Suzuka 2006...schumies Penultimate Race

[m3gtr]

as promised on another thread ive got the photos ready to post from my experience at Suzuka 2006. Needless to say most of you wont believe who i managed to meet and where i managed to get into!!

and FYI, these are all genuine pics. NONE of them are photoshop.

Enjoy!

me and Schuie outside the press rooms. I basically had him to myself for 5 minutes!! He took a keen interest in my swivel lense S4 Nikon. A couple more..

here he was on his way back from the press conference after i spoke to him...he took time signing stuff which was cool

my japanese friend who organized the access to the pits and paddock got his car signed. Needless to say we were both buzzing!

Alonso signing my cap.. i was the only one he signed something for but i guess thats because i was decked out from head to toe in renault gear! i was trying to pull off an alonso impersonation but failing miserably!

Ove andersson was really chatty..nice old bloke!

good old Webbo. The guy was mega friendly and pretty damn tall to boot..

. i tried to talk my way into getting garage access but he couldnt do anything! oh well...you never know if you dont ask..

[m3gtr]

Here are some pics of the Toyota drivers. Ralf was way friendly and Jarno was too.

that photo with ralf was taken on the friday. BEFORE i f**ked my goatie up...

i had access on friday and Saturday!

Met Webbo both days..

if you look carefully you can see Michael trying to avoid reporters in the background. I didnt even notice!

This sequence between Briatore and Ecclestone was fascinating to watch! i had no idead what they were talking about but Flavio was pissed at something....Bernie looked like he didnt give a sheeite. seeing Bernie was a massive power trip..

[m3gtr]

here are some of the other guys and ...girls i managed to meet!

Jean Alesi....

De La Rossa...

Kovalainnen...

Gerhard berger.. ( who literally invited me and my friends to the Red Bull motorhome for a chat and something to eat and drink ) Top bloke.

david coulthard...

Ant davidson...

Yuji ide...

I didnt exactly get to meet Kimi..he was too busy looking for the nearest strip joint...

Peter Windsor..the main Chief editor of F1 magazine. It was a real honour to meet the guy..and he reminded me of my dad strangely enough..

a very out of place samurai...with red bull logos..?

[m3gtr]

heres a pic of the renault girls..damn these babes were fine. the japanese go nuts trying to get a glimpse...but i was right there and didnt have to struggle..

schuies 430 parked out back..

and the 7 times champ looked the biz

another picture of the crazy samurai and two Schumie clones..these guys made it into F1 racing mags main article on the suzuka GP..

You think the melbourne GP is crowded...look what i had to deal with here!!

apart from the major pain in the ass of moving around, the circuit had an amazingly electric atmosphere to it..it was one HECK of a farewell to the legendary and much loved place...

i was stationed at two different points of the track this year. I had access not only to the paddock and pits but also the main straight across from F1's best teams, and the 1st corner where i was basically positoned right in the middle of the curve and could see all the way up through the esses..

[m3gtr]

To anyone browsing through this forum, if you appreciate my pics and the experience and are a true fan...any of the above..

Kindly Leave a Message.

This way i dont feel like my time doing this has been wasted and other people actaually think appreciate me doing so.

Thanks.

Adam

[Savage Bliss]

Awesome dude... insanely jealous! You managed to meet most of the field when most of us would be happy with meeting just the one!

[m3gtr]

i wouldnt say most...

but it was fun none the less!!

i was very surprised at how amiable the drivers and team personnel were..

some were obviously better than others but,...overall an unbelievable and truly unforgettable experience. One of my dreams actually came true..

[Frink]

luckiest man alive! am i jealous? HELL YES! well done mate....

[Beer Baron]

good work! that is the way to spend a GP weekend. it was a good race too, just a shame that schuey didn't make it home. btw how much of a nice guy is webber. and a very sharp wit on him too. haha, most of the japanese fans would be stoked just to meet ide now that he is the new nihon-jin in F1.

and the japanese renault race queens were top shelf. just goes to show F1 does have the best of everything, race queens included!

thanks.

[nismoman]

Well done, great pics. I'm jealous too!

