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I think this is a good idea with no downsides. As Bleu has said, drivers can earn equity with numbers which helps marketing and branding. If another driver has your number when moving up a level then you’d have to change – sounds reasonable.
That’s super Patrick! You’ll have an amazing time for sure!
I have a 55mm-300m lens which I used for most of the car shots, and then I have a 18mm-55mm lens for the close up people shots.
I definitely recommend to get to grandstand L early so that you can grab a seat adjacent to pit lane and get some shots there and in the garages.
You should be able to get shots of the cars going through Massenet wherever you are sitting in Grandstand B, but if you can get there early then get to the front to get shots in Casino.
I was in K3, I guess K1 is closer to the apex of Tabac. It might be harder to get photos from there. If it’s anything like K3, there’s opportunity to get photos close to the track from the bottom of the track. However if you can get to the very back row of seats, you can see over turn 1. You’d have to be there very early but it would be a good call.
I also went into A1 on Friday. Get there early to reach the top row of seats and never move away! You should be able to see back to Tabac.
Enjoy your time and I’d like to see your photos once ready!
That’s the theory but it hasn’t happened in practice. Will Steven’s ran number 28 in 2015, so in theory the number should not have been available in 2016 and 2017. However Brendon Hartley selected that number at the end of the 2017 season as his permanent race number.
I went to the Indycar race in Long Beach this year. I took two weeks off work to travel over, but saw some other things and places in the US on my trip. But the primary reason for travel was to attend this iconic race and see my favourite Indycars in action! This was my third trip to the US to see Indycars; previously I had been to the inaugural double header races in Detroit in 2013; and to the Indy 500 and GP in 2016 (100th running).
Some photos are saved here, but I’d also encourage you to read on about my experience!
I stayed in a hotel about a mile from the track. The LA area has a really good Metro/tram system so I took a 5/10 minute ride to downtown Long Beach to get to the event. There were plenty of people staying within walking distance to the track but I didn’t book my trip early enough to get a close enough hotel at a decent enough price. There were a lot of restaurants and bars downtown, and we saw drivers and crew eating there in the evening. On race day I walked into the track at the same time as Charlie Kimball who must have been staying at a nearby hotel.
No other top level circuit racing series compares to Indycar in term of fan access. For $290 I was able to buy a ‘Superphoto’ ticket, which gave me access to 4 special stands just for amateur photographers to take pictures, and also served as a pit credential for the weekend for all practice and qualifying sessions. The most expensive spectator ticket was $147 for 3 days – an absolute bargain compared to F1 prices!
Over the 3 days the bill included Indycar, IMSA (the top tier of sportcar racing in the USA), PWC (another sportscar championship), historic Trans-Am racing, Stadium Super Trucks (going around the circuit but with additional jumps installed – these were massively popular with the casual fans) and Formula Drift (cars would race two-by-two around the hairpin area, drifting and burning rubber). The track action lasted for about 12 hours on Friday and Saturday (8am-8pm) and there was a lot to see on Sunday too. There were a lot of food trailers and all with decent prices (except for beer – very expensive!). The track runs around the Long Beach Convention Center, and this housed a lot of car related stalls promoting their services, but also non-related local businesses were there too. The variety of things to see any do was exceptional and catered for all levels of fan – those who have no/limited interest, rookies, and passionate fans.
The thing that struck me was that the crowd was very different to a F1 crowd. I’ve been to a few races (including Monaco and Italy last year) and typically there’s a lot of passionate and knowledgeable fans – that’s not a surprise given the extortionate ticket prices. However there never seem to be many ‘local’ people, i.e. people from nearby towns or neighbourhoods. For example take the Italian Grand Prix – most of the fans are not from Monza, Milan, or even Lombardia (the region) – they are fans from all over Italy, and a lot of fans from other parts of the world. The Long Beach demographic was very different and I think that’s twofold – firstly it’s much more affordable than an F1 race which means more local people attend, and secondly the entertainment is so diverse that the event can attract singles, couples, friends and families. I spoke to quite a few people (all very friendly) and many of them weren’t particularly interested in racing, but they came along to Long Beach year after year because it’s a great event and they are entertained. Of course, there were a lot of Indycar fans too – it’s a close knit and passionate fanbase! For many Indycar fans, Long Beach is a bucket list item which you have to go to at least once during your life!
