Crwydro a Mwydro

Silverstone oedd y ras F1 cynta’ erioed, a mae wedi tyfu i fod yn un o’r GP’s mwyaf eiconig a mawreddog yng nghalendr Fformiwla 1. Dyma nes i pan esi