Day 2 - Singapore (it's a 2 for 1 deal today)

Got an unexpected surprise on my way to the Singapore Flyer. Stumbling through one of the many malls along the way, I came across this...

  

I could've died a happy man right there on the spot. A Ferrari F1 car, probably a replica but I don't care! And then there was something else intriguing...

This tyre was the front right on Rubens Barrichello's car when he won the Valencia race last year. It would be worth thousands to a memorabilia collector - and no I'm not kidding. I saw a Jordan wheel (tyre not included) about 10 years ago going for a thousand dollars!

I can't remember exactly which corner this is but the view with Marina Bay Sands in the background is incredible - and trust me, the lights look bright because they are!

Then I passed through Harvey Norman - I wish I was kidding but it's true. I do have a photo but it's better if I don't post it, I'd like to forget that encounter if at all possible!

And now I'm on the Flyer - in the above shot you're looking at the back of pit lane. On the far right hand side, you can see the tyres laid out at Red Bull - there's also a press conference going on there. Well I'd say so but I can't be 100% sure!

The name of the game is to get to that checkered flag first, but as Murray Walker always used to say, "To finish first, first you have to finish". Nice touch with "Singapore" written on the ripple strip on the outside of the final corner too - no coincidence they've chosen red and white considering they're the colours on Singapore's flag.

I did see something interesting just after this shot, but I wasn't quick enough to shoot it. A Lotus crew member walking up pit lane wheeling along one of those "clicker" things that clicks every metre to measure how long the pit lane is. Why do that? So they know how long it will take a driver to enter pit lane, make a pit stop and then get back on track. Very important for strategy purposes. These guys will look for any advantage over their rivals, so this demonstrates "the lengths they'll go to!"

In this shot you can see the pit straight and the first few corners of the lap. Turns 1, 2 & 3 are hidden by the overpass. Incidentally, we drove across the big part of that yesterday on the way in from the airport. My driver told me that anybody loitering up there for a free view on race day wouldn't last long - the police will clear them off in no time flat! Turn 4 is at the bottom left of the shot.

As you can see, this is how high you get up there - I believe that's the Ritz Carlton Hotel (but I could be wrong!) The ride goes up 165 metres, and boy did I feel it...I have to a fair degree conquered my fear of heights, but this was a test!

We're overlooking the Marina in this shot. Right in the middle is the offshore stage they built which this weekend will be hosting freestyle motocross. Hope you land all those tricks guys or you'll need scuba gear! To the right of that is my grandstand. It doesn't show all that well how the track goes underneath it, but it does! And I'll be sitting right on top of that passageway...

And this is a bit of fun to finish off. I spotted this display underneath the Flyer - the Recycle Challenge. Local tertiary students were given the task of designing and building F1 car replicas using recycled materials or based on an environmentally-friendly theme. Very clever eh? Apparently the judging was done on Thursday, so I'll see if I can find out who won! I like the first one myself...

Better get to bed I think - it's now almost 1am on Friday, but the good news is I'm taking it easy in the morning. Off to the track at around 3pm for day 1 of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend.
The undoubted highlight will be 3 hours of Formula 1 practice.

Fingers crossed for some extra wings on Mark Webber's Red Bull!