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F1 Parade in London
Some great photos but an organisational disaster

On 6th July 2004 a parade of F1 cars took place in Regent Street. I had been told by the organisers where the disabled viewing platform would be and exactly how to reach it. In the event the stewards and police had no idea, each group telling me to ask the other. Finally the news came across the steward's radio: "This is a public event so there is no disabled access". What?! Not only would I not have come if I'd known that, but also these people need to read the Disability Discrimination Act...

I ended up at the bottom of the route in Waterloo Place. A policeman tried to move me on, but I couldn't walk any further, so he let me in the press area to sit down. The crowds gathered as far as the eye could see - luckily I was on the uncrowded side of the barrier. Unluckily I was stuck behind the screens around the paddock area and could see nothing. My long-suffering partner stood on the wall and took some shots of the paddock, and the cars being pushed to the start area. We didn't see any of the action at all!

Due to overcrowding the event started late and was curtailed soon after, and I was glad to leave. The organisation was a complete shambles. That said, Mike got some quite good photos...

This was the first event I had attended with my new Fuji S7000 camera. The full size images are rather large!

View fullsize The pit area. We were sat behind the screens where the people are at the bottom. Mike stood on a wall to get these photos.	View fullsize The Ferrari garage.
View fullsize "Excuse me Mr Schumacher, is this your car?"	View fullsize The Jordan garage.
View fullsize View of the crowds along Regent Street. The track was somewhere in the middle.	View fullsize Nigel Mansell in the Jordan garage (you can see a mini-Nige on the viewfinder).
View fullsize Nigel grabs a drink on the way out of the Ferrari garage.	View fullsize Nigel (again).
View fullsize Tires are pushed through the crowds to the bottom of the track.	View fullsize A Jordan is pushed through (it's in there somewhere!)
View fullsize Nigel Mansell walks through the crowd.	View fullsize The Ferrari is pushed out of the garage to the track.
View fullsize Luca Badoer looks pensive.	View fullsize Luca watches a tyreman struggle.
View fullsize The police had a tough job - no idea what was going on, they told me to ask the event stewards (who told me to ask the police).	View fullsize The Ferrari makes it through the crowd.
View fullsize The Williams follows.	View fullsize A police helicopter hovered overhead all evening.
View fullsize An empty Ferrari garage.	View fullsize People silhouetted on rooftops.
View fullsize The building opposite us - the blue and white frieze like a Wedgewood bowl.	View fullsize Cars leave only smoke in their wake as they power up the street.
View fullsize Martin Brundle in Jaguar uniform.	View fullsize Jenson Button (and girlfriend Louise).
View fullsize A general view - people everywhere.	View fullsize The BAR returns to the bottom of the track.

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This site moved from a fixed width to the current layout in 2009. Some older content such as photo sets may still have a fixed width. However if you notice any pages which are actually broken, please be kind enough to let me know via this form.

© Flash Wilson 1999-2010. I charge a fee for use of my photos.

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