The "I was there" thread
Discussion
Dont know if this has been done previously so apologies if so!
Whats your highlights of your spectating career in motorsport? I've seen loads of cracking stuff, and some dross unfortunately (p*ss wet days at donnington with no shelter and queueing to get out after the superbikes)
so here goes; my personal highlights where i can say "i was there"!
Donnington - mansells touring car crash. was actually stood right on top of the banking above the bridge when he hit it and had to be removed from the car unconcious! think it was early/mid nineties, great crowd at the event and a right shocker!
IOM TT- fortunate enough to be there on a few occasions,
Foggy winning, Joey Dunlops triple win, hislops race lap record, unfortunately there the week David Jeffries was killed.
RAC rally- saw all the big names hurtling through chatsworth and clumber back in the day, and all the great rally cars including the group B 6r4 with tony pond, and the heroes such as stig blomkvist, ari vatennen, jimmy macrae etc, audi quattros, RS200s, T16 peugeots, group b opel manta etc all in full effect. Can remember setting off at 4am to walk into chatsworth via "non-payment" routes to get a prime spot for viewing!
Shelsey Walsh- one of the memorial events with Phil Hills Ferraris going up the hill and met Murray Walker
Silverstone Classics - 2008/9 cant recall exact yr but watching the can am historics racing at tea time into the dark with Gt40s, T70s, P4 etc ripping it up at full noise! also met Paddy Hopkirk at one of these events and got an autograph, lovely man.
Superbikes @ donnington- saw Foggy win his first wsb race and got stuck in hours worh of queues in and out. 5 hrs i think was our record to get out and underway home.
Touring cars- used to go back in the day of the cossies etc and also saw i think it was Keith Odor leave the track at very high speed down into craner and somersault the fencing.
recently i think the silverstone classic events have been my favourite for the historic top hat /gentleman drivers etc for proper racing.
anyone else care to add their best memories?
Whats your highlights of your spectating career in motorsport? I've seen loads of cracking stuff, and some dross unfortunately (p*ss wet days at donnington with no shelter and queueing to get out after the superbikes)
so here goes; my personal highlights where i can say "i was there"!
Donnington - mansells touring car crash. was actually stood right on top of the banking above the bridge when he hit it and had to be removed from the car unconcious! think it was early/mid nineties, great crowd at the event and a right shocker!
IOM TT- fortunate enough to be there on a few occasions,
Foggy winning, Joey Dunlops triple win, hislops race lap record, unfortunately there the week David Jeffries was killed.
RAC rally- saw all the big names hurtling through chatsworth and clumber back in the day, and all the great rally cars including the group B 6r4 with tony pond, and the heroes such as stig blomkvist, ari vatennen, jimmy macrae etc, audi quattros, RS200s, T16 peugeots, group b opel manta etc all in full effect. Can remember setting off at 4am to walk into chatsworth via "non-payment" routes to get a prime spot for viewing!
Shelsey Walsh- one of the memorial events with Phil Hills Ferraris going up the hill and met Murray Walker
Silverstone Classics - 2008/9 cant recall exact yr but watching the can am historics racing at tea time into the dark with Gt40s, T70s, P4 etc ripping it up at full noise! also met Paddy Hopkirk at one of these events and got an autograph, lovely man.
Superbikes @ donnington- saw Foggy win his first wsb race and got stuck in hours worh of queues in and out. 5 hrs i think was our record to get out and underway home.
Touring cars- used to go back in the day of the cossies etc and also saw i think it was Keith Odor leave the track at very high speed down into craner and somersault the fencing.
recently i think the silverstone classic events have been my favourite for the historic top hat /gentleman drivers etc for proper racing.
anyone else care to add their best memories?
I saw this live:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8OAI9RRRWQ
The good news is he survived and went on to do this 11 years later:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n8MhZhw_sQ
I wasn't there for that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8OAI9RRRWQ
The good news is he survived and went on to do this 11 years later:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0n8MhZhw_sQ
I wasn't there for that.
Le Mans 2011- Audi going to great length to prove their R18 is strong by writing 2 off, and then winning the race by about the same time it takes you to read this sentence.
Shelsley Walsh - 2005 (i think) for the return of the Auto Union to the hill for the first time since pre-war (Ok it was a D-type rather than the twin hub C-type Hans Stuck used, but still.
