It was the first time for me to put the light reflector on. We were told to wear it for safety during the work. These outfits made me excited. Actually I had a great time here and I really wanted to take pictures, but we were not allowed to become one of the spectators. It seemed that lots of rally officials had wanted to appear in pictures during the work to show to their friends or family members last year. Therefore a rally official was assigned to take our pictures. I asked him to take my picture with some cars or drivers in secret. If there is a good one, I'll post it in this blog.
I'd like to talk about two episodes now. At first I had a chance to chat with car number 14 driver Conrad Rautenbach, a world class driver. What made me speak to him was that I noticed a Japanese beginners mark stuck on his car. He was definitely one of the fastest drivers on the public road. Why a beginners mark on his car? I asked him. He said, "I am a beginner, with a smile on his face." I took it as a joke and I felt him to be friendly and modest. To tell the truth, I asked a rally official about the meaning of the mark and I realized the real reason of the mark on his car. I'll write about this in another entry. Anyway, I got a good impression about Mr. Conrad Rautenbach and will cheer for him in the future.
Secondly, I'll talk about Sébastien Loeb, who became the yearly champion after Rally Japan. Before that, I had been intersted in the WRC media who put on the orange tabard. Ordinary media were wearing the green one, as I showed before. http://kumo.typepad.jp/weblog/2008/10/a-short-break.html
In Parc-Fermes no one was allowed to work on the car. Drivers were required to stop the engine. However, we were told that whatever the orange WRC media were doing, let them go. I wondered what on earth the orange WRC did and followed them. They were removing the data boxes of the on-board cameras. I was watching their work. This data would be used on TV. At that time someone bumped into me on the left shoulder, but said nothing. How rude it was, I thought and turned around. He was Sébastien and looked nervous so I didn't speak to him. My friend was watching us then and envied me the incident, but I didn't think so.
At any rate, it was a shame that I was not allowed to take pictures in the Parc-Fermes, but I was happy being surrounded by the rally cars that I had dreamed of.
(Vocabulary)
appear in a photo // come out 写真に写る
before that その前に
work on 修理（手入れ）する
At any rate それにしても
Comments