F1 Korean Grand Prix

So this weekend, I went to a very awesome place. I went to the Korean F1 Grand Prix, which is held in my province, in a town called Yeongam (it's outside Mokpo)! 

I had wanted to go for a little while, so with the help of my roommate, I purchased my ticket from the Korean F1 website.

The day of the race, I boarded the train and headed for Mokpo (about an hour away).

Lots of people were headed in the same direction.

Along the way, we saw an LRT they're testing in the area.

 Before arriving in Mokpo, I had read on the F1 website that there would be free shuttle buses from the Mokpo train and bus station to the Korea International Circuit. When I arrived in Mokpo, there were a bunch of signs (in Korean) about the F1, and a huge lineup of people (surprising actually, Koreans don't tend to queue very well) wanting to get on some buses. I figured this was the shuttle, but I took a chance, since there were no signs in English anywhere and I didn't see any other non-Koreans in line. Turns out it was the correct bus, and it took us all to the race venue (phew).

Along the way to the racetrack, we took a bridge over the Mokpo harbour.

Mokpo has a few shipyards too.

Said shipyards.

 Finally, we arrived at the racetrack along with 1.5 gajillion other Koreans and a healthy dose of non-Koreans. I made my way to the ticket tent, picked up my ticket, and walked to where my seat was.

Now, I'd like to give a special mention to my friend Steve and his dad Jerold, since they were so very helpful to me in selecting the absolute best seat at the race (besides the ones in the racecars). As a result, I got some great pictures and had an absolute blast at the race. Here's a tip: go to a race at least once in your life, it's worth it!!

 Now, one thing I'd like to mention about the Korean F1--I was pretty thrilled at how....not uptight it was... I mean, they didn't even search my bag and they were selling big 500ml cans of beer for $3.50. They had snacks for sale and some pretty inexpensive food too if you ask me, even for Korea.

However, the souvenirs were MADLY expensive. I'm talking $15.00 for a KEYCHAIN. $100 shirts, $20 programmes... I thought it would be expensive, but not that expensive...

Anyway, I digress. They were also selling earmuffs and earplugs.

Some needed hearing protection more than others.

The track before the race started.

Everyone was getting ready for the race.

And it began with an awesome first lap! (I'm sorry, I don't know much about racing at all, so I'll just describe it the best I know how :S)

I kept wondering which one belonged to Racer X.

One of the racers (I think he's Japanese) had some damage to his car so he was retired from the race.

Poor guy. It happened on the first lap :(

So they brought a crane to take his car away.

It was just hanging there.

During the race, this baby was fussing because it was so loud, so I took a photo. Oddly, I must have snapped the photo when she calmed down, but believe me, it was loud.

Here's some more pictures of the cars:

This was my favourite racer because his car made a
deep, satisfying, guttural sound on its way out of the corner and into a straightaway.

If you'd like to see, I took some videos from the race:

This one is a slow-motion video I took with my camera (sorry, there's no sound with it)
http://youtu.be/yM6kKNVtQc4

This one is of the final parade lap. You can see some of the track attendants waving yellow and green flags, as well as the safety car at the end.
http://youtu.be/YZvbU5wrHIA

My ticket. So worth it.

It was kind of hot, so people were trying to shield themselves from the sun.

I haven't seen the movie, but is this why there's a helicopter in the movie Cars 2? Either way, this guy has a huge camera attached underneath and he would fly around broadcasting the race for the bigscreens. Sometimes he would fly a little too low for comfort...

The had shuttle buses that would take people around the race track if you were sitting farther away. If you'll notice, look at all the people NOT sitting down and watching the race, even though it was already halfway through :S

A shot of the big screen.

Apparently there were some Russian racers.

Go team!

One of the racers was a Finn!

You should try racing sometime.

Gotta prove I was there :)

 Oh yes, and after the race, they had a concert by the current Korean darling, Psy. There were MILLIONS of people there, so I only stayed for a short while (I didn't want to have to fight with everyone to make my train home). Plus, I didn't appreciate it when he flipped off the camera (and by extension, me). My grade 4 students do that sometimes, Psy should know better!

They love this guy.

Anyway, that's what my weekend was like! It was awesome, and I would highly suggest everyone get to see some sort of motorsport at least once in their life. It's worth it!

Thanks again Steve and Jerold!