Tuesday – Day Two of USGP COTA week, and the pace has picked up but is not outwardly frenetic, fast or furious. Our long-time friend, Lon Bromley is the COTA Director of Safety. He has a staff of 48 handling fire, rescue, safety, track repair, MRV’s, plus Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steve Olvey who brings five-six doctors including Dr. Chris Pinderski from Champ Car, and Dr.Gregg Summerville from ALMS. Lon tells me that this year’s preparations and readiness is at least on schedule, if not ahead. And even though all the basic freight arrived last week, it’s still being moved in – he’s never seen so much F1 gear. More than last year.
It’s always fascinating to watch the circus come to town and set itself up in orderly fashion. There’s so much that goes on behind the scenes to make the show go on – we’ll never know all that is entailed. Everyone has a part to play.
Race Official Specialty Chief’s Bill Armitage (F&C) and Ben Coleman (Pit/Grid), along with Bob Pearson, spent the day tending to all the last minute details such as making and installing signs for all the marshal posts.
The empty F1 garages have been claimed by Pirelli tires – who used to be further away from the garages in a tent. As priorities go, taking down the Marussia and Caterham driver signs is probably not high on the list, but it could happen.
The COTA F1 Administration setup is linear. One can go from Race Control down a hall and through doors to Scrutineering, through the F1 garages and end with Pirelli. No muss. No fuss.
Behind the F1 garages, in the Paddock/Hospitality area, it is all compact. The backs of the garages, are all closed off and it’s like the teams are competing even there with the decor of their back doors. Ever seen a black Coke Cooler? Lotus has. Ferrari continues to one-up everyone with its blinding all-red color scheme , down to the shoes and socks of the crew and their bicycles. And they again brought their very own smoking booth for the Paddock.
The weather continues to be gorgeous. Warm but not unbearable. No chance of rain, and more of the same throughout the weekend. Just enough clouds in the skies to make dazzling sunsets.