Alan's story

Day 9


There was a huge change again in the scenery as we crossed from Romania into Hungary as all the mountains disappeared and were replaced by flat but lush open plains with a great road system. The border crossing was pretty much a non event – just a flash of the passport and onwards. Not much to see until you arrive in Budapest which was another surprise to all of us. The buildings in the centre are worth a look and are most impressive. We found our way to the Hungaroring with the help of Tom (Tom Tom) and made our way to the camp site. This was a bit of a change in plan as we had planned not to reach here till Saturday for qualifying but after giving it some thought we realized that as the camp site was fully booked that we should go and set up the tents in a decent spot as they are big tents. We got set up and headed into the tented beer village, after a visit to the Aquapark, for some light refreshments and a grade C burger and fries which are charged at Carlton Hotel prices. One bar played nothing but ACDC and Nirvana which was superb. We saw the drunkest group of people in the world there. How they managed to be that drunk and alive baffled me. Tomorrow we are off to Bratislava in Slovakia because Martin is making me face up to my fears of the movie hostel.

Day 10

Set of this morning toward Bratislava which was around a 3 hour drive through mostly flat dull scenery and excellent roads. It looked like we were supposed to stop and buy a toll road ticket but missed the turn off and kept going. To our relief there was no check? We stopped off at a shopping centre and much to their disgust gave them all our 10 days of washing. They promised to have it ready for the next day and as we walked away one of them shouted as a beastie that had obviously been in the tent crawled out of a tee shirt! All we could do was laugh. Again our expectations of a city were totally wrong. Bratislava is a beautiful city in the centre and we had a good look around, ate in a local restaurant and stood and watched the Danube trying to work out if it ran east to west or vice versa. As we found out it flows from the black forest region of Germany into the Black Sea in Russia just above Bulgaria. There were a lot of trees and branches in the water which was a sign of the storms that had taken place upriver. A classical music festival was away to start up as we passed in the main square but we headed off as the rain started. A real shame as it looked as if they had put a lot of effort into setting it all up and as the car floor was soaking the next morning it must have gotten pretty heavy. This is another city I will take my family back to. Oh by the way we did not stay in a hostel. Some things in this part of Europe are very liberal as I found out as I went for a swim and steam room in the hotel to discover that swimwear is not allowed in the sauna or steam room and they are mixed facilities. It was nice and quiet though so no probs.

Day 11

Saturday today and qualifying day at the Hungaroring so off we go back to Budapest. We got back to the campsite just after 12 and found our tents had not blown away as we thought may have happened. Martin’s heavy duty tent pegs paid off. We could hear the Porsche racing which was enough to speed us to our Silver 1 section of the track which turned to be some of the best viewing seats there. We could see the cars coming through 3 corners and a chicane. The beer tent furnished us with some of the cold stuff and we settled in to watch Q1. We were all shouting for our respective drivers but my main man Kubica had a terrible time of it and never made Q2. Alonzo and Hamilton were running well though. Right at the end of Q3 though disaster struck and Massa (a Ferrari driver) seemed just to drive straight into the tyre wall in front of us. Help was quickly on the scene and one of the first things they do now is sheet off an incident to stop anyone seeing what has happened and it seemed serious. The area was soon busy with medics, marshals and Ferrari crew members and Massa was transferred into an ambulance. News was very slow in coming out and we could not understand what had happened. After a while we saw the replay which the first time you saw it he simply drove straight on making no effort to turn. In slow motion though you saw something flying through the air and striking his helmet. Turns out it was a spring from another car which hit him. Last we heard he was making a recovery although may not return to F1. Good luck Massa. We jumped into a taxi and headed off into the city to meet a couple of mates who have flown over for the GP and we met Kev and Jim at their hotel before a wander around, a few beers and the best kebab ever.

Day 12

Race Day……

We all had a bit of a headache this morning but this soon went with the anticipation of race day. Martin and Colin made a fantastic brekkie which was wolfed down. Walked down to the track, met Kev and Jim, got comfy and at 2pm the race was started. It does not matter how many GPs you go to the hairs on the neck of you neck will stand up. It is an incredible feeling as the cars go passed. You do not appreciate their power until you witness it first hand. Alonzo did very well and had a strategy slightly different to most others so he pitted first, got more fuel and a new set of tyres, drove back out onto the track only for one of the wheels which had not been bolted on properly fly off and race him down the road. I would not like to the crew member that was responsible for that. After that it was a one horse Hamilton race so Colin and Baz were both delighted. We visited the tented village after that and tried their pork knuckle and ribs. Fantastic. We saw the drunkest people in the world again in exactly the same condition as last time. Really quite impressive.

Day 13

Big drive planned today as we headed for Nurnberg and not with the clearest of heads. We stayed in a town outside Nurnberg in a great little Principle which is like a B&B. Whilst unpacking the car we discovered that Martin had attached an L plate to the back of our car and we had just driven around 10 hours with it. Revenge will be had. Ate in a wee Italian round the corner and then it was a much needed early night.

Day 14

Plan to day is Nurnberg to north of the M25 all going well but judging by traffic we are sitting in as I type we will struggle to do that. We have been pulled by the police this morning as they thought the car was unusual and thought the AZ plates were not for Azerbaijan but Arizona. They were very professional though and even asked what language we wanted to speak in. Should have gone for Azeri. German efficiency showed here as I cannot see the police in Scotland asking that question. Satnav system played silly buggers a bit today and sent us in circles twice in the countryside of Germany. It is true that you start just to depend on the Satnav being correct and taking the most sensible route but that is not always the case as we discovered so we bout a map of Europe and used the two systems to get us to the Channel Tunnel and up to just south of Luton. Martin and Colin had charged on and was determined to get to Aberdeen but Baz and I were pretty tired after a couple of busy nights at the GP and a couple of hard driving days. My car was also now showing signs of the dreaded number 24 error code returning which we had just spent 14 months and a lot of money getting rid of. A bit worrying when we were still in Germany.

Day 15

Up and away towards Aberdeen in very heavy rain. This was a first for my car which has never really been tested in rain. The soft top roof proved to be a bit dodgy to say the least at the seal with the top of the front window. The water started coming through at dual carriageway speed and was landing on us and the steering column which we had to cover with a pillow case to absorb the water and stop it getting into any of the electrics. We came over the top of the hill and Aberdeen came into sight…… we were over the moon to have made it. The whole trip was a great experience for us all. My car had held up well and seen us home safely. We had completed 6,640 km according to my speedo most of which was in 4th gear so it was not the most economical journey ever taken. Third gear was possible but only when changing up gears and not possible going down the gears. My old enemy error message 24 had returned and the car was running very rough until at full temp and there is something wrong at either the rear dif or rear axle but that will need further investigation. Would I do this again? Damn right but a different route this time. There is an organized event that is run from Budapest to a place in central Africa and that is my next goal – but not for a while yet. Now the Wrangler will be left in storage in Aberdeen I will really miss it so will need to find something else to keep me busy outside work. Baz found the trip as rewarding as I did and felt a real accomplishment as we pulled up to his house. All good stuff……………….