Posh Camping
I wasn’t too sure what to expect when I was invited to Dreamfields 07, the ‘posh camping’ event hosted by Honda at this year’s British Grand Prix at Silverstone. I’ve got no problems with camping, but the weather this summer had me thinking it’d be a bit of a mud fest (one of the main reasons that Glastonbury holds zero attraction for me). I thought it could prove to be quite a tough weekend, but I’m happy to report that I was completely wrong.
Luckily, the weather was great, but even if it had been chucking down with rain, it would still have been a great weekend, mainly due to the fantastic organisation and hospitality from Honda.
Upon arrival on Friday evening we instantly made to feel very welcome. First we were shown around the campsite. The tents were really comfortable and came complete with sleeping bags, mattresses, pillows, chairs and everything else you could possibly need for a weekend under canvas. Later we were invited to the main tent where there was dinner, a bar, DJ, chillout room and games room where we spent the rest of the night mingling with the Honda folks and other guests. With the recent weather, the field was still a bit muddy so everyone had wellies for tramping through the field and flip-flops for in the tents or on the decking to make sure the indoor areas were mud free.
Saturday was a full day. We started by registering for the Saturday evening pub quiz and were surprised (and happy!) to find out that our captain for the quiz would be none other than Honda F1 driver Rubens Barrichello. Next, we went up to the circuit itself for the Saturday practice session. This is just the drivers getting used to the circuit and optimising the set up of their car for qualifying and the race. There are so many factors that can affect the performance of an F1 car that this is a vital part of the weekend for the drivers. We forgot to take our earplugs with us though and spent much of it with our hands over our ears. The noise of these cars is absolutely deafening but thrilling with it. The impression of power that you get from the engines is overwhelming.
After the practice session we were lucky enough to get a tour of the Honda pits. As a big F1 fan this was my favourite part of the weekend. To be able to get so close to the cars that I could (and did) touch them was fantastic and I got over-excited about the most random of things such as seeing the lollipop that they use to instruct the driver at pit stops. It was an amazing experience, seeing the team go through their final preparations so close at hand.
For qualifying we decided to give the stand a miss (for the sake of our ears) and sit on the grass with lunch and a cold beer. We were surrounded by a mixture of fans all supporting various drivers. It was an exciting hour as pole position traded hands several times and the atmosphere was growing, but when Lewis Hamilton took pole in the final seconds the crowd (regardless of who they supported) erupted. I had read beforehand that they were expecting record crowds due to the success of Hamilton and it sounded like that was the case.
We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out on the decking outside the main tent, having a few drinks whilst watching the huge screen set up by Honda.
Rubens led us to a respectable 4th position in the quiz and we celebrated by having lots more to eat and drink before somehow staggering back to the correct tent in one piece. I must admit I lost my wellies along the way a few times though!
So to race day! Slightly bleary eyed I got up got breakfast and was keen for the day ahead to start. I was only really focused on the race but a few other things caught my attention too, for example, the customary air display from the Red Arrows. Seeing it live was amazing and I’m still amazed at the skill of the pilots in performing the manoeuvres with such precision.
The race itself was great fun too and completely different from watching it on tv. There were screens to help us see the action elsewhere on the track but it still took some working out to find out who was placed where. It didn’t have the result everyone wanted (one of the British guys winning) but the crowd showed their appreciation for all the drivers anyway.
One thing that stuck with me throughout the event was Honda’s commitment to greener solutions. You might think that it’s hard for a car manufacturer with a motorsport interest to have any kind of interest in environmental issues but Honda are leading the way in implementing the latest technologies in this area and the weekend has prompted me to take a closer look at this, but that’s another blog as this one is waaay to long already.
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