OK, it is a given fact that there are only 5 complete rain days in a Dutch year. 5 October just happened to be one of those.
I had decided to be there the whole weekend, not just the races. So at thursday morning, I headed to Schiphol airport to pick up a friend and switch mode of transport from an orange train to an orange Mercedes Benz.
The drivers were going to autograph in a shop called ‘Heineken, the City’ so that was where we were heading. Not too many fans waiting though.
After that, we went to the camping and made basic camp. We did walk around on the circuit a bit, but were basically not allowed to go anywhere.
The Friday is normally an easygoing day in A1 but not so this time. No one was allowed on the A1 paddock as there was still too much construction going on (they said). Luckily Earl Bamber decided to have a look at the GT cars of the Dutch Supercar Challenge and to watch what lines they were driving through the Slotemaker curve and the Audi S curve. We had a nice chat. He never drove at Zandvoort before, but he did test in the simulator, and they reckon a time of 1:23 was possible.
He also told me how he was aiming for top 5 for the weekend ( which he did ), and how he feared A1 may have some problems at Chengdu as he reckons the track may not be suitable for 23 600 bhp cars.
The saturday finally brought us the cars. They may sound different now, but by no means less exiting. And it is clear how the new car has way more grip. The old car had to brake at the top of the Slotemaker curve.. the new one just has to lift a bit. Big difference.
Netherlands ended the day with a pole position. As they should off course. I thought South Africa was a wee bit disappointing.. they had done better at Zandvoort in the past.
And then the Sunday… Excellent races, miserable circumstances. Hey, that’s racing. You never know the weather in advance. I have been in the snow this year (easter races), in the hot sun at pentecost, and in rain during the trophy of the dunes and the A1GP.. Only thing remaining is fog!
