 0900 practice sessions in Bahrain), the poor Toyota guys were flat out all the time, to no avail.
David Coulthard
Now with the Red Bull Team, Scotsman DC's career has been languishing. A top driver, he has been unlucky to have shared the stage with so many greats including Schumacher and now Alonso. Not fair, since he'd be able to beat the pants off nearly everyone in a 'normal era'. But this is no normal era.
Gulf Air Girls
Preparing to storm the Starting Grid, Gulf Air's Flight Attendants carry the flags of the competing drivers. Rarely do car manufacturers have drivers from their own countries. Alonso, a Spaniard, is in a French Renault. A German, Schumacher, is in the Italian Ferrari. At the end of the race they play two national anthems, one for the driver, the second for the car.
Jenson Button
The hope of England, Jenson Button wheels his Honda onto the track after a frantic pitstop. His new team mate, Brazillian Rubens Barrichello has come over from number two at Ferrari to be Number One in the Honda team. Not if Jenson can help it.
Shirts Sell Well
As Ralf Schumacher's Toyota passes, two Bahraini spectators show off their new purchases: team shirts. The selling of merchandise is a large money-spinner for the F1 industry.
Lisa
On show, on your feet for for eight hours day, three days straight is very tiring. A minute's rest is very welcome.
Why Me?
The new Midland team's Tiago Monteiro sits patiently in the pit lane at the start of the Bahrain Grand Prix having failed to get the car on the starting grid. Metres away, on the other side of the pit wall, the other cars are making a clean getaway. He ended-up in 17th place.
High Speed House Calls
There is something macabre about a sport where the competitor, seen above being refuelled by his pit crew, is so closely-scrutinised by some of the best trauma specialists in the world, who sit, ready to pounce. On the left (out of shot), a TV sits on the wall so they can see any accidents as they happen before racing to the scene to perform miracles.
Hard To Hear
The Bahrainis have now staged their third Grand Prix and the idea of closely following the race action does not appeal to everyone. These performers were immune to the noise of 12,000 unseen screaming horses, (20 x 600 HP each minimum), shattering down the main straight only fifty metres away.
Pit Pusher
Approximately 800 Bahrainis work for the Bahrain International Circuit as Race Marshalls. Sent to Australia to be trained by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport, they are available when needed. Three days before the race weekend the Organisers staged a mock two hour race with simulated disasters. For the Marshalls the actual event saw only a handful of incidents, including having to return driver Jacques Villeneuve to the pits on the back of a motorcycle. The passenger had all the safety gear, the rider had no helmet or gloves. Try getting away with that in Australia.
Bernd's New Baby
The Safety Car, whose job is to race out corral the drivers during anxious moments, allowing Marshalls to attend to incidents and clean the track of debris. The car's driver of six years, a racer himself, Bernd Maylander must drive the new Mercedes CLK 63 AMG sports car as fast as he can to ensure that the faster F1 cars following behind him do not overheat, as their engines are air-cooled and their tyres don't get too cold. To help him, the CLK 63 is lightened and sports a 480 BHP engine. They give him a 60 minute practise session by himself on the Thursday before the race. Even so, compared to the F1s he looks slow. When the track is clear, he pulls over and the cars must hold their positions until crossing the Start / Finish line and resuming racing.
Addicted To The Telly
The FIA's Peter Tibbets, co-driver in the Safety Car, seems to agree with Collie James. Once the first pit stop is taken, the best place to watch the action is on TV. Even though the Safety Car crew has their own TV (and two cameras) the Bahrainis gave them a lounge-room sized set to watch for action. They are only looking for entertainment value, their instructions come from the Race Director through their headsets. Once called to action, Tibbets controls the car's roof lights, Green allowing cars to pass. When the Leader arrives in their rear view mirror Orange is selected and all cars must stay behind.
Seven Laps To Go
The action on the track is boiling. Seven laps to go and a fantastic blue and red battle is being fought only metres away. But you'd never know it. Behind the grandstand the lounge areas are full of racegoers who have paid their money but would prefer to sit and talk. There are no visible Big Screens, they have no idea what is going on. It'd be like going to The Melbourne Cup and never leaving the car park ... um, er. Right. Well, now I understand.
Gulf Air Glamour
Flags furled, VIPS happily watching the race, it's time to see what all the noise is about. The purpose-built Pit Building houses the VIP Paddock Club upstairs. Then venue was used for Bahrain's Biggest New Year Party and for corporate functions on non-race days.
At The Chequered Flag
Pit Lane remains clear while the unseen Renault of the youngest ever World Champion, Fernando Alonso flashes over the line 1.2 seconds in front of Michael Schumacher's Ferrari taking the first race of the season. The serenity of the moment is at stark contrast to their cars' shattering speed ... if only you could hear the noise that goes with this image!
Congratulations
Good work, here (shakes hands), Good on yer, (thinks: quick, before the noisy buggers come back in ... get this hat off, Jeez, it's hot). Cheers, mate. Yeah, Good one, (back slap), Orright?, Yeah, Cool. Ok, sure. Next week! Right. Good. Start packing-up in one hour, fly out to Malaysia tomorrow, set up. Race again next weekend.
The Bahrain World Trade Centre
The new twin Bahrain World Trade Centre buildings have stopped soaring at last after recently reaching the height of 240 metres, (50 storeys). Shaped like wings to modify the daily sea breeze and funnel it between the towers, the three huge wind turbines will generate 10 to 20 percent of the building's electricity needs.
The Grand Mosque
The dome is the largest fibreglass Mosque dome in the region and is designed so that acoustically, the Imam can speak with a normal voice and be heard by the 7,000 parishioners. The design also has a cooling affect and soft breezes blow through the Mosque, even when the summer air is still. Mosques are not like Churches in the Christian sense, in so far as the area for praying only occupies a percentage of the site. There are open, cool shaded areas for chatting and catching-up. There are school rooms, child minding areas, areas to eat. Visitors are always welcome to take a tour of the Grand Mosque in Bahrain ... worth a look.
Making Land
Bahrain has very happy Real Estate Agents. One drives a yellow Hummer. You see, the Gulf at the northern coast of Bahrain is very shallow, so if you have a few trucks, and some mates, you can build a whole new suburb ... in the sea. So that's what they do. This web page is being written in a room in a building which wasn't here 18 months ago. Three years ago I would've needed a boat to get here. And they are still at it ... .
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SCROLL DOWN to see the Travel Pics which were taken on a tiny, 5 mega pixel Canon digital camera and are NOT representative of the professional quality offered on the 'PHOTOGRAPHY' page. Email if you wish to obtain high resolution copies of images.
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Bahrain, Just Add Water Trying to show the city as the Grand Prix coverage would have you believe, Bahrain, sans water. But as you may be able to deduce, the place is surrounded by it. Don't let them fool you.
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