MONZA

MONZA was AMAZING!!

I had so much fun...It was one of the most exciting things I've ever done. I knew I wanted to go and there were the possibility of a couple guys tagging along but, it came to me going alone or me not going...so obviously I went! I was so pumped.

A big thank-you to my wonderful father who provided me with the monetary necessities to be able to go. :)

So, the race was the weekend of September 12, 13, 14. Friday was practice day and I didn't get to go since I had class. Saturday there was a practice and qualifying. Sunday was raceday! Saturday I got up bright and early at 8:45am and set off to Monza. I had looked up where I was going-ish and had a vague idea of what I needed to do. I got on the metro headed towards P. Garibaldi to catch the train to Monza...however I got to Garibaldi and got a bit lost...just when I was about to jump back on the Metro to just go to the train station at Centrale...a pack of red dressed Ferrari fans jumped off the metro...
"Um, you wouldn't happen to be going to Monza are you?" I asked.
"How did you guess?!"
"Do you know where you're going? If so...I'm coming with you!"
Ha...so I ended up following some (German?...definitely not italian) Ferrari fans to the train and eventually got my ticket and got on board!

On the train I met an American couple who were very nice and who had been to the practice session on Friday. They explained to me where to go to get my tickets and where the best places to sit were! I then told them I might follow them for a bit until we got to the track. So, we get off the train and we take a bus...then we walk...quite a bit...i had no idea Monza had an actual park surrounding the track. Then it POURED with rain...and I had NO rain gear...oops. The American couple waited with my while I bought a poncho (which I insisted on being green instead of red in case someone might confuse me for a Ferrari supporter) and then pointed me in the right direction and I was off!

I got my tickets and headed to the track...I could hear the cars and was getting so excited :) I wandered around for quite a bit and started off over by turn 11.

http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/italy_800/circuit_diagram.html

I was in the 21e section area ish I'd say since I didn't have a grandstand ticket, I just had a general admission pass. Then once practice was over I took the opportunity to walk around a bit. SoI wandered over to the merchandise area and after much deliberation bought myself a Lewis Hamilton hat which subsequently fell into the mud moments after I'd put it on my head. No worries. It has been saved. So anyway, I walked around a lot and remembered from a blog I'd read online that down by the first chicane there are some great places to sit/view the race. So, I walked over there. By turns 1 and 2 (first chicane) there was a really good viewing area! However, there were already a lot of people around and I thought I'd keep walking...so I continued walking towards turn three on this sort of nature path...So, to put this in perspective, as I'm walking, there is nature on my left and on my right a fence, 10 feet and another fence...As I continue walking, I notice that there are some people on the inside of this first fence. So, they are literally one layer of metal linkings away from the racetrack. So, obviously I want to figure out how to get in there too! So I keep walking and finally come to a wall and lots of bushes...then i notice a hole in the first fence!! So, I climb through! Then I am able to walk back down to the area right by turn three! It was amazing. It was me. fence. racetrack...so cool! Then, I decide to climb up the fence to get a better view. So, I sat atop the fence with a couple other people. From here it was me and the racetrack. I could see all the way back down to the first chicane and got some great pictures! I stayed here until the end of qualifying.

It's worth noting I did attempt to continue walking along this "illegal path" and ended up behind a barrier on turn three...there was about a foot of space to walk between a wall and the barrier...when i looked under the barrier and realized I could see race car tires zooming by...it dawned on me that this probably wasn't the best idea and that if a car happend to spin out and hit the barrier...I'd be dead...so I turned back to my original fence spot :)

Afterwards, I got something to eat and decided to explore the racetrack a bit and see if there were any other viewing places worth noticing. So, I walked around the entire track and found some decent spots on the inside, but after a long hike and far too many creepy men I decided it was probably time to head home.

That night Jocelyn, Alison and I attempted to find the bar with "a big red door." Well, it doesn't exist. Honestly. So, we had dinner at Twelve instead by the Porta Romana metro stop area and had a great time! Very cute waiter haha.

DAY 2: RACEDAY!

Today I was up at 7:20am and was completely prepared. I had legging, running shorts, running shoes, a zip up, trusty poncho, backpack and lock, hamilton hat and granola bars. Set.

I was at the track by 10am (race started at 1pm) so I had plenty of time to get myself settled. There were already a lot of people there. The frustrating part about yesterday had been that I had great fun watching the cars, but I had no idea what was actually going on. So, I was a bit shocked when I found out the qualifying results! I noticed that some people had portable TVs and headphones...curious, I found the stand and found out that with the TVs you get live tv feed, info and stats, commentary in ENGLISH!! and more! So, thanks again to my very kind and understand father I rented one of these for the day and it was awesome. It honestly made my whole experience because I was able to watch my screen and then see the drivers come past me and know exactly what was going on all the time! It was so exciting.

So, after I got my TV i headed back over to turn 3 to get my "spot." Well, turns out, as I'd suspected, what I was doing yesterday was highly illegal and there were at least 7 policemen/guards guarding the whole area. Hm...bummer. Furthermore, this time there were 10x the amount of people around...and they had forts. Legit forts. They had built contraptions onto the fences and in the trees to be able to stand taller and see over the barricades. I couldn't really find a good place to stand because everyone was already standing there! On higher ground! (as in buckets, tree branches, ladders, you name it) Then i noticed a bunch of people standing on the camera man's giant tractor looking machine right at the first chicane. It's the machine that extends the camera man into the air so he can video. There was also a fence around this, so I climbed up the fence. It wasn't exactly comfortable and my feet were going numb. This is where I meet my new italian buddies.

"Ciao! Bella!" Oh great I'm thinking. But, I am polite and play along. Then they want to take a picture with me and start talking to me...at first I'm annoyed but then I think it over...OK there are way creepier guys here and these guys are actually friendly. But, more importantly they have a great spot standing on that tractor and that's exactly where I want to be...So! I got friendly! I took a couple pictures with them and then introduced myself...as Katia. I also told them my Dad was standing over in the stands, which was a great idea, because then they stopped asking me out. So, they let me up onto their tractor spot...I also made many more friends around me because I had a TV!! Haha...i even got a free breadstick out of it. They also offered to buy me a sandwich. The best part however was when they found out I was from California. This started the ongoing sing along to the OC themesong "California" which was sung at full vocal capacity. It was highly amusing and somewhat embarrassing haha.

Basically I had an awesome time! The spot was great because I could see the cars coming off the start and there was a lot of good action at this first chicane. I also ended up getting asked out by a 40 year old polish man which was lovely...I declined. It poured with rain, but I was set with my poncho and stuck it out till the end! Then, I jogged most of the way back and got out quite quickly! Aside from a very creepy American man who literally kept popping out of nowhere to try and talk to me when I least expected it.

All in all, I had an amazing weekend! It was so fun. I am also quite proud of myself considering I was one of the only people there alone, and 100% the only girl there alone! But it was so much fun, I wish my Dad could have been able to come! But, I'm really glad I was able to go and I came away with some awesome pictures and video :)