We went to the Australian Grand Prix today, a Formula One race. I was surprised by how much was going on; there were 5 races today, plus F1 practice and qualifying. In addition, all over the park there were shows and activities to participate in. Our favorite was the Crusty Demons, a motorcycle jumping and trick team. They are the some of the best motorcycle riders from around the world, including an ESPN X-Games gold medalist, and the first rider to do a front flip on a motorcycle in competition. There were also airplanes doing stunts and flybys, an educational expo, rides, lots of food and music. We walked around most of the track except by the grandstands where you needed a special ticket. We watched the races from three locations, a tight turn, a turn at the end of a straightway, and the middle of the straightaway. All spots were good for different reasons. Two things Misa noticed right away are how loud the cars are and how fast they are.
They had one race between a regular Mercedes sports car, a supercar (a stock car like in NASCAR), and an F1 car. First they had each car drive around the track as fast as they could, and handicapped the race based on those times. So the Mercedes left first, then after about 15 seconds the stock car, and then after about 15 more seconds the F1 car. All three got to the homestretch at about the same time, with the stock car closing in on the sports car and the F1 closing in on the stock car, it was very exciting. Right at the end the F1 passed both to finish first, with the sports car in second, and the stock car in third. It took about 2 minutes for the sports car to go around the track, compared to a minute and a half for the F 1.
After the qualifying competition for tomorrow's race to see who would start on the pole and in what order the other cars would start we headed back to our hotel. We stopped at Subway for supper, did homeschool, and now are headed to bed.
