Pilotos correndo de um lado para o outro, mecânicos carregando suas maletas de ferramenta pra cima e pra baixo, guests preparando suas apostas! A sexta feira marca oficialmente o início do final de semana mais ocupado e movimentado: A corrida de boas vindas!
Diferente das semanas que estão por vir, a primeira corrida é conhecida por atrair a atenção para além dos espectadores ávidos do Overdrive, os olhos curiosos da mídia e das pessoas comuns estão todos no grid, buscando ver quem é a equipe que vai sair na melhor no primeiro circuito de corridas.
A sexta-feira é marcada pelas últimas estratégias, treinos e calibragem dos carros, antes das 19 horas, toda a equipe deve esvaziar a área de garagens e aproveitar a noite antes da corrida. Enquanto todos curtem o show da line up do dia, as equipes de montagem estão pela cidade a fora, finalmente fechando o espaço que será destinado a corrida.
No sábado pela manhã, a atmosfera é outra: o sorteio do grid e a revelação de quem terá a pole position é feita antes da hora do almoço. Deixando todos ansiosos para o que estará por vim durante a tarde e a noite.
Para finalizar o fim de semana, domingo é dia de festa! É quando os patrocinadores e guests da equipe que teve mais ponto costuma fazer uma comemoração para os pilotos e o seu trabalho. Mas também, é um dia de tensão, com os pontos das equipes sendo revelados e os favoritos começando a ser escolhidos pelo grid. Também, as pistas da corrida do dia anterior ficam livres para prática dos pilotos que quiserem testá-las.
Mas a verdadeira tensão da sexta-feira é, a grande revelação da categoria que cada piloto foi escalado, então, não vamos demorar mais! A seguir, tudo que você precisa saber sobre os circuitos:
CIRCUITO JUNGSAN - OFF ROAD. - 15 horas
Fora da estrada e da avenida próximo ao porto de Gwangyeong, estão as belas montanhas que adornam a paisagem da cidade de Yeosu e é no meio delas que o primeiro circuito OFF ROAD da temporada irá acontecer. Diferente da maioria, esse não terá voltas, a habilidade aqui é sobre quem irá conseguir levar o carro até o topo da montanha primeiro. O tempo nublado pode atrapalhar a visibilidade, porém, sem chuvas, o risco de atolamento é menor.
Pilotos:
Oh “OZ” Zonho - Red Devils
Choi Jongyul - G4X
Bae Yuri - Ryusei
Kittiwat Srisombat - Evolx
Butsarakham “Katrina” Jamikorn - V8 Engine
*Lembrando que as equipes que falharem em apresentar o carro, não irão correr.
CIRCUITO JWASUYEONG - SPRINT RACE. - 17 horas
O primeiro circuito de sprint será destinado para as motos da competição. Sendo feita na rua principal Jwasuyeong, possui poucas curvas e uma pista espaçada que irá permitir uma fácil ultrapassagem. Aqui, estratégia para conseguir enganar os outros pilotos é importante, a comunicação com a equipe é essencial. O tempo está ao favor, com o sol ameno e a pista seca.
Pilotos:
Hwa Yeonguk - Red Devils
NPC - G4X
Ueda Aiko - Ryusei
Qian Yanfei - Evolx
Bae “Jake” Hyojin - V8 Engine
CIRCUITO HWAJANG - STREET RACE. - 19 horas
Com ruas uniformes e pequenas, o cenário para o Street Race dessa semana é o bairro de Hwajang. O circuito foi montado com curvas curtas e rápidas em mente, além de ruas pequenas que tornarão a ultrapassagem difícil, exigindo o melhor de cada um dos pilotos. Com cinco voltas no total, esperamos que ao final, os pilotos estejam habituados com as ruas do pequeno bairro.
Pilotos:
Herman Kang - Red Devils
Danyi Chwe - G4X
Kwon “Marshall” Yohan - Ryusei
Park Ahri - Evolx
Gwisin - V8 Engine
CIRCUITO DOLSAN - ROAD RACE. - 21 horas
E para fechar a noite! O circuito Dolsan é o escolhido para a road race dessa semana, começando as portas do Dolsan Park, possui um caminho longo e sinuoso em alguns pontos, com curvas inesperadas que podem pegar os menos experientes de surpresa. Tudo deve valer a pena, porém, quando chegar até a ilha Hwatae, onde devem fazer a curva e voltar para o seu ponto inicial.
