From my point of view, that of a spectator, the whole weekend went almost flawlessly. Apart from the multiple motorsporting events, the various entertainment activities, vendors’ area, the “oases” where one can relax, and the general atmosphere of the whole weekend was great. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
The highlight however wasn’t just watching the F1 race, to me it was seeing the Bahraini flag on the winner’s podium twice! I have no doubt that we will be seeing that flag hoisted once again in a not too distant future F1 race.
Ferrari have all but been written off in the press. Ever the optimist, I would rather wait till the fat lady sings to pass judgment. I know that due to radical overhaul of the rules and regulations this year, they seem to have taken a lot longer than other teams to come to grips with these changes and their direct effect on the competitiveness of their package. Bringing the F2005 out early though certainly demonstrated that they have a nice, fast and clean car to go forward with. I confess however that it is going to be tough for Michael Schumacher to grab an 8th world championship this season, though I wouldn’t put it past him.
The only disappointment I have are the new giant screens they put up on the pit building (and it appears elsewhere as well). They should have been a lot brighter, they were almost indiscernible in direct sunlight which was the whole day. And because they were small we couldn’t read the writing, hence we didn’t know what was going on in the race other than cars going at tremendous speeds down the straights.
Fortunately I was virtually continuously connected to various motorsporting sites through my mobile phone to get the information. Even then the information posted on the websites was delayed.
They did give out small FM radios which is a huge improvement than last year, however you can hardly hear anything because of the car noise and you really do need either a proper headphone to benefit from the radios, or you run the risk of damaging your ears. It would have been a lot better to have dual-screen configurations, one for data display the other for the actual video feed.
I know from the people who installed the screens however that they had tremendous problems with the heat as they couldn’t increase their brightness as that would increase the heat generated by their electronics, hence risking the complete shutdown of the whole screen. Takes away the enjoyment of the races if you don’t know what’s going on and encourages people to just watch the race at home.
Congratulations to Alonso for a faultless drive.
Maria, sorry I didn’t recognise you.. too much petrol fumes in the head at the point we met!! 😉
Comments
Almost flawless
Almost flawless is the right term.
It all started when we booked our Bahrain Grand Prix tickets online and were told to pick them up at the airport. The first flight to Bahrain from Doha was at midnight so we took it in order to get there as early as possible. After finding out that although the shuttle buses service to BIC starts at 6am the representatives from BIC do not get there until 8am and no hotels were available. That’s fine with us we’ve been there since 1am so 2 more hours, No big deal! So we went for a quick breakfast and coffee.
Up till this point we were surprised of how friendly the Bahrainis were from the customs officers all the way to the restaurant staff. The welcome, the greeting, the courtesy was top of the line. At 8 am we were told the tickets were not at the airport and that we had to get them at the race track. We took the bus there and after a long ride, we were informed that the tickets stand is located outside the BIC track itself.
A friendly usher drove us there and this is were the real mess started. No tickets! It seems that some tickets were lost while moving the whole thing from the Seef mall and we have to wait 15 minutes to get new tickets printed for us. It was The 15 minutes stretched into hours and it was not until 10 o’clock that the tickets were there.
Bottom line: We waited 2 extra hours for nothing at the airport. We missed part of the qualification session but got there in time to see Michael Schumacher ride off in his new F2005.
Over all it was an unforgettable experience although we spent most of it waiting for our tickets, Shumy was out too soon, it was extremely hot and the last but not least the little kiosks selling food and beverage went out of water .
I hope to be back there next time; maybe then, it would be more organized!
GO FERRARI team
Re: Almost flawless
Sorry that you had such hassle but am glad that you made the effort to come over and enjoy the race. It was hot for sure, and it’s a shame that they ran out of water. In all honesty, with weather as hot as this they should have GIVEN the water free of charge rather than charge 5 times the price for a small bottle. Even better for them to put some cold fountains all over the venue to keep people from getting dehydrated.
Thanks for your comments though, in order to ensure that next year your experience is going to be much better than what you have during this event, I’m going to collect all the comments on this thread and forward them to Martin Whitaker (the BIC’s GM) and it’s chairman.
Irate calls
have started once again, objecting to daughters, sisters, girlfriends, wives, concubines, neighbours, etc having their pictures taken and demanding that they be taken down…
all of you consider this: if I took one picture, the roaming reporters from the various magazines and newspapers have taken probably 10s of the same girl. We all have the same set of eyes you know, so expect to see “her” whoever she is in print, and those once printed cannot be just “removed”.
so do yourselves a favour: if you object to having your picture taken in a PUBLIC EVENT with tens of thousands of other people around you, then PLEASE STAY THE HELL IN YOUR HOUSE, SEQUESTERED FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Don’t blame me or anyone else for that matter for taking INNOCENT PICTURES and displaying them in a public way. You should be worried had I taken the same pictures and surrupticiously and dishonestly spread them all over the place.