The drivers are so friendly and approachable. I had printed out some photos from my trip to Indianapolis in 2016 so that I could get them signed by the drivers. When I mentioned to Scott Dixon that I wasn’t living in the USA, we chatted a bit about living in the UK because he has family here (his wife is British). A family were waiting in line before me in the queue to see the Team Penske drivers; they had children and every year they had taken photos with Josef Newgarden – it was really funny to see the kids grow up, as it was to see Josef look older! I saw Ed Jones after the race, congratulated him on his third place, and then we ended up chatting about Chicago (where I had been the previous weekend) and how they turn the river green on St Patrick’s Day!
I took a lot of photos! I’ve whittled it down to 120 of the best Indycar photos – excluding the other racing series except for some cool Stadium Super Trucks photos. The album is here:
I ended up watching P1 from pitlane/hairpin, P2 from turn 1 area, P3 from turn 7, qualifying in pit lane, and the race from the hairpin. The only slight negative part of viewing the race from the hairpin is that I couldn’t hear the circuit announcer, however being able to see pit in and being a die-hard fan, I was able to read the race pretty well and there weren’t many surprises when I read the news reports once I got back to the hotel.
I’m not 100% sure how to embed photos. My favourite one is Jordan King unlapping himself on James Hinchcliffe, but you can just see Sebastien Bourdais’ rear wing has been clipped as he starts to spin.
Some photos from the fountain look great too. I took a photo of almost every driver there.
Hope people find this interesting and like the photos. I’m happy to answer any questions people might have about travelling to an Indycar race from abroad, and I’d really encourage people to make a trip if it is possible. It’s phenomenal racing with fantastic events and a superb atmosphere. I love Indycar and can’t wait for the 500 this month!
I was in Long Beach for the whole of last weekend and am back in the UK now. I took a lot of photos (which I’m sorting through now) and am keen on sharing my experiences, and the contrast to F1 races, with the forum.
Thanks @keithcollantine (and sorry for being so bad at embedding photos – I’ll try again! Is there any way of installing a ‘preview’ button for people like me who aren’t very good at posting?). My favourite shots from each day hopefully are below.
From Friday, I liked this shot of Daniil Kvyat. You can see the a light from the steering wheel reflected in his visor.
<script async src=”//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>Saturday, Kvyat again! It was amazing to look through the photos after the event and see how the water is affected by the rain tyres and the aerodynamics of the cars. There’s also something I really like about the colours of the Toro Rosso.
<script async src=”//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>From lap 1 of the race on Sunday, Max Verstappen kicked up a load of gravel as he went off track following a puncture. His drive into the points was impressive.
<script async src=”//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>Quite late, here are some pictures from my trip to the Italian Grand Prix in 2017.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gbodonnell/albums/72157663930273838
Some news for Milan based people:
This tweet says that there is an F1 drivers parade with 13 F1 drivers, happening on Thursday at 1830, in Piazza Castello. You can take a metro here. I’ll try and get out of work early and make it to this event, although my Italian is very bad! It says they have historic cars and I suppose they don’t speak Italian…
13 piloti di #F1 e altrettante auto storiche al Castello Sforzesco 😮 Diamo il benvenuto a #ItalianGP con la Milano Drivers' Parade! #MonzaF1 pic.twitter.com/ZpO22OFgKw
— Autodromo Naz. Monza (@Autodromo_Monza) August 26, 2017
On the topic of the Milan Metro, if anyone is taking the Metro to a train station, and then taking the train from Milan to Monza, I’d advise people to not buy tickets on Friday morning. You can buy Metro tickets any day beforehand. The reason is that if local people have a monthly travel card, they will have to top it up on Friday morning (if they haven’t done so already) which leads to much larger queues at the ticket machines on the first day of the month.
