This year’s CARtoday.com and TW&T F1 Challenge winner, Jacques van der Westhuizen of Durbanville, and his best mate travelled to Sao Paulo to drink in the sound, colour and atmosphere of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Jacques shared his experiences with us…
By Mike Fourie – Editor
Jacques van der Westhuizen from Durbanville is a veteran participant in CARtoday.com’s online challenge and a bona fide F1 nut. This year, he pipped fellow fanatic by a single point at the Chinese Grand Prix, and won the main prize – a dream trip for two to watch the season-ending Brazilian GP, which turned out to be the legendary Michael Schumacher’s last race, at Interlagos.
It was a dream come true for Jacques, 32, who had been a fan of F1 (and in particular the McLaren team and its drivers) since the early ‘90s. After years of watching grands prix on TV, he finally got the chance to watch a F1 race from trackside and he asked his best friend, Andre Saayman, to join him for the trip.
Jacques and André arrived in Sao Paulo, the biggest city in South America, on the Friday preceding the grand prix and attended each session of the race weekend. The pair also experienced the many aspects of the city, including the stark contrast between those living in squalor and the super rich, the scrumptuous food and (very tasty) beer, and the pair also spotted Renault team boss Flavio Briatore in a restaurant.
“We had an excellent vantage point at the track – it was at Turn 4, which follows the Senna esses at Interlagos,” Jacques said. “It’s hard to describe the awesome sound of Formula One cars and the atmosphere of the crowd to those who have never experienced it before, but it was priceless and unbelievable experience – something that every F1 fan should endeavour to savour at least once.
“Andre and I were fortunate that our group could see large areas of the track from where we sat, but there was also a monitor from which we could follow the action on the other side of the circuit and live timing updates,” he added. “There must have been 10 Ferrari fans for each Renault supporter and the Brazilians jeered and hissed each time they saw either Fernando Alonso or Giancarlo Fisichella’s cars flash by… Of course, the faithful were frenzied when homeboy Felipe Massa took pole and won the race.
“I was hoping that Kimi Raikkonen would win the race in his last outing for McLaren, but Massa was way out front… and it was such a privilege to see Schumacher fight his way through the field the way he did; he certainly gave his best in his final race. Security access to other parts of the circuit was quite tight, so we couldn’t rush to the see the presentation ceremony.
“After the race we ventured into the city to drink in the atmosphere , but I have to add that it isn’t easy to get around Sao Paulo because most people speak Portuguese and Spanish, but very little English,” he added. “But the atmosphere was absolutely incredible.
Jacques concluded by saying that he couldn’t wait to attend his next grand prix: “The next time I visit Brazil, I’d love to see Rio de Janeiro. But my first grand prix experience has left me wanting more… the next one I want to see is the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps. But a warm thank you to the CARtoday.com team and all the sponsors of the F1 Challenge, Tiger, Wheel and Tyre, for offering me this wonderful opportunity to see a grand prix”.
It’s our pleasure, Jacques, and best of luck in defence of your title next year. Hopefully we will be able to offer a similar, awesome prize to the winner of the 2007 F1 Challenge. We’d also like to congratulate Edre Janse van Rensburg, who won a 50-issue subscription to CAR Magazine for earning the most points overall for the season (after Jacques, who had already won the grand prize).