STILL. If you see YOUR picture and you object to it being there, contact me and ask me NICELY to remove them. Remember that the law is on MY side. Not yours.
Above all, for your sake, try to have an open mind.
Almost flawless
Couldn’t watch cause wasn’t broadcasted here due to Pope death: is it true that when Ferrari asked for a minute of silence all other teams refused?
Thanks.
Almost flawless
And here is Mahmood in action:
http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2005/04/03/blogger-bahrain-grand-prix-2005-final/
Scroll down to the end of the post and you will see Mahmood armed with his “[b]heavy artillery camera[/b]” 😉
Almost flawless
Bravo Bahrain, makes me pround to be from there. This event is gettin better and better, more investments are flowing becaues of this, with already the BMW school up and running and RUF planning to invest in a sports car facility, who knows what’s next.
Haitham, nice pics and hehe Mahmood on full alert, man you should really consider opening a studio ;). And for the winner of the F1 race I say, “Rey Alonso, encima del mundo!!!”.
Overally, superb job 🙂 and let’s not forget our Number One reporter, Mahmood Al Yousif :).
[Modified by: Khalid (KhalidSaad) on April 04, 2005 12:57 PM]
Malik Is Almost flawless
maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalik 😀 time to get more bling bling to buy some ching ching for your new site! 🙂
with love & kisses,
your secret admirer – the [url=http://www.bahrain.gov.bh/]princess from hell[/url] 😀
Re: Malik Is Almost flawless
It has nothing to do with money. It has everything to do with time and deciding how I want to set the site up and what I want to put on it. If money were the only issue it would have been up a long time ago. Alhamdulillah.
Re(1): Malik Is Almost flawless
[B]Posted by: Malik on April 05, 2005 01:21 PM[/B]
[I]It has nothing to do with money. It has everything to do with time and deciding how I want to set the site up and what I want to put on it. If money were the only issue it would have been up a long time ago. Alhamdulillah.[/I]
Malik if you need some help with design and content feel free to come over to my palace – I’ve all the time in the world – and we can have some quality time too 🙂 Let me make you happy, afterall it is a great honor to have you at my humble home.
– with bear hugs,
Your secret admirer – the [url=http://www.bahrain.gov.bh/] princess from hell[/url].
Almost flawless
malik…..
You seem to have plenty of time to use the bandwidth here. Why not use that time and energy to have your own blog. Err…or is this your blog already?
Almost flawless
Posted “You seem to have plenty of time to use the bandwidth here. Why not use that time and energy to have your own blog. Err…or is this your blog already?”
I wasnt aware there was a time limit here. Are you one of the regular posters here working under an anonymous name? There are several posters here spend as much time as I do here. Any comments for them?
Almost flawless
Posted “Malik if you need some help with design and content feel free to come over to my palace – I’ve all the time in the world – and we can have some quality time too Let me make you happy, afterall it is a great honor to have you at my humble home.
– with bear hugs,
Your secret admirer – the princess from hell.”
Inti Majnoona? Must be a full moon tonight.
Re: Irate calls
And who says the law is with you in this case?In the US, a person has the right to disallow a person from publishing a picture of himself/herself on the web, im sure its no difference in Bahrain..Be considerate with people, atleast ask before you take a picture..You ask people to have an open mind, you have an open mind by asking whether or not its possible to publish such pictures..
Furthermore, get a life..
Nothing gets me going like a knucklehead!
How quaint. Another moron flashes an opinion without covering his ass.
First of all, Mahmood has a life. But you haven’t read this blog long enough to figure that out.
Now to the boring part. US law extends only as far as there was commercial advantage to the third party in the use of a person’s likeness. Which is to say, that the law will interject only if the plaintiff can demonstrate that the use of their likeness significantly improved the commercial scope of the project that it was used in.
Mahmood CLEARLY states that should he receive any requests to have any pictures taken down, he will comply, meaning that the case will not go to trial. Secondly, Mahmood’s pitbabes have only raised the interests of howling ninnies like you. I don’t think you can prove that he’s made any money off of them.
