Viewing entries by
Iain Robertson

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Season Swan-Song: Brazilian GP Preview

Reaching the end of something, especially when it has been something of particular note, can often be a sad affair. While it will have great importance to some people, due to location, timing, levels of expectation, or quality of delivery, a degree of finality will still exist and it will engender a period of reflection, during which most of the best aspects will be recalled in glorious Technicolor, invariably with an aim of erecting spiritually, if not physically, a memorial to all that was great.

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With A Song In My Heart: Austin Grand Prix

The climb up to Turn 1 at Circuit of The Americas (© The Austin Grand Prix)

It is a time to celebrate. To roll out the barrels. To fly the banners. To wave the flags. To welcome the world to the inaugural Austin Grand Prix. However, with Austin’s reputation as ‘The Live Music Capital of the World’, you can guarantee that Travis County will be a rockin’ and a rollin’ and struttin’ its stuff like there is no tomorrow and Iain Robertson declares that nobody could be more delighted.

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Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: Every Man's an Island...

Somebody famous once coined an expression about ‘money making the world go around’, which could so readily be linked to ‘oiling the wheels of an industry’ and, let’s face it, Formula One is a financially-orientated industry that makes millionaires out of its victors, as it travels the globe and (hopefully) aids prosperity, by promoting inward investment, tourism, sporting prowess and entrepreneurial spirit. However, Abu Dhabi is in the heartland of the oil business and, without it, Grand Prix would be a whole lot less slick.

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Indian GP Preview: But It’s Just Not Cricket...

 

Fast developing countries need exciting and motivational events to raise their profiles and change outside perceptions. By tradition, India has always been a nation of tremendous contrast. Extreme wealth, once the preserve of the Maharajahs but now belonging to both commercial and industrial barons, stands starkly against a backdrop of abysmal poverty and it is this inherent imbalance that has created something of a moral dilemma. Yet, F1 is in India and it is heralded as a vital element of its modern infrastructure.

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Every Little Boy's Scalextric: Japanese Grand Prix

Suzuka Circuit, 2011 (image courtesy of Mercedes GP)

Tradition has it that Japan was always the last country visited on the annual Formula One calendar and it was invariably a Championship ‘decider’…that was until a raft of new circuits and new markets for the premier racing series opened up. Of course, in motor racing terms, Japan is still fairly ‘youthful’, having held its first GP as recently as 1976. Fuji Speedway (owned by Toyota) was the initial venue but Suzuka Circuit (owned by Honda) has superseded it, a factor that would have pleased the late, great Soichiro Honda no end.

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Raffles and a History Of Derring-Do: Singapore GP Preview

 

// Singapore GP

It is consummately simple to think about the Singapore Grand Prix as being a modern race, the first to be run under floodlights, on a new circuit, around a prestigious harbour development. Yet, prior to gaining its independence, in 1963, the original 1961 ‘Orient Year Grand Prix’, which was renamed ‘Malaysian GP’ was run on the Old Thomson Road route around Singapore, much like similar city center racing venues in Berlin, Germany, and Barcelona, Spain.

 

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