Jumping onto a cloud of faith.

Here's a quick report on my trip to the Marina Bay Circuit yesterday. At 7pm sharp, the track lights had come to live. Somewhere near us(Bay Grandstand aka the NDP grandstand) the first F1 car started revving down the road from its pit lane. We know because we saw it on the big screen in front of us and the thunderous engine roared somewhere else within the city area. About a minute later, the purring of more car engines got louder as the cars raced down the Marina Bay Street Circuit. Without any asking, everyone in our grandstand rose from their seats in unison to welcome the first F1 car into our sights, and through new grounds of the under-grandstand pass.


This Singapore F1 Gran Prix has made numerous "First". One of them which relates to our grandstand is the unique never before seen pass underneath the grandstand. I am glad I bought Edmund and myself a seat in the Bay Grandstand. There were several spots around the grandstand that I was able to capture the cars in action. The most obvious option the audience chose is the front where the cars are about to make a left turn beneath us. There were alot of people with D/SLR cameras getting shots up close, so much so that the ushers and police were trying to herd them to the side end of the stands.


Look at the above picture. If the car went straight ahead and missed the left turn into the grandstand, the driver would've found himself in a tight dead end. A handful of drivers drove right ahead. From what we can hear, it's like a dragon flying down the track and groans when it gets into the dead end. For Mark Webber in the early rounds of the 1st Practice Session, he missed the turn and crashed into the barrier of the turn. Here his car is waiting to be picked up.


Second spot was in the middle of the granstand, the level where the toilets are. It is extremely loud in there because of the echoeing effect. You can survive without ear plugs up at your seats, but it's a must when the cars pass below your feet here.


The third spot I tried was at the very top and back part of the seats. At this point you can see the cars turn out of the grandstand.


Today I will move off the grandstand and down to the track side behind it. From there I am able to capture the car coming straight at me and another nearby spot I can capture the back of the cars.