Silverstone 2005

[benwillfordjohnson]

Now it is on I'm forming a plan to get me and the missus there for the weekend-this is the first GP i will have ever have gone to-

so...

What, in the pitpass posters opinion is the best ticket to get? (also how much will they be do we reckon?)
Where should we be standing?
Best hotels/accomadation etc?
general opinion-am i wasting my time?

Ta in advance,
Ben

[Sam]

[White Lightning]

Can you get a Sat/Sun ticket, or is it all weekend or one day?

[Sam]

Don't know yet. Last year, if you booked early, you only paid for Sunday and got the rest free! I will be looking into this soon. As soon as the news comes out - I will post here. Keep an eye out!
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Sam

[Carol]

It's just been announced that tickets will be on sale from Thursday 16 December. General Admission - £95 for three days. Grandstands - £149 to £229 (with free weekend upgrade) till the end of January, then they go up £40.

[MattB]

I've only every watched F1 (or for that matter any motorsport) on TV, so what exactly do you get to see on each of the days (fridayt, saturday, sunday) if you go to an F1 meet for the whole weekend?

Ok, I know you can see the F1 Free practices on Friday ans Saturday and the Qualifying (in whatever form it takes next year), plus the Race on Sunday, but what else do you get?

I'm just debating with myself as to whether it is worth going down for the whole weekend, or just for the Sunday, when you factor in the additional cost of accomodation and parking (is parking included in the ticket or is it extra? If extra how much? And how close to the stands are the car parks... i'm not the most mobile of walkers)

[White Lightning]

[Sam]

[Carol]

Just to add to what Sam says, you can get a free car-park pass if you have at least two in the car, and you can choose which car park to use. "North" parking behind the pit straight stand is probably the most convenient if you don't want to walk far. Take a look at the circuit map on the Silverstone website, www.silverstone-circuit.co.uk. Otherwise, there’s a 'park-and-ride' scheme - you park some distance away and get a shuttle bus to the circuit.

As for which stand, as Sam says, Woodcote and Luffield are really good. The pit straight stand isn't so good for action as the cars just speed past, but you do get to watch what's going on in the pits.

I went on the Friday this year and it was interesting going round to other parts of the circuit, but it was all practice and qualifying sessions, no races. If you enjoy watching cars for their own sake, you’ll like it. On Saturday, as well as more practice and qualifying, there was the F3000 race – presumably it will be GP2 next year. The other support races were on Sunday - Porsche Supercup as well as the Maseratis and historics that Sam mentioned. Of course, that may be different next year, depending on what they finally decide to do about F1 qualifying. Oh, and there's an air display on Sunday – the Red Arrows usually.

All in all, though, if you've only ever seen F1 cars (or other race cars) on TV, then seeing – and hearing – them for real is a whole different experience!!

[Sam]

Oh I forgot about the airshow! Thats great!

And I certainly recommend you seeing and hearing the cars live! They are AWESOME!!!!! Be warned though - I only ever intended to go to one race. That was mid 2001 and I have been to 25 races since. It's pretty addictive!!!!
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Sam

[BigMac]

[White Lightning]

Me and my dad have got to work on my mum first, but we may be coming too

Edit: Took 20 minutes, just booked them

[Monteey]

Well other things you'll have the delight of looking forward to at our wonderful national circuit.
1. Expect to be treated like a herd of cattle, this is how the authorities will treat everyone without a vip or team pass. Access to all but a shrinking proportion of the track is severly limited. I went last year for the first time since '96 and was shocked to find they wont even let you into the centre field.

2. Expect to have to take out a second mortgage if you want to eat or drink or buy anything on site. Yes, once you've paid for your tickets you'll need about the same again to keep you and yours fed and watered. For example a cup of tea will set you back £1.20, and a bottle of mineral water £1.50. Best thing to do is take packed lunches and avoid all traders like the plague.

3. Expect long queues at all the toilets at all times

4. Expect to get up at 4am on raceday to get any chance of a clear area on the gravel viewing areas. Of course people who didnt get up at that hour will just push past 10 minutes before the race starts taking up what little viewing/seating area you had to start with.

5. Expect everyone on said viewing banks to stand up throughout the whole race so your comfy seat you wanted to watch the race in comfort, becomes useless, as sitting in it will only give you a view of someone's backside

All in all theres no better cure for people with over inflated egos, as believe me once you arrive there, you are brought down to earth with a bump.

Personally i wont be bothering with silverstone for the foreseeable future as i prefer to have more than 2 inches to move in, and the view is much better on the TV

I know most people will probably say dont listen to me, but just see how many of the above things really are true when you get there, you'll be surprised.

[tiggers]

Yikes - I thought I was cynical

Sadly though I kind of agree with you.

Without fail every other GP I have ever been to has been a more enjoyable experience than Silverstone. The year they had all the problems with the weather in April was the best - they decided not to marshall the car parking on race day (havig banned us from the qualifying Saturday altogether) and hence all the 4x4's parked in the entrances to the car park 4 hours to get out of the car park - t**ts!!!

Indianapolis is by far and away the best organised IMHO and the cheapest to attend (once you're in the US of course).

tiggers.

[Sam]

Indianapolis is well organised because its virtually empty compared to the crowds they pull for oval racing (150k versus 400k).

Silverstone has got better though. There are plenty worse tracks for being treated badly, being over charged, etc. For me, the worst, most scary spectator experience is Spa. Hardly any marshalls, muddy narrow slopes leading you around the stands, tunnels, small entrances and exits and food that's quite expensive and coved in wasps.

Anyway, I will resist the urge to really get on my soap box. If you have never been, try Silverstone! I love it and you might too.
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Sam