indy!

Went to the Nikon Indy 300 yesterday. I got a bit sunburnt and I think I probably managed to lose some of my hearing too.

I've always been a motorsport fan, especially when it comes to open-wheel racing. However, I've only actually been to the Indy once before yesterday - it is so much easier to follow what is going on when watching the race on TV.

So we rocked up pretty early, paid our $105 each for general admission and pretty much just walked around and explored for the morning. There were stalls set up all over the joint (though it was mostly food and merchandise). Oh and lots of girls and cars. The crowd was just settling in, picking out their spots for the day, some hitting the booze early. I glared in jealousy at the people perched on the balconies of nearby buildings. Either that, or staring into the sun made me squint which looked like a glare.

Anyway race 2 of the V8 Supercars had started, so we stopped to watch them for a bit before moving on to explore the track further whilst still keeping track of what was happening (pun intended) in the race. There was a smattering of other stuff to keep us entertained after that in the lead up to the big race, ranging from Black Hawk helicopters, the Screaming Jets performing and an F1-11 dump and burn (which I must say looks better at night, but still scares the pants off you if you don't expect it).

Soon enough it was time for the big race and we parked ourselves on the fence at the entry to one of the chicanes. There were green and gold shirts, hats and flags aplenty in the crowd, with Team Australia's Queenslander driver Will Power starting from pole position. He was looking very comfortable up front early in the race until he made a costly error, taking him out of the race. However, it wasn't all bad news for us, with Sydney lad Ryan Briscoe leading to the finish to be the first Aussie to win the race.

It was very loud, especially in parts of the track where the cars could really gun it. In some areas of the track I found it almost unbearable and needed to plug my ears with my fingers. By the middle of the third V8 Supercars race we were over it (we were out on Saturday night as well so hardly had any sleep) and decided to head off, beating the rush.

Had a great day (despite the sunnies tan I'm stuck with), though I must admit though it didn't quite beat the last time I went, where I had a reserved seat in the undercover stands (a $400+ pass that I got for free!), conveniently located where most of the crashes occurred that year. The race had everthing that year, including a short burst of hail. I think I set the standard too high...

Anyway the future of the race is apparently in doubt... I sure hope it stays, I know I'll be there next year. Between now and then, I'm hoping to pop down to Melbourne for the Formula 1 in 2009. Currently torn between that and going for the Australian Open tennis again... but leaning towards the vroom vroom.