Als ich die Möglichkeit in Erwägung gezogen habe, mich für einen Produkttest bei Weitzmann für eine der Fashionuhren zu bewerben, habe ich nicht geglaubt, dass ich eine bekomme. Geschweige denn in Erwägung gezogen ein anderes Angebot zu bekommen. Letztendlich habe ich die Weitzmann Race One in blau mit schwarzen Ziffernblatt und einem Milanaise-Armband erhalten. Natürlich […] Der Beitrag Weitzmann Race One erschien zuerst auf tongues of destruction. http://dlvr.it/QXWLdT
Luck of the draw meant I got a pretty decent amount of sleep on that night at the mooring buoy. We had an early morning motoring to the start line. The race start itself was exciting despite the fact that all twelve boats were being quite cautious. We hoisted our code two spinnaker beautifully and were cruising along when unfortunately the tack blew (that's the bit attached to the deck). Luckily we managed to get it back it with the entirety of the crew pulling in and holding it to the deck. We clipped the tack back on. The first thing it did was blow again which meant a whole repeat of the exercise. Third time lucky though. We managed some lovely speedy downwind sailing. Once we made it around Dover the weather picked up a bit. We ended up upwind in 20-25 knots of wind, bouncing in some decent waves. This is a pretty miserable experience for a crew withou their sea legs. The majority of my watch was seasick. We also broke both our primary winches and the pedestal grinder. That took several hours to fix, although most of the time was spent prying up the covers over the bit we wanted access to. Once that was finished we were able to hoist our headsail again. I was up on the bow with another guy trying desperately to get it out of the bag and attached for the better part of an hour. It's very tight on space up there and very short on handholds, so I ended up slammed to my knees every time we came down the waves, taking plenty of saltwater to the face. I had to give up eventually and pass off to someone else with a stronger stomach and better balance. Conditions did improve the next day and we all got some much needed rest during some downwind sailing. The kite went back up. We briefly slipped into the TSS (shipping channel) during a watch handover in the middle of the night. That was the end of our bad luck though. We sailed really well for the rest of the race - taking a bit of a risk heading across the Channel early to hit the Alderney Race (really strong tidal movement). Everyone worked really hard to keep things trimmed and weight appropriately distributed. We hit some seriously heavy fog during my mother watch day. It stuck around and the office called the race early. We spent ten hours or so motoring into Brest and waiting for the decision on the time penalty. 9 hours was a real hit in a three day race. But hey, it's done. We arrived in Brest in the mid-afternoon. The boat was cleaned. I had a lovely shower. Then it was off to the town hall for the prize-giving ceremony. That hurt too. But there were drinks and nibbles, which was nice. Afterwards we had a good team dinner at a nice restaurant and some drinks elsewhere around town. Four of us made it out to the seediest nightclub and stuck around until the early hours of the morning. That's pretty much how things have been going. We work all day on the boat doing all the bits and pieces (I'm pleased to say I'm now capable of stripping winches and servicing them). At night it's some seriously heavy partying. I'm exhausted (but having a great time). Today we had our mass crew briefing at Oceanopolis (it's an awesome aquarium). It looks like we're going to have a pretty unpleasant race start thanks to the weather. But hey, it's here! Nearly underway for my first ocean crossing. Excitement is high. Mostly I can't wait to just get on the water again.
We were all up early on Sunday morning to prep things for departure from the marina. Just after 9am the fleet had a "non-denominational" blessing. It was probably nice if you're into that sort of thing. Shortly after we began mustering crews for time on stage. The boats were divided into three groups, with us at the end of the middle one. We had a bit of time to basically wave to friends and family before being herded off at whatever our precise time was. After much waiting - for the first group of boats to not only have their stage time but also depart into the marina lock - we eventually made it up on stage. The guys with the mic moved us around for the cameras and asked the usual questions. Photos were taken. We departed to our boat song (queen's 'don't stop me now') and went to 'man our boat.' From there it was quickly slipping the mooring lines and following the other three boats into the lock. Eventually we made it into the Thames. I should add here that the marina was packed with people, mostly friends and family I'd imagine. My parents and godmother were there to see me off. There were also heaps of our crew members not racing in the first leg. Everything was very high energy - plenty of screaming and shouting. I did witness several tearful goodbyes (and may have had my own the night before). I had expected this sort of crowd. What I hadn't expected was the extent of the crowd outside the docks. The area around tower bridge was packed. We had to do loops around a bit of the river for what felt like ages to make sure all twelve boats could get out of the marina lock. As we went, more people tired up in the various pubs, flats, and parks on either side of the Thames. By the time we did the last loop before the bridge opened, the spectator boats had filled up as well. The trick here was finding which boats our individual friends and family members we on. Luckily, we had plenty of loops around that bit of the river left to do. Each passing boats meant heaps of smiling and waving, while standing in a nice line (mostly) on the correct side. Everything was really lovely for those couple of hours where we sailed in formation, waving, checking everything out. The sheer amount of people there to see us off and wish us luck was awesome. We had total strangers on random boats shouting to us. I think the majority of people who had friends and family on boats did manage to spot them. Most ended up on the same boat, weirdly. We also had a good shout and such to our sponsor, Mission Performance. Once the bridge opened again, GB led the parade down the Thames. The spectator boats followed us down, passing back and forth, until the flood gate. From there it was a more casual trip down the estuary (lasting quite a few hours). We had a full team briefing, including our team goals and rules and everything. Not to mention race strategy to Brest. Then we moored at a buoy just around from Southend for race start the next day (and had a lovely last dinner). At the moment? We're first on anchor watch. Five of us hanging out in the galley and saloon. Planning a practical joke or two. The things we do to keep ourselves awake. We also had a great bread making lesson from one of the guys (seeded loaf). He showed us how to make the start bit and then when we woke up this morning there were two beautiful loaves. We had them as a mid-morning snack (delicious).
We made it to Brest yesterday evening after our first race was cut short due to fog and wind. My boat placed second and then took a HUGE time penalty that bumped us straight to last place. It hurts to see all our hard work go down the drain like that. At least the fleet should know that we're a very competitive boat and we will put up one hell of a fight to Rio. Full updates coming soon!
