2. Reaching the first marker
Monday, April 25, 2011
Number of tollbooths passed: 4
Truck drivers eating a portion of meat and chips: 3
Truck drivers sleeping: 2
Price of a room at tonight’s hotel: €74
We’ve arrived at the outskirts of Reims in the Champagne region of France for our first overnight stay.
The truck drivers are enjoying some rest and preparing themselves for the long days of driving ahead.
It’s been a great trip so far. The sun has been shining brightly all the way down here and the scenery through rural France is fantastic.
But being in this part of the world, it’s impossible not to mention one thing synonymous with Formula 1 – champagne.
Reims is where many of the major champagne houses are headquartered, including Mumm, which has been the official Formula 1 champagne since 2000.
The sparkling wine’s history in the sport began way back in 1950. It was a hot day on July 2, 1950, and spectators at the Reims-Gueux circuit had just watched the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio win for Alfa Romeo. The fearsome track was at the time made up of three long straights linking sleepy French villages to each other.
Two racing fans offered him a Jeroboam (equivalent of four bottles) of their champagne to celebrate with, and he duly accepted.
The tradition of actually spraying champagne in celebration on a racing podium of any sort began at the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hour race – before that, drivers traditionally took a sip out of the bottle they were given or poured some into their trophies before drinking it.
Denny Hulme was the first-ever McLaren driver to spray champagne on a podium, when he celebrated his second place at the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix. This was the first of 455 occasions to date on which champagne was sprayed in celebration of a McLaren podium or victory.
Right now, it’s time to grab a bite to eat followed by some sleep. The trucks are due to arrive sometime tonight so we’re hitting the road and heading for Aosta at 2am on Tuesday morning – these drivers are used to hitting the road at all hours.
We should arrive in the Italian city just after midday on Tuesday. Remember to keep checking mclaren.com/formula1, facebook.com/vodafonemclarenmercedes and twitter.com/thefifthdriver for updates!
1. On the move in northern France
Monday, April 25, 2011
Time leaving MTC this morning: 8.03am
Caffeinated drinks consumed so far today: 2
Combined years of McLaren trucking experience in our minibus: 51.5
It was an early start this morning as we hit the road with five Vodafone McLaren Mercedes truck drivers to begin our journey to Istanbul.
We’re heading for Reims in the Champagne-Ardennes region of France, but we’re not in a truck yet – we’re in a minibus. Each of the of the 22 Mercedes-Benz Actros trucks the team is sending out to the Turkish Grand Prix will be picked up by a different driver at points along the route, the first of which is Reims.
Once the seven-strong race team fleet arrives, the drivers we’re with now will take over driving duties and keep on heading south towards the Italian port of Trieste. As we left the McLaren Technology Centre this morning, final tweaks were still being made to the trucks to ensure they’re thoroughly prepared for the long haul that lies ahead of them.
Driving the minibus is Transport Team Leader Paul Welch, and we’ll be riding with him all the way through Europe in one of the trucks
Paul began working for the team back in 2004 as a truck driver and rigger for McLaren Communications Centre (which was replaced by the Brand Centre in 2007).
This means he was responsible for driving part of the Communications Centre to each race, and he and his colleagues set it up and took it back down again. After two years he became a full-time truck driver and began his current role as Transport Team Leader in 2009.
Says Paul: “During the race season, my responsibilities include sorting out truck logistics, arranging flights and accommodation for drivers and liaising with race team personnel to meet whatever requirements they may have at a race.
“When we aren’t racing, I’m responsible for marketing events – things such as arranging for show cars to be taken to venues and events for sponsors, as well as making sure colleagues are drivers get to where they need to go.”
Having emerged into the French daylight following a short pit stop for some sandwiches and our English Channel crossing on a Eurotunnel train, we’re already half way through our 670km journey. There are about two and a half hours’ driving left to go before Reims.
We’ll be stopping over before heading for Aosta on Day Two. Keep checking mclaren.com/formula1, facebook.com/vodafonemclarenmercedes and twitter.com/thefifthdriver for updates!
