1985 Adelaide GP poster
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 29 years since I went to my first Grand Prix in Adelaide, South Australia however I was reminded that it is indeed true when, during a lead up interview to this weekends Malaysian 2014 Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg was asked about his father Keke Rosberg who won his first GP at Adelaide’s GP 29 years ago in a Williams-Honda.
Wow, back then I was working as a manager at Hungry Jacks, just about all my friends were
managers or staff, even my girl friend was a HJ manager. Three of us had general admission passes to the track for race day however we soon discovered that vantage points were limited and sitting up in one of Adelaide’s shady parklands tree branches to catch a glimpse just freaked me out a little and my mate a lot. We then spotted some folks on the outer perimeter of the track that looked very comfy in a private grandstand.
Being young and cheeky we got a pass out and began a backstreet hunt for better seats. We found a private lane between some of those big old stone homes of Adelaides parklands precinct that led into a blocked off side street and the gates of School. The school was holding a private function, however the attendance was not huge and we managed to bribe our way through the gates with Whopper Vouchers and $15.00 ($5.00 each) …bargain! They had a great vantage point on a corner, they had a bar, elevated viewing from second floors, you could even get right up to the track fence a take photos at track level poking your camera through the same spaces the nearby fire marshalls would jump through if there was an incident.
Chequered Flag...the old way Adelaide 1985.
Now all of this was pre digital cameras, pre DVD, Beta videos still fought it out for shelf space with VHS so used a borrowed SLR camera with AS400 Kodak film. I got some great shots the day especially of the old black and gold John Player Special caravans bright and colourful United Colours of Benetton car. I carted those photos around for years from flat to townhouse and home but who knows where they are now?
I managed to make one other GP in Adelaide before Melbourne stole it away from us…rotten buggers!
Daniel Ricciardo - click to enlarge
Now we find ourselves here in Kuala Lumpur, 2014, watching the new breed turbo hybrid F1 cars go around Sepang in the digital age, snapping away on multiple devices, blogging our day, posting on Facebook and riding a monorail back to our down town KL apartment, what a world we live in!
Kimi Raikkonen - click to enlarge