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“Molson Indy”
Downtown Vancouver, BC
July 25,26,27th, 2003
WEB: http://molsonindy.com/vancouver/
Bring: If you are “general admission”
you will need to bring your own chair. Other suggestions:
Consider bringing a radio with earplugs. Tune your radio to
91.5 for the official race station. Then wear ear protection
over your earplugs to avoid the loud track noise. Bring water
with you and of course lots of sunscreen and wear your sunglasses.
Pack a few band-aids if you are doing a lot of walking, to
ease some unplanned for blisters. Bonus points if you bring
some wet-towelettes and extra napkins for food-feed clean-ups.
Reviewers: Martin Chow, Caesi Bevis, Clayton Baisch
Friday: Heats
Saturday: 1st races
Sunday: Final races - see website for more details
Martin “General Walk About”:
Generally, I walked around starting at the south end and continued
moving north to see as much as I could, while observing the
crowd as well as the events going on. One thing that is nice
- many of the suites have live bands playing, which are easily
heard, as there is not continuous noise from the track races.
Each of the grandstands seems to have its own beer garden,
and area to buy food, so you don’t have far to go before
returning to your seat.
People seem to come for a variety of reasons besides to see
the races. Many come to mingle with others in the crowd, or
people watch, as it is a party atmosphere and there are celebrities
in the mix. Others come for the music and exhibits (example:
Science World is open for free - just walk in), some come
to be out in the sun, some come for the noise, and still others
come to check out the huge luxury yachts anchored in the water
around Science World.
There are several radio stations here, such as 104.9 FM EXTREME,
which are interviewing celebrities and race attendees. When
I walked by this afternoon, 104.9 FM was interviewing a man
and woman who are well-known wrestlers under the title, “Edge.”
Corporate sponsors, such as Bell Mobility, Winner’s
Circle, and Molson’s, hold the suites around the track
for their employees. They are off-limits to the general public
and even media, unless invited in.
BC Pavilion: that is where the media center is, as well as
a lot of booths that seems to be sponsored by Dodge. Some
readers may wonder what they are missing in the media center.
Not much, just the basics. There are phones in there for us
to use to file a story; there are big t.v. screens in there
for us to watch the track action, and there is a beverage
area to keep us to get some water or juice or Cokes to keep
from getting dehydrated in the heat.
Plaza of Nations area: When I’ve gone by, there has
been a line-up of about 100- people-deep to get in. There
are bands playing inside, and a place to sit and enjoy the
music, and get something to drink and eat. There are a lot
of vendors hocking their wares in this area, too. I saw men’s
products, other food and beverage stands, t-shirt vendors,
credit card sign-up booths, sunglass stands, and race related
booths selling things like hats. There are some goofy things
happening, too - such as a game you can try to throw a water
ball to attempt to knock over a man’s beer mug. Hmmm…
I saw something that struck me as really cute (and smart)
- a baby asleep with ear muffs on.
Women: Need I say more?! Yes, racing, beer, and sunshine
brings them out (pun intended). Definitely a lot of eye candy.
Tying the front of T-shirt into knot (lifting it high up)
and showing your belly button seems to the fashion statement
of choice for the hockers of various products. How some of
them can wear those heels when sneakers and sandals are the
common choice, I just don’t know – but they sure
look good.
All in all, a fun-filled day, and I am heading back tomorrow
to cover the big race and catch some photos.
Caesi: Part of the excitement of the Indy,
is taking the skytrain into Vancouver proper. Just as you
near the Science World / Main Street station, if you are lucky,
you will hear this ground shaking vrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmm as
one of the top speed cars goes past just in site - if you
have quick vision - just to the side and below your skytrain
car. For adrenalin “junkies” this can be a rush
beyond belief! The noise of the crowd, the occasional whiffs
of popcorn or other food fare also may tease your nose. You
can really “get” this is an exciting event to
be at.
In past years I’ve had the good fortune to watch the
race from a friend’s place about the 20th floor above
the track. Yeh, it “works”. But, it just isn’t
the same as being on the ground, in the middle of the partying
crowd energy, or driving in and getting caught in the traffic
snarls. All of it, good and bad, is part of Indy. It is an
“experience” best - well, in my opinion - not
experienced from a “safe” distance of 20 floors
up, but down in the thick of things. But, then again, I’m
not the side-bencher type. If you are, maybe a safe distance
will work better for you.
Media Accreditation: So just ‘where does media
and others’ get “those” badges? Well, all
that happens down at the Hyatt 2nd level. Other than making
up our badges there - taking photos, looking us up with photo
ID to make sure we are who we say we are and that we are a
pre-registered name - there isn’t anything to see. The
wait for badges varied, as they are like passport photos,
done 4 up to a card, which is then cut. Earlier in the week,
before Indy started, the wait was quit, as there were so many
people to process. By Friday, though, getting a badge was
easily a 30 minute long wait. Volunteers are friendly and
helpful, so this was a welcome surprise from other non-Indy
events we’ve covered in the past four years - sometimes
volunteers get very stressed out. All these volunteers that
I spoke to, mentioned without prompting, that Indy treats
them all well, and lets them walk around sites, and see things.
That was nice to hear, and equally, I think, part of the story
- if Indy wants more volunteers next year. Check their website
if you are interested in volunteering.
An
Interview with the Rob Barg, of SCCBC (Sports Car Club of
BC) Retired Racecar Driver. SCCBC is the organizing body behind
the Indy races
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