Comments on: Financial Musings About My Trip To The Formula One Race In Montreal

By: This and That

This and That — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:22:33 +0000

[...] Preet on the economics of his annual pilgrimage to the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal. [...]

By: Preet

Preet — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 15:43:09 +0000

@TKO – happy to oblige and thanks for the comment! :)

By: TKO from Ontario

TKO from Ontario — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:43:08 +0000

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The above is how a proper review gets done, great job PB.
Your first person account reads better than Frommer’s or Travel Guide and is more entertaining too. Massive Respekt!

That Advisor Confidential article was really cool too. I especially enjoyed the reference to the movie The Last King of Scottland. If that doesn’t amazingly illustrates the diverse cultural make up of Canada, I don’t know what does. I too am an immigrant and love this country.

By: Preet

Preet — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:43:31 +0000

I absolutely love Montreal – so much character and so many things to do. I love the seemingly endless festivals and big events like Just for Laughs, the Jazz festival and of course the strong racing culture. :)

By: Cash Instinct

Cash Instinct — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:29:53 +0000

Going to the Grand Prix is easy, you take the metro and you’re there… oh, right, being from Montreal helps!!! ;)

I am happy that you enjoy the city.

By: Preet

Preet — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:44:49 +0000

It was a big part of my life. I worked in a garage during university, raced Solo II, some Solo I then took the plunge and trained at the Bridgestone Racing Academy for 9 months full time in their race driver/mechanic program. Made it up to a form of Formula 2000, then took a desk job as the operations manager of the Academy for two years.

Actually – here is an article with pictures of the cars (although when I was racing I drove a slightly older version of that car).

http://www.advisor.ca/images/other/ae/ae_0508_advisorconfidential.pdf

By: Michael James

Michael James — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:51:31 +0000

No, I’ve never been to Mosport. I was really into watching car racing as a teenager, but there was a fatality one race and it shook me badly. I couldn’t understand how the race could continue after someone had died. It’s only relatively recently that I’ve shaken off this experience and begun to enjoy races again. It sounds like you know much more about racing than I do.

By: Preet

Preet — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:10:35 +0000

I think taking the plunge for the Kangaroo TV units ($80/day) between a few people might be worthwhile. You can hear the pit-driver communications, split times, follow the action much more clearly.

But your comment about it being difficult to keep track of the action is precisely why I watch the race on TV, and go for only the Friday or Saturday for the visceral experience of it all. There’s nothing like seeing it live.

Plus after having driven a few races and practically living at the track for a few years, I can only take it for a day at a time these days (unless I was driving, which probably won’t be for another 5 years before I hop back on the saddle).

Do you ever head up to Mosport?

By: Michael James

Michael James — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:55:51 +0000

I was at the Grand Prix in Montreal with some friends. We went Saturday and Sunday. We managed to get free accommodations as well. One cost you didn’t mention was the $6 ice cream bars and $7 cold drinks to prevent heat stroke. We brought a backpack full of ice packs and bottled water. Without that, we could easily have spent $20 per person each day just trying to stay cool and hydrated. Fortunately, ear plugs were sold by many people for only a dollar.

If I go again, I would want some sort of technology to combine an audio feed of race coverage with ear protection. It was exciting to watch pit row and the red light accident, but it was difficult to keep track of what was going on in the race.