Controversy yes, baksheesh? mafi baksheesh…
[i]Next Question![/i]
Re: Almost flawless
The actual race is dictated completely by the FOM (Formula One Management) where ALL of their contracts in the places they operate dictate categorically that the only signal to be uplinked to the respective station MUST be the same “dirty feed” supplied by the FOM. Dirty Feed here signifies the actual video with all graphics superimposed, but mixed with the station’s local language comentary. Therefore, if the Speed Channel just showed the race, then they have done what every other station in the world has done. What they apparently didn’t do however is what most other stations do do in that they broadcast something of interest about the country and its people etc in the days preceding the race, and actually just before the race in interviews etc.
It’s a shame that Speed Channel only chose the absolute minimum broadcast. I don’t know if they have had a broadcasting delegation come to Bahrain or they just outsourced to ITV or any of the other 30 or so broadcasters present. I suspect the latter. Because had they been here themselves, they would have had the time to go out and shoot various things about the country before and after the race.
What Bahrain TV could have done however is provide ALL broadcasters with good “b-rolls” of Bahrain and Bahraini life to include in their broadcasts. Maybe this is something that we can suggest to the BIC for next year…
Re(1): Irate calls
[quote]And who says the law is with you in this case?In the US, a person has the right to disallow a person from publishing a picture of himself/herself on the web, im sure its no difference in Bahrain[/quote]
False. If you are in a public space in the US, you have no right to stop people from taking photos of you nor can you legally stop them from publishing them. This should be obvious to the casual observer of American media which is full of pictures of people at public events. There are pictures of people doing all sorts of embarassing things in public in the US which are published without issue. If you run around butt naked in public in the US, anybody can take a picture of you and publish it. If you commit a crime in public and it is captured on camera, it can be legally published. If you are picking your nose in public, you have no right to stop photographers from recording that event and publishing it.
[quote]Be considerate with people, atleast ask before you take a picture..You ask people to have an open mind, you have an open mind by asking whether or not its possible to publish such pictures.. Furthermore, get a life.. [/quote]
I don’t see anything offensive about these photos but rather the contrary. They are quite flattering to their subjects. I don’t see anything in them that I wouldn’t have seen were I at this event. These photos merely extend the event to those of us who can’t fly halfway around the globe to participate. Objections to them seem a product of hypersensitivity to me.
Steve
Almost flawless
If you are in a public event and your picture is taken, too bad. One wonders how many of the people objecting to their sisters, mothers, daughters, having their pictures taken and displayed were objecting because of the WAY their family members were dressed?
Would they object if it were their brother, son or father pictured?
Almost flawless
Malik
How much longer befor your own personal blog is up and running?
Almost flawless
Posted “Malik
How much longer befor your own personal blog is up and running?”
I never said I was going to do a blog, simply a website. I have some content. It is going to be awhile. I’ll be sure to let you know.
Almost flawless
I watched the qualifying on Saturday and the last 30 laps on Sunday on the Speed Channel. I was a little disappointed that they had absolutely no coverage of anything outside the track. They didn’t even pan the stands, or interview any fans or even a cheesy 30 second blurb with images of Manama. Maybe I missed it. Also I don’t watch a lot of racing so I don’t know how often they do that for a hosting venue.
A lot of my friends sometimes hassle me to see images of Bahrain, more than what I supply. They’re too lazy to read my blog regularly, I really doubt they’ll navigate their way to “The Bahrain Expereience” on Flickr
I thought that this would have been a great opportunity to show the country off. I remember one of Mahmood’s pictures from last year included a ‘gahwa’ setting and a coffee server. I mean it had local flavor. Throw in some shots of the diplomatic area, it gives people a reason to think, “Hey, let’s find out more about this place!”
The only Arab that I saw over both days, other than at the winner’s podium, was an Omani on a cellphone.
If you watched the speed channel, all you would think is in Bahrain is sand. It would have been nice to have some shots of Manama. Maybe even get some of the organizers for a quick blurb. Just give a human flavor to the whole thing. Westerners are still surprised that Arabs other than Adel Al Jubair can put together more than two phrases in English.
I recognize that the race is the focus, and that actual attendees probably get overwhelmed with “promotional” references. I dont think I even saw commercials for the sponsor Gulf Air (granted this was to the American market and GF doesn’t fly there anymore). I think it would be great to use the forum to promote the nation, it’s industries and it’s people.
I mean, once a year the entire world watches an event on our island for a whole weekend. I’m saying we can do more to take advantage of that!
Re(1): Almost flawless
Thanks for the explanation Mahmood!
I missed seeing any of the action from last year. Meaning that this was my first Rodeo. I enjoyed seeing the facility which looked very snappy. It sure looked like a great event!
Can’t wait to see the improvements