Colour Wash

[warning, it's racing cars again...]

And after a grouchy mutter about invalid password messages caused by someone switching the caps lock on--would spraying the keyboard with cat repellent have any good effect?

One of my most vivid memories of going to watch the 1998 German Grand Prix was the remarkable transformation of the stands. On the Friday and Saturday, free practice plus F3000 qualifying and F1 qualifying plus F3000 race respectively, the stands around the stadium part of the Hockenheim circuit were almost empty. This allowed a clear view of the newly installed seating, colour coded in blocks--we were in the Innentribune yellow seats, I think (or maybe brown). Arriving on the Sunday with the place filling up rapidly around us, an amazing colour transformation took place. Every bank of stands was the same vivid red, awash with Ferrari flags, baseball caps, t-shirts. Admittedly, there were enough large groups of Finns around to add the odd small splash of colour in support of Mika. But mostly it was solid Michael.

Watching the Japanese Grand Prix today, even setting the alarm (this is my weekend on my own at home and I admit to indulging in such things as not getting up and having breakfast in bed, in a peace only disturbed by battling felines) and getting up early to watch the start live, before retreating under the duvet in the company of Radio 5's commentary, I encountered a remarkable repetition of the colour wash. Except this time it was yellow: Sato getting massive local support in his first home Grand Prix and rewarding the crowds with his best qualifying performance and his first ever F1 points. Eddie Jordan, interviewed after the race, took a businessman's view of this and was very pleased with the massive sales of merchandise. It sure makes a change from those huge Ferraris flags anyway.

Incidentally, the more often I hear the Italian National anthem played with Michael (or occasionally, if he's been a very good boy, Rubens) on the top step of the podium, the more I imagine how apposite a piece of music it would be for a well-trained horse (black and prancing, naturally) to perform dressage to.