Sunday April 20th, 2003
Stay Away
Imola is usually throbbing with Ferrari fans desperate to see their heroes in action but this year the famous tifosi were conspicuous in their absence. An astonishingly low 82,500 people passed through the gates during the three-day weekend with a crowd of just 8,500 making the effort to watch Friday qualifying – a drop of 20 percent. One Italian newspaper claimed, however, that the reason for the crowd fall-out could be that ticket prices for this weekend's event have shot through the roof and that Italian fans could do more with their money. For the 380 Euros it costs for a main straight grandstand seat on Sunday's race day, a race fan could spend a week in the sun in Tenerife "and have a better time", the paper claimed.
Million Dollar Car Park
The entrance to the Imola paddock was probably worth more than a million pounds on Sunday as the drivers and celebrities parked a variety of sportscars and supercars just outside the gates for a quick getaway. Michael Schumacher, of course, cruised into the track in his Ferrari while there were Jaguars aplenty and a high-powered Subaru Impreza waiting in the courtyard for one lucky owner. But Jaguar driver Mark Webber, who scraped pennies together to make it up the motorsport ladder, kept things down to earth - and was seen packing his things into his Range Rover.
Sleeping on the Job
Clearly enthralled by the opening F3000 practice on Saturday, one pitlane marshal obviously waiting for the Formula One action to start was spotted sleeping as he sat by McLaren's section on the pitwall. Sitting down with his feet on the poles, the Italian marshal had nodded off in the afternoon sunshine during a break - but was no doubt back at his post when he was back on duty.
My Name is...
Every now and again there are a few embarrassing mistakes on press releases that go out to the press from all of the teams during the weekend of a Grand Prix. But one, made by Renault at Imola, must hit the charts of all-time name gaffs as the Anglo-French team described their tough, shaven-headed "Rottweiler" technical director Mike Gascoyne as "Mike Gayscoyne".
New Delivery
Pop star Jay Kay, of Jamiroquai, was one of the celebrities to brave the paddock at Imola, which some paddock regulars claimed was busier than it ever has been before this year, but he was in Italy with an ulterior motive. Rather than making a specific jaunt to watch the race, Jay Kay, a paddock regular and a friend of Formula One team chief Eddie Jordan, visited Imola after picking up a very special brand new toy. "I have got an Enzo," said the singer of his new Ferrari supercar, which is made in strictly limited edition. "It's a handful," he added. "You need to concentrate all the time. I was like a school kid when I went to the factory to pick it up. I am one very happy chap."
Published at 18:31:48 GMT
(03-11-2005): 