I was stoked to see Michael Shumacher drive past me at the Melbourne GP in 2004 on a scooter! Even though he's not my favourite he is one of the sports most famous drivers, so it was a real buzz.

But meeting and chatting with him along with pics for memories is outstanding!!!

[m3gtr]

good work! that is the way to spend a GP weekend. it was a good race too, just a shame that schuey didn't make it home. btw how much of a nice guy is webber. and a very sharp wit on him too. haha, most of the japanese fans would be stoked just to meet ide now that he is the new nihon-jin in F1.

and the japanese renault race queens were top shelf. just goes to show F1 does have the best of everything, race queens included!

thanks.

yeah Webber was great. Whe i first walked up to him his first comment was " g'day mate, what are you doing in here?...Dodgy deals??"

top bloke!

[Paradizzle]

As i have said before Adam... you are a lucky, lucky man! Awesome pics mate... what happened to the pic of the canadian underwear model!!??

Would be hard to top a weekend like that I would think!! You have done what many people only dream of doing. Top effort mate! If you happen to get pit access in Melbourne im coming with you lol.

[nismoman]

Yeah I want IN!!! Hook a brother up YO!!!!!

[grandmasterb]

Adam i only have one word for you BASTARD of the lucky variety my friend.

How jealous am i at the moment

Here i was thinking i was lucky when i got to roam around the PI GP and rub shoulders with all the riders and there team, BUT F1

Next time you go make room for me in your luggage hey

Love the pics

GMB

[Simonster]

Hats off, looks like u had awesome access, got any other pics to share?

......what's with the underweear model????

[m3gtr]

i have something to confess...

i got in WITHOUT a pass..on BOTH ocassions.....

i dont know how i did it, but i wasnt going to be denied. there was NO way anyone was going to be able to stop me and my tenacity.

i wanted to be in there and that was the end of the story..

to those who want to know how the hell i did it, it went like this..

the year before last i snuck into the log cabin on the saturday before the race and saw John and jenson button drinking there..

it was memorable but i swore to myself that id do it again the next year. and sure enough i did and more.

in Japan, the security doesnt really know if you are team staff or not if you look it..and as shameless as i am, i took full advantage of it. i decked myself out in my favourite colours and just went for it.

i got past the security by slight of hand about 6 times..one officer smiled at me knowingly when i passed him the 3rd time.. he seemed to understand my desperation. i powerwalked past officials and guards who more often than not payed no attention to me.

when i was stopped, i exclaimed my pass was in the pits and i needed to retrieve it. i didnt go back to show them i didnt have it. i was never booted out. one french guard refuse me access, but when he did that i just went around another way and got in through a different gate.

i wasnt going to be stopped. not for this, not for anything. this was my day. i was going to meet the people i have respected since i was knee high to a grasshopper in adelaide '85.

this was my chance.

the rest ofcourse is history. to me it was just another day....id happily live a life like that and im glad ive seen the other side of things..i dont feel special. i feel like im still me but ofcourse i know how fortunate i was to have the experience at all...

"Who dares wins", i remember someone saying to me when i was a kid...

i certainly dared enough in october last year and it certainly payed off for a lifetime of memories..

still.....some kind of strange bug has bitten me and i cant shake off the feeling...

[Whiplash]

nice (happy now i've posted)

i haven't been to a F1 race since they left Adelaide. I was planning on catching up with a mate who works at McLaren but he was sent to Bahrain for Testing instead of the Melbourne round. So maybe next year

[gtr fan]

I think you have set the bench mark as far as getting up close with celebrities goes! And not just aussie b-grade celeb's that appear on TV with their dogs!

I would give my left one to experience what you have.

Thanks for the pix they look great. Your home walls will look so much better once these are printed / blown up. Guests will walk through "oh yes thats just me and Schumacher oh and theres one with me and my mate Ferdinand!!!

You very lucky bastard!!!

[m3gtr]

i appreciate that you appreciate the thread!

i just wanted to post it to show what happened to me..its probably never going to happen again so why not do it while ive got the chance..? id kick myself until i die if i was in a postion like that and didnt take full advantage of it..

[88silhouette]

awesome work mate!