By Andrew Cutler
June 15 2007

I wanted to share a brief run-down of my day at the USGP Pit Walk, which took place yesterday. Thanks again to SN member Forza Faenza and his buddy for getting me into the STR garage! It was also good to meet up with JamieM/UfficiosoSTR once again.

After getting to the Georgetown Road gates at 6:30 this morning, I waited in line for 30 minutes for the track to open, chatting with my fellow die-hard F1 fans. Once the gates opened, it was an all out dead run to get to the Pagoda Plaza to queue up for passes to the driver autograph sessions. I got a pass to the Scuderia Toro Rosso session, & then was able to get in line in time to get one for the Super Aguri Honda session as well.

Next, it was time to search for my forum-board buddy, Gerry, and his friend, Brian. I found them near the entrance to the paddock area. Then we waited around for the STR guys to show up. Once the crew arrived, they flagged down Chief Engineer Massimo Rivola (whom was their “contact” in the team) & made arrangements to pick up the passes. We were told to go around to the front of the garages and wait with the rest of the Pit Walk crowd, & he would find us as soon as he could. While we waited, we talked a bit and they told me about their many experiences as long time Minardi fan club members & STR fans. They have been to the team base in Faenza, Italy as well as a few of the European GP circuits past and present & had a lot of great personal experiences to relate.

Eventually Mr. Rivola came out and handed us two passes - we would have to switch off - and we headed back to the paddock entrance area. I went in with Brian and we meet up with the team’s PR officer, Fabiana Valenti, who escorted us into the STR garages. The only stipulations to our being there were that we couldn’t get in the way (of course) and we could take any pictures of the cars from BEHIND (nothing that would show the engines). As I snapped away with my camera, Brian chatted with Fabiana (who, like Massimo, he already knew). After about ten minutes we thanked her for the opportunity and left to meet back up with Gerry. On our way out, we passed through the teams’ “rec” area. Along the way we passed BMW Sauber driver Nick Heidfeld and Brian offered him some encouragement for the upcoming weekend, which he smiled at (I had foolishly put my camera away, so I missed the opportunity to get his picture).As we were getting ready to leave the paddock area altogether, Jarno Trulli rode up on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle and I got his pic and an autograph from him.

After parting company with Gerry & Brain, I heading back to the Pagoda Plaza to get some lunch & wait for my autograph sessions. While I was there I watched as The Speed Channel F1 broadcast crew - Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, Steve Matchett, Peter Windsor & Derrick Daly - interviewed the team drivers for their USGP weekend programming. In the lulls in between sessions, Hobbs would regale the crowd with stories of his many humorous “misadventures” in his younger days as a race driver, and he had some wild stories that would have the crowd just howling with laughter!

Finally it was time for my autograph sessions, Super Aguri and then STR. I had purchased an ’07 USGP “license plate” (my preferred autograph item) and got each of the four driver’s signatures on it. I was thinking about heading over to the team souvenir stands afterwards, but it was a hot day, I was getting tired and they were in the opposite direction from the one that would take me home, so I will hit them sometime on Friday instead.

If you want to see my pics, please go to this link: http://indyandy.wordpress.com/pictures-3/