Farewell to the longest weekend

Now it will come as no surprise I’m sure, to hear me confess to being quite lazy.

It’s true that even as I sit here now I am weighing the pressures of full bladder vs the soft padded comfort of my reclining office chair.

Usually at the weekend I shall fall into my bed in the early hours of the morning and stay there until Monday. However there are always exceptions!

The Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka has always been one such exception. There are some fly-away races which I don’t mind watching 12 hours later on the replay. Suzuka though, probably due to it often being the place were the World Championship has been decided, is always watched live.

This is where my lazyness comes to into play.

I cannot set an alarm clock for 5-to-6 and get-up. In fact in order for me to be up for 6 the alarm would probably need to have been ringing since 4. So Suzuka for me has always been an all-nighter, if you can’t get up then just don’t go to bed!

Suzuka is one of those places that never gives you a boring race, again probably because the fate of the World Championship is usually at stake. I cannot believe that this weekend may have been the grand old circuit’s swansong.

And what a GP she gave to us. A totally unexpected championship swing against Michael Schumacher as his Ferrari splutters to a halt under the flyover.

In the meantime I will fondly remember all those years sitting in my living room in the dark, fighting back the sleep. I will remember the one-man conga line I did around my living room when Damon Hill won the championship in 1996. I will remember Schumacher stalling on the grid there in 1998. I will remember the battles Royale between Senna and Prost, and the Rain affected GP of 1994 (Possibly Damon’s finest Drive!)

The Japanese Grand Prix will move to the rather less exciting Fuji circuit next season, and only time will tell whether that becomes an event worthy of an all nighter.

In the meantime, if anybody wants me, I’m off for a power nap!