Silverstone(spoiler)

 After not being able to watch any racing for the last couple of weeks, I
was looking forward to kicking back and watching the WSB races today. No
such luck as the re-hab nurses showed up just prior to the start of race
one and left a couple hours later due to the power being off!(T-storm) I
didn't get to see much at all, but am wondering about the length of the
track. For some reason I thought it was a "little" longer than what I
saw today. What's the deal? Are there two tracks or am I confused?(again)
In any event it was nice to hear that the Duc's, Laconi and Toseland had
stopped the Gixxer train, if only briefly...

 It was the mickey mouse short circuit, only Kagayama had raced on this one,
made passing very difficult, the track
suited the Ducs, nice to see Haga competitive again, Corser increases his
lead in the championship after Laconi
crashed out in race two.

 
It's actually not a bad track in that configuration but it misses out on
some of the more dramatic corners of the longer courses at Silverstone.
But that's "not bad" from the rider's point of view. For the spectator
it's complete and utter crap. I haven't been to Silverstone much over
the years. Many, many times as a kid; once to see Sheene and Roberts at
a F750 race; a few F1 races on hospitality in the early 90s; And
yesterday. It was always flat and hard to see much but there were places
where you could get reasonably close to the action and see something.
But now the F1 safety issues and Ecclestone's demands have created a
sterile, soulless track that exists to make money above all else and
where there's so much gravel trap and fencing that you can't see a damn
thing. While WSB was running on the short track, the other half of the
circuit was running a car based hospitality day. Even with all the
control and organization, they still manage to screw up. The PA on the
pit straight was pathetic and several parts of the circuit which might
have been good places to watch had no PA at all or it was turned off.
The one Starvision big screen was pointing at grandstands across the
whole Luffield complex so even if you were in line of sight, it would
have been miles away. And yet at 90 deg to the way it was setup there
were lots of spectators at good viewing points on both sides. Finally,
there were no camping facilities *at all*. So no incentive to go for the
whole weekend. And of course, no campsite mayhem. So we went up
expecting to camp illegally in a field in the surrounding countryside
and that's exactly what we did. On the good side, it was dead easy to
get in and out, all queues were short and the toilets were clean
(Donington, take note).

Any road up, I won't be going back and my guess is that anybody who went
the last few years won't go back either, so I expect the small crowd to
dwindle further.

Donington GP last year was like a police state. Now whether this was the
effect of insurance or the "War On Terrah", I don't know. And although
there are a few good places to watch, the racing is rarely close.
Silverstone is utterly boring. So I think I'll only bother to go to
Brands Hatch now and then just for the day. Or go to the continental
circuits where they still know how to have a weekend to remember,
loosely surrounding some decent racing.

--
Julian Bond E&MSN: julian_bond at voidstar.com  M: +44 (0)77 5907 2173
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 Warning. This is somewhat off topic and veers into areas that might be
political.

Mankind is a tribal species. And every so often the tribe needs to get
together for a great festival. Get large numbers of people in a
relatively confined area with a central event to provide the reason. Let
them all get happy drunk, mashed or whatever and just let them get on
with it. Inevitably a few people will get hurt in some way but the
temporary autonomous zone will fulfil its purpose of bringing the tribe
together.

This seems to be a very basic need that keeps bubbling up. In recent
history, the free festivals of the late 60s and early 70s. The Punk era.
The rave culture of the late 80s and early 90s. Goa beach parties.
Glastonbury up until the early 90s. The Berlin Love Parade. The Grateful
Dead caravan.

M/C racing events have been very much part of this and in the same
spirit. From The Bol D'or to the TT to Donington (in year's past) to
Assen to Jerez to Mugello. Motorcyclists got together and re-affirmed
their membership of the tribe with a full on party.

But somewhere along the line, central reality control in the form of
Northern European societies (and those like them in USA and Canada) have
decided that this sort of free form gathering is too dangerous. They
need to be sanitised and controlled and preferably eliminated. If it's
not the governments that do this, it's their cohorts; lawyers, insurance
companies and petty bureaucrats. And if not them it's the bourgeoisie.
The moneyed classes with so little sense that they can't work out that
buying a house right next to a race circuit means having to put up with
noise on a lot of weekends each year. Or it's the same moneyed people
who may even pay to go some of these events just as long as it's not in
their back yard.

Some of my stand out memories, that I take out and polish every once in
a while, are of these temporary autonomous zones. So it makes me very
sad that in so much of the western world, these tribal gatherings are
now basically outlawed. It's enough to make me want to emigrate to some
country that's developed enough to have modern infrastructure but still
anarchic enough to actually allow people to party en masse.

But perhaps this is just the mid life crisis talking. I just have to
make the effort to get myself to the great Southern European races where
this still happens. And to go back to those parts of Asia where a few
million people gathering for some reason in one place is normal and not
a disaster in waiting that must be stopped. And right now.

--
Julian Bond E&MSN: julian_bond at voidstar.com  M: +44 (0)77 5907 2173
Webmaster:             http://www.ecademy.com/   T: +44 (0)192 0412 433
Personal WebLog:      http://www.voidstar.com/   S: callto://julian.bond
                      *** Just Say No To DRM ***

 Julian Bond wrote:

I feel your pain! It seems, depending on the year or current perceived
threat and for one reason or another, society(the powers that be) have
decided the rejuvenation and rekindling of our spirit is not good for
us, though, from time to time, it still does manage to happen on a small
scale, if only randomly. I'm not sure if it's a big brother thing or
just capitalism at it's worse, or a combination of the two! It might
also be that if they can't control it, they'll condemn it, I'm not sure.

I also long for the days of yesteryear when total strangers would gladly
share food, drink and a dry spot for no reason other than the obvious
mutual love of the sport. Not so in today's realm of million dollar
motor homes and the segregation that seems to come with them and while
I'm now wise enough to appreciate the difference of a warm bed vs the
cold, hard or wet ground, dividing us by money spent tends to divide us
completely, while severing all lines for mutual appreciation of our
sport. In years past racing was an excuse for the "gathering," now I'm
not so sure it's not just a place to parade expensive toys.

I've had about enough of all this "family values or entertainment"
bullshit too? There is a time and place for everything, standing around
a roaring bonfire swapping lies with drunken strangers, while waiting
for the obligatory parade lap by a topless chic, is a place for the
young at heart, not the young, leave the little beggars at home, or at
the very least, tied up in a sleeping bag!

We've come a long way since I was dragged around as a kid, for the most
part it's looks a lot better. You don't get stuck in mud trying to get
in or out of the camping area, there's usually dry wood around so you
don't have to cut down somebody's tree and spend all night and 5 gals.
of gas trying to make it burn and sometimes the port-o-lets won't make
your eyes water at ten yards! But did all those improvements come with a
hidden cost or is it just the way things are, in today's world?