A1 Grand Prix
Categories: uncategorized
Date: 06 November 2005 07:35:44
Thank you for your prayers and comments. Via prayers and the laying on of hands I was formally made a catechumen during today's Divine Liturgy. Almost every member of the parish came up to me afterwards and congratulated me, which was wonderful. I am truly blessed to have found Orthodoxy, and to have found the parish I have. Thanks be to God.
After the service, our priest asked me if I wanted to come along to the A1 Grand Prix at Eastern Creek (which, despite it being only 10 minutes from my house, I have never been too -- I watch F1 occasionally, but I'm not a huge fan of motorsports). Our priest had received four free tickets from a friend involved with A1 Grand Prix, and as not all his family could go he asked me. A different catechumenate gift, as he said! ;-) Interestingly, another parishioner and his wife and daughter were going as well, and we saw them as we were looking for parking.
WOW. Having watched F1 I knew the cars would be loud, but I had no idea how loud! Thank God for earplugs. We had "Paddock Passes" which enabled us to either be on top of the pits, go behind the pits or sit in the grandstand at the start/finish line. We took the grandstand.
Fantastic. Wondrous, even! [you know I've got to get that word in!] The sheer power and noise from the cars, and the noise from the stands: horns, cheers, screams: it really did get the adrenaline going. Just below us were a group of Lebanese with a number of huge flags, cheering on the racer from Lebanon. A quick glance around showed other flags: among the Australian flags there were Swiss, Brazilian, Portuguese and many others... It was truly a great atmosphere. And the noise from the car: ye gods, the noise! Deafening.
I'm not sure of the numbers, but there appeared to be a large amount of people. All around the racetrack, from the top of the pits to the grandstand to the grassy hills along the track, were people sitting back and relaxing, standing up and cheering, or alternating between both.
The races, there were two, were interesting and it was amazing to be so close to the action, and to see the change of tyres and refuelling in the pits. There was a rather severe crash in the second race, where the Japanese car broke in two! Thankfully the driver seemed alright.
Congratulations to the French who came first in both races, the Portuguese who came second in the sprint race, the Brazilians who came third in the sprint race, the UK who came second in the feature race and the Swiss who came third in the feature race. And thank you to Fr John for allowing me to have a fantastic afternoon out with him and two of his kids.