Goodwood 1999 I think - Saw poor Nigel Corner get flung from his 246 at the start (fortunately only cracked ribs and deflated lung). I remember the silence being deafening. It made sports photograph of the year if I remember correctly.
Shelsley Walsh - 2005 (i think) for the return of the Auto Union to the hill for the first time since pre-war (Ok it was a D-type rather than the twin hub C-type Hans Stuck used, but still.
Goodwood 1999 I think - Saw poor Nigel Corner get flung from his 246 at the start (fortunately only cracked ribs and deflated lung). I remember the silence being deafening. It made sports photograph of the year if I remember correctly.
I was almost run over by Guy Wilks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEJ_q1M2IHw&lis...
About 2:00mins in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEJ_q1M2IHw&lis...
About 2:00mins in.
I too was at Donington for the Mansell crash, sat on the banking above the Cramer Curves.
A lot of people in the crowd thought he was dead, some were actually crying. Having said that, crowd reaction to his progress through the field was immense - every time he came round a couple of places higher, the cheer was enormous!
A lot of people in the crowd thought he was dead, some were actually crying. Having said that, crowd reaction to his progress through the field was immense - every time he came round a couple of places higher, the cheer was enormous!
I was at Thruxton when Johnny Cocker became the youngest winner of the British GT championship.Quite simply the best race meeting I have been to.The VW cup race won by a fag papers width and the most jaw dropping race between Rob Austin and I forget the other driver in the Ginetta race.
I was on the other side of the fence from McNish's smash at Le Mans last year.
I was at Spa when Schumacher won his final (probably) F1 world championship and when he won the British GP in the pits.
I was also at Imola for the 10th anniversary of Senna and Ratzenberger. What an emotional weekend that was.
I was at Spa when Schumacher won his final (probably) F1 world championship and when he won the British GP in the pits.
I was also at Imola for the 10th anniversary of Senna and Ratzenberger. What an emotional weekend that was.
I was there when Petter Solberg became WRC champion in 2003.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBsN__InFOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBsN__InFOU
I was also at Wiscombe when this happened, you can see my shoe as I had fallen over 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNlbK-zoV1M
Or from the side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JltiiE8r3pA
The driver suffered a broken leg.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNlbK-zoV1M
Or from the side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JltiiE8r3pA
The driver suffered a broken leg.
Edited by Allyc85 on Monday 9th January 20:52
VSCC Richard Seaman Memorial Trophy Meeting May 23 1999 at Donington.
Watching a 1938 Mercedes Benz W154 being started up in the pit garage. The smell, the noise, the sensations just turned the diall up to 11. Totally amazing experience. Then as I leave the pit garage for the paddock I meet John Surtees who is about to drive the Mercedes and chat away to him.
Also during that meet watching a Morgan 3-Wheeler taking avoiding action from the exhaust flames of a much larger machine.
Still have the programme John Surtees signed for me.
Watching a 1938 Mercedes Benz W154 being started up in the pit garage. The smell, the noise, the sensations just turned the diall up to 11. Totally amazing experience. Then as I leave the pit garage for the paddock I meet John Surtees who is about to drive the Mercedes and chat away to him.
Also during that meet watching a Morgan 3-Wheeler taking avoiding action from the exhaust flames of a much larger machine.
Still have the programme John Surtees signed for me.
I was at Silverstone when Mansell picked up Senna and gave him a lift at the end of the race.
1991 British GP
1991 British GP
Allyc85 said:
I was there when Petter Solberg became WRC champion in 2003.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBsN__InFOU
Me too - awesome weekend.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBsN__InFOU
P I Staker said:
I was almost run over by Guy Wilks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEJ_q1M2IHw&lis...
About 2:00mins in.
brilliant, like that one! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEJ_q1M2IHw&lis...
About 2:00mins in.
Allyc85 said:
I was also at Wiscombe when this happened, you can see my shoe as I had fallen over
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNlbK-zoV1M
Or from the side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JltiiE8r3pA
The driver suffered a broken leg.
christ that was harsh! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNlbK-zoV1M
Or from the side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JltiiE8r3pA
The driver suffered a broken leg.
Edited by Allyc85 on Monday 9th January 20:52
Rollcage said:
I too was at Donington for the Mansell crash, sat on the banking above the Cramer Curves.
