Bye Bye Melbourne

You are not alone, that special effort of staying awake or waking up, the stillness, the cold, that hunger in your belly. They all add to magic and create far crisper memories that you can look back on with rose tinted spectacles and passionate nostalgia. It is unfortunate that Bernie Ecclestone is a a ****ing moron.
 
Yeah, I remember my mum and dad and I stayed up and watched the whole of the 1994 Australian GP live on TV. Great memories.

I remember looking out of the window just before the race got under way and there were 4 or 5 more houses in our street that I could see that were up watching the race.

It's all part of the GP experience.
 
I was 12 in 86 and I know I didn't stay up and watch the race.

Was it re-run on the same day?

I've seen that footage over and over again so it's hard to remember weather I saw it at the time or not.
 
Welcome rapidcaptain - here's your introductory :moustache:

FB said:
Pup LOL

'stralia 86 for your enjoyment
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Regardless of what you think of Big Nige (after his Indy car days) that took a bit of skill to hold on to that one.
 
Last years race was in trouble of being stopped due to the light levels (It was effectively dark for about the last 10 minutes due to the weather). Seeing Simple Minds afterwards was a blast, even in the rain (it was still warm enough). The season started for me in Melbourne as didn't see Bahrain (borerain from what I heard) as I was travelling and what a start it was. It was so worth the money and hassle of getting there each day from the outskirts of Melbourne.

It would be a disaster for F1 in that part of the world if Melbourne were to lose the race due to that money grabbing little goblin. Albert Park is the perfect place for the race to happen, travel and amenities are superb as well as being a top-notch circuit.

Bernie, sort yourself out and stop being an arse..
 
I travelled half way round the world to watch the very first Melbourne GP. I cannot image going to all that effort to watch a night race. It was freakin' cold that race day in 96 and the evening reminded me of my last trip to Manchester!
 
snowy said:
I'm just wondering if there'll be a Australian GP in 2011. :thinking: Isn't there a ruddy great lake the size of Wales heading straight for Melbourne?
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The Pirelli Extreme Wet Oar will be used, although you have to use two compounds!
 
As an Australian, I think it would be tragic if the race were to go away. With Bernies insatiable greed causing ever-higher fees, I fear it won't be long until any Grand Prix will require government financial assistance. With so many governments being strapped for cash now, I don't think they will be lining up to sponsor a sporting event, except perhaps in the Middle East. I don't think this bodes well for the future of Formula 1. >:(
 
Even the Middle East will vanish if the oil runs out. Some of their countries are subsidising it to try and show businesses they have more to offer than black gold, but if that doesn't take off, Bernie will still go where the money is.
 
fat jez said:
[quote="DOF_power":22fccwba]If was a full World Championship there would be ~200 GPs per year.
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care to explain how little things like transport costs, jet lagged drivers, audiences getting bored with constant exposure, etc would be overcome.

200 GPs would be a championship race every 2 days. It takes about 5 days to setup, race and clear down. Somebody get this man a reality check.[/quote:22fccwba]



Why should I explain anything ?!
I was just pointing out the fact that you cannot ever have a true world championship in the literal meaning of the term.

Same about the Aussie GP since it was good race usually.
 
MCLS said:
Thats why they get a rough approximation from each continent
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Except Africa, which seems reasonable to me. It would be ridiculous to run this past the shanty towns. Which, of course, they do in the Middle East, but lets not drag this conversation irretrievably left!
 
teabagyokel said:
MCLS said:
Thats why they get a rough approximation from each continent
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Except Africa, which seems reasonable to me. It would be ridiculous to run this past the shanty towns. Which, of course, they do in the Middle East, but lets not drag this conversation irretrievably left!
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Middle east cities like Abu Dhabi are not shanty towns. The Brazilian GP is close to the favelas though.

But who really cares since there wasn't any problem running GPs under several fascist dictatorships, imperialist colonialist regimes, apartheid S. Africa, communist regimes (Hungary of the 80s).

I don't see were this outrage/ political correctness comes from.
 
MCLS said:
Thats why they get a rough approximation from each continent
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Since when ?!

A rough approximation only started in the 80s with Japan and Australia getting their official GPs and S. Africa and the USA still having theirs.

And that was a very brief period.
 
I understand your point DOF_Power, for many years the F1 circus was very much a European/North American series (with the odd trip to South America) and the expansion into other parts of the world should be welcomed. However, there is a fundamental problem with the fan base in places such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bharain etc. and this is why, for so many years, the circus restricted itself to the areas where fans would go and watch the races. Obvioulsy the rise in TV coverage has, to an extent, made this redundant.

Coming back to the reason why I posted this article, I believe F1 needs races in places like Australia to justify the title of "World Championship". I'd love to see races in Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and Australia; all countries with a sufficent fan base to justify holding a Grand Prix which would mean the southern hemisphere is more adequately represented in a series which claims a World Champion. The nub of the problem is the financial demands being made by the commercial rights holder which is pushing races into countries where F1 probably isn't very popular but the government enjoys the kudos of having a race and is prepared to subsidise it financially.
 
Most fans are TV fans and highly volatile "fans", over 10 million italians a GP, but over 10 million do not attend a race.

F1 will be justified, with shitty tracks in breaking thru countries, by making the money to pay the CVC debt.

What to countries like those in the middle east is no different to what happened to Monaco (witch they want to emulate and hence pay the fees).
 
DOF_power said:
Middle east cities like Abu Dhabi are not shanty towns. The Brazilian GP is close to the favelas though.
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Unfortunately many of the fabulous new cities in the Middle East are being built by workers from places like Bangladesh and Pakistan and they are been treated little better than slaves. In Dubai workers are housed on the outskirts in large shanty towns with no amenities, they have been forced into debt, their passports taken, and are forced to work for nothing. They stand little or no chance of ever returning to their homes and their families, because of the laws regarding the payment of debts. I am not saying Abu Dhabi is as bad as this but they too have their ways of doing things and getting things done.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/the-dark-side-of-dubai-1664368.html
 
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