For as long as I can remember, watching the television as a child stirred the imagination especially when large scale events were showing. Whether it was wrestling, boxing, basketball, or racing, my mind would take me those places and wonder how it would be like participating in an event like that. The inner child had a chance to experience not only a large scale event but one that where the world was watching.
In 2015, a group of racing friends and I planned a trip to Japan to attend the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. It was a very important year for the Land of the Rising Sun as car manufacturer, Honda, made its return to the F1 stage to challenge the world's fastest drivers and other manufacturers in the Suzuka Circuit in the city of Suzuka. Interesting enough, the Suzuka Circuit just happened to be Honda’s home track for testing their cars and motorcycles.
As we stepped off the bus and onto racing grounds, I can't help but notice a couple of interesting cars in the parking lot. Here are just a few I saw on my way towards the entrance.
Aside from the numerous shops selling merchandise of the different teams represented that day, I can't help but notice thousands upon thousands of people passing through the ticketing gate. Every F1 fan was wearing and/or holding some sort of merchandise happily representing their favorite team and racer. From hats, to shirts, to flags, every fan was there to cheer on their champions.
There were also a lot of other attractions (or distractions) such as the Ferris wheel which gives the Suzuka Circuit it's unique identity among other world class race tracks. The Suzuka Circuit offers a mini-theme park experience as well for the whole family with an assortment of rides to keep everyone entertained.
I had a chance to explore the racing grounds a bit and stumbled upon an area where the F1 teams had their other cars on exhibition.
I was able to make my way to the front just as the Honda team was putting the finishing touches on one of their F1 cars being displayed.
After being distracted for about half and hour, I regrouped with my friends and we ventured to find our seats to enjoy a few hours of Formula 1 racing!
Although the race was completed, there were still some additional things that race fans can do. The track organizers of the Suzuka Circuit, opened the actual race track for fans to walk on and explore. I couldn't pass this opportunity so I went along with thousands of F1 fans.
One of the sign boards caught my attention and I began taking photos. Others started noticing as soon as I started photographing. If you look carefully, there are black spots on that sign. Those black spots are chunks (marbles) of tire that were slung from the F1 cars flying down a straight at a high rate of speed.
As the sun quickly disappeared over the horizon, I took a final walk around looking to purchase some merchandise and to find any photo opportunities.
And now I have these cars all to myself.
My first Formula 1 event and I was already thinking about the next one and where will it be next. I'm still debating where but Singapore, China, Macau, or a return to Japan would be awesome anyway you slice it. If I were to visit Japan again for a racing or car-related event, I would like to watch be present during the Super GT. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_GT)
Stay tuned.