A lot of people in the crowd thought he was dead, some were actually crying. Having said that, crowd reaction to his progress through the field was immense - every time he came round a couple of places higher, the cheer was enormous!
were you one of those though that almost bet money on him crashing just prior to it happening? he was very close to doing the same thing a lap before and was obviously on the raggedy edge, one of our group said as much then he piled it into the bridge with a right whack. remember the cheers though when people realised he was alive! A lot of people in the crowd thought he was dead, some were actually crying. Having said that, crowd reaction to his progress through the field was immense - every time he came round a couple of places higher, the cheer was enormous!
we always used to sit at craner/old hairrpin purely for the crash action. metro turbo cup cars used to be the worst there, 4 or 5 per race went into bits in the gravel trap
Well if we're talking of crashes......I was stood at the Thruxton chicane in 2002 when this happened. John George ripped the sump off his Clio on the kerbs, dropped oil everywhere and all hell broke loose....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEHdL_SaeXw
Terrifying experience, because the cars couldn't stop and just kept piling in and piling in. Plus we were packed in like sardines on that small grass bank and couldn't run from any flying debris.
pileup by IainW81, on Flickr
The paddock was some sight afterwards.
Ingram by IainW81, on Flickr
Jason Templeman was a lucky boy.
templeman2 by IainW81, on Flickr
templeman1 by IainW81, on Flickr
Other "I was there" moments. Mostly BTCC-orientated because I followed it everywhere from 2001-2009.
- Sleeping through the London Champ Car Trophy at Brands in 2003. Such a dull race, thank god for the BTCC which was supporting.
- The epic 2001 BTCC finale at Brands where the weather was horrendous. I've never seen streams being blown up Paddock Hill by the rain since. Such drama with Plato spinning off, somehow getting the car back out of the tyres and winning when Muller's car caught fire.
- My first BTCC meeting when Gabriele Tarquini rolled. I could hear the noise of the car disintegrating all the way from the top of Duffus Dip. "Thank heavens for safety belts!" said Murray.
- The Snetterton Night Race in 2001 and the sunset race in 2003. Such a great atmosphere, I wish they'd bring them back.
- Seeing my friend Colin Turkington win the BTCC in 2009 from the pit garage. Never felt so nervous in all my life and you could've cut the tension in the garage with a knife. Everyone cheering on anyone who wasn't Giovanardi (who was the main threat) and the roar when he crossed the line with a damaged car to win the title. Got to hold that famous old trophy with all the names on it and squeeze myself into the winning car at the end of the day. Not easy being 6ft 1 and getting into a racing car setup for someone of 5ft 8! Was the perfect way to bow out of being a full-time travelling BTCC fan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEHdL_SaeXw
Terrifying experience, because the cars couldn't stop and just kept piling in and piling in. Plus we were packed in like sardines on that small grass bank and couldn't run from any flying debris.
pileup by IainW81, on Flickr
The paddock was some sight afterwards.
Ingram by IainW81, on Flickr
Jason Templeman was a lucky boy.
templeman2 by IainW81, on Flickr
templeman1 by IainW81, on Flickr
Other "I was there" moments. Mostly BTCC-orientated because I followed it everywhere from 2001-2009.
- Sleeping through the London Champ Car Trophy at Brands in 2003. Such a dull race, thank god for the BTCC which was supporting.
- The epic 2001 BTCC finale at Brands where the weather was horrendous. I've never seen streams being blown up Paddock Hill by the rain since. Such drama with Plato spinning off, somehow getting the car back out of the tyres and winning when Muller's car caught fire.
- My first BTCC meeting when Gabriele Tarquini rolled. I could hear the noise of the car disintegrating all the way from the top of Duffus Dip. "Thank heavens for safety belts!" said Murray.
- The Snetterton Night Race in 2001 and the sunset race in 2003. Such a great atmosphere, I wish they'd bring them back.
- Seeing my friend Colin Turkington win the BTCC in 2009 from the pit garage. Never felt so nervous in all my life and you could've cut the tension in the garage with a knife. Everyone cheering on anyone who wasn't Giovanardi (who was the main threat) and the roar when he crossed the line with a damaged car to win the title. Got to hold that famous old trophy with all the names on it and squeeze myself into the winning car at the end of the day. Not easy being 6ft 1 and getting into a racing car setup for someone of 5ft 8! Was the perfect way to bow out of being a full-time travelling BTCC fan.
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