Ted and Peter Hit the Singapore Grand Prix

[Guest Blogger: Ted Bach Saturday, September 22nd]

For the past few weeks, we've seen the scene below from outside our office building---preparations for the Singapore Grand Prix.  My buddy from work, Peter Moller Neergaard, had the good foresight to get us tickets.   Finally the big day came!

Like every afternoon in Singapore, it was hot and humid for the second day of the Grand Prix.  We headed out for a day of playing in the streets with the fastest, loudest machines you've ever seen. Good thing they were selling 'survival kits' with earplugs. Cuz, man, it was loud.

With our walkabout tickets we were free to roam the grounds enclosed by 5k loop.  Since we couldn't get into the grandstands we could only get a keyhole view of the races relative to the size of the track, so at any given moment I really only had a hazy understanding of what the drivers were doing, but getting the on-the-ground feel for a big race like this was amazing.  As Peter pointed out, seeing all of the infrastructure that went into hosting such an event was humbling...but, hey, that's what one should expect for a midtown race featuring cars that each represent hundreds of millions of dollars. From seeing the GP2 races where drivers were actively passing on the corners to the Formula 1 qualifiers taking high-speed turns, to Porsche and Ferrari cars going onto three wheels at the curves, it was all pretty sweet. 

Below are the pics with commentary above.

A big marionette...wait and see what it does later at night.

Good old (new) Marina bay.

And, hey, what's that on the other side?  GP2 race number 1.

Coming from downtown across the causeway.  

 Here's a spot in the track where two 90 degree curves meet.  Can you spot the GP2 car on the other side of the fence being craned out of its post-wreck resting spot?

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And here come the engines. Turned out that this was the only race with significant passing.  It was not a qualifier, but a real race.  All drivers in the GP2 series race the same car, so it's all about the driving.  Kind of a minor-leagues for drivers.

Peter taking it in. 

There were lots of side-shows between races.  Including this one below.  I had heard that longhairs used to get a free haircut at the SG airport back in the day, but I guess it's true no-more.

The sands over Merlion park.

On the Causeway.  Peter in the foreground and the Esplanade (Big Durian spikey building in the background.)

During a break between races, Peter and I met up with David Green and Brian Vaske at "The Lantern" a swank rooftop bar overlooking the bay from the top of the posh Fullerton Bay Hotel.  Fitting that we all hung out that Grand Prix evening---we have all worked in the pit together in various capacities making what some might call 'high performance racecars' of the IT software world.

Another pic from the lantern rooftop.

and back to "vroooom"!

Can you spot the busted aerofoil? Can finish the race, but can't corner fast...

Its the Pretenders! Man, they rocked.  Too bad their riverfront venue was so small that the only way to see them was by holding my camera up and taking pics.

Avatar, anyone?

You know it's Singapore when the city is organized and thoughtful enough to have a pedestrian traffic sign.  Yup. Pedestrian traffic.

Formula 1 qualifiers.

Speed limit 50km!

It was really cool to see the qualifiers from the track corner, but to actually understand what was happening, you had to go to a TV screen.  We did that for the third qualifying round.

Now, here's that big marionette...or it it a puppet master!

People, it's a puppet master for people! Trippy concept.  Stunning implementation.

And here's some of that back-scenes infrastructure stuff.  This car was turned on, driver with hands on the wheel.  Ready to put out any fires.

At the curves, I wasn't the only one photographing.   

Liked this shot because you can really tell it is Singapore.  The wolly trees are a giveaway.

Ferrari challenge cars.  These are the ones that went up on three wheels.  Without an aerofoil to keep you down, taking curves requires a far more delicate balance.

A distant mirage of the band Maroon 5.  Gee whiz, everyone and their uncle turned up to hear Moves Like Jagger.

Made an early escape before the band finished. On the way to the Metro we were greeted by two rows of happy Singaporean youths saying "goodby, goodby".  And they all seemed so genuine.  It would be pretty darn hard to replicate that in the west.