Race Day

It is very late to post this. But as I was a bit busy with many other things, I couldn't do it. From now on I will try to make sure that I update things as soon as possible.

RACE DAY - 28th September 2008

Yes! Today is race day !

It was hot, stuffy, humid. The roads were dusty and there were people everywhere. And there was a strong buzz of excitement in the air. I

was not really excited today as I have seen it for past 2 days and did not find it much different. In fact I asked my friend Mahesh to go ahead for the race day. But back of mind I had that thought of not to miss this unique opportunity of being part of history.

I arrived at the circuit just before 5 pm to join in the festivities. The cars today are so much more powerful and the sports more glamorous. I was alone there and have seen all the seats getting filled up much before the start of the race. This was not the case in the last two days. All the spectators were actually getting ready with the cameras to get every moment of the race and the food to survive for the next 2 hours. There were giant projector TVs through out the circuit and most of them were watching the proceedings of the race in it.

At around 6 all the cars came out and the drivers were getting ready for the race. I was lucky to see all the cars getting ready right on the track with the crew out there. Many VIPs got a chance to actually take some pictures with all the drivers. Common people like me were excited to see our heroes directly from far distance.

At 7 PM, just after the national anthem, the crowd cheered as they saw the cars racing off from the starting grid. I along with other spectators jumped in joy when Felipe Massa raced past first. The atmosphere was sensational !!! It was hard to follow the race as the cars speed past us in an instant and the roar of the engines drowned out the available "live" commentary coming from the big screens. But still when ever cars came round the corner and left the other corner everybody stood up and saw the cars racing past, and other time we were

just watching the race in the Gaint screen.

After about 15 laps, Nelson Piquet in the Renault crashed. The next and the most embarrassing moment for Ferrari would be todays disastrous error in the pit lane. As a result of this error on the pit lane Felipe Massa lost ground. The Brazilian was pitting on lap 15 and drove off with the fuel hose still attached to his car, leaving one of the pit crew sprawling to the ground and subsequently stretchered off in a neck brace. All the Ferrari fans including me felt very bad with this incident.

It was a miserable night for his team mate too. Kimi Raikkonen rammed his car into the barriers with just four laps to go, ending his race. Over all it was a very bad day for Ferrari. Towards the end of the race, the drivers were under a lot of pressure to end the race quickly as there is a cut off timing of two hours. The race must be completed by 10 pm, by hook or by crook.

Finally Fernando Alonso, who started in grid position 15 did an amazing turn around by winning the race with a mere 2.95 seconds over Nico
Rosberg who seemed to win the race at one point. Prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong presented the trophy to the worthy winner.

Well done, Alonso !