Photos that I took on the Saturday running if the Prologue are here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gbodonnell/albums/72157679457687312It was a very long day. My first ever visit to Monza, first time at a test session, and first time seeing the cars of the WEC. I took the train from Milan at 7am and was in Monza 12 minutes later. I proceeded to walk to the circuit which took about an hour, but was pleasant because I could walk through the royal park.
The paddock was open on Saturday. I didn’t stay there long but the notable people I saw included some of the Porsche drivers Hartley and Bernhard, and later I saw Pastor Maldonado who was taking selfies with a lot of fans (whilst also trying to talk to someone on the phone).
I watched the cars from most points of the circuit. I was surprised about how impressively the cars could change direction – very similar to Formula 1. This was especially noticeable at the second chicane, where it is possible to watch the cars very close to the track.
Maybe the best seat in sports (although quite dangerous) was to climb to the top of the banking and watch as the cars pass under. With the light passing through the trees it was an phenomenal place to watch.
My favourite part of the session was the 7pm-9pm practice. It was just getting dark around 7pm and the LMP1 cars came out to set a quick lap. Soon there was a loud clap of thunder and some lightning, and it looked like that would be the session over. However after a deluge of rain (and less light) some of the cars came out onto the wet track. There was almost no lighting of the track (or the spectator areas) and I really got an appreciation of the difficulty of driving in the dark and the wet. It was very impressive to see.
I’m not yet a convert to endurance racing, but I’m glad I could get a better understanding for the WEC series.
Thanks for your advice PorscheF1. There are three ‘sessions’ during the Saturday test (9am-12pm, 2pm-5pm and 7pm-9pm). I-m especially looking forward to seeing the cars as it gets dark.
Just bought my tickets. It was payday and you only live once etc. I hope to never pay as much to go to a Grand Prix ever again!
Can’t wait though. Got tickets for Casino Square on Thursday, grandstand K on Saturday and Swimming Pool (L) on Sunday.
I’ll be staying in San Remo, Italy which is about 75 minutes on the train (no direct trains though). I’ve recently moved to Milan, and I want to stay in Italy so that I can get a 5am train on Monday morning to be at work for 9:30am!
I’m moving to Milan from February to September, so going to the Italian Grand Prix is a no brainer!
I will plan to go to the circuit on a non-F1 day to get a feel for the track, but I think it’s likely best to get tickets now before the best seats go. Does anyone have suggestions about where to sit? I’d plan going for the three day weekend. There are a myriad of seating options – possible to get three day tickets in the same grandstand, or one day tickets in different seats.
Ideally I’d like to be near to a TV screen, as I’ll offer to take my parents to the event and my mum doesn’t have a big appreciation of F1. I’m not sure if turn 1 would be that exciting because any DRS passes will have been completed there. No sure about being on the front straight either – often it’s a 1 stop race but the atmosphere there always seems incredible. On the back straight there isn’t often a lot of overtaking. Any advice from people who have been there in the past would be appreciated!
Hi Abby,
I went to Montreal in 2013 and had a great time. There’s a street downtown called ‘Crescent’ where they had a fan festival, similar to what was in Austin in 2014. They basically take over the street with stalls and a big stage; I was able to get an autograph from David Coulthard. Also Will Buxton had his famous ‘tweetup’ in a bar about a block away. I don’t remember there being any music but it rained heavily during race weekend in 2013 (except race day) which put a bit of a dampener on it. Also I remember it was more of a Thursday-Saturday festival rather than a Friday-Sunday festival.
Check out this link:
http://crescentgrandprix.com/?page_id=7&lang=en
You’ll find up to date information there rather than my 2013 impressions!Hope you have a great time!
George2005 Japanese Grand Prix was such a good race from start to finish so I’d have to choose that. However I’d have to give honorable shout outs to 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix and 1999 European Grand Prix for being very entertaining.
The best race I’ve ever attended was 2012 European Grand Prix because the emotion around the track was electric. It was my second ever Grand Prix but it was the first race I ever attended after I had started working and paying out of my own pocket, so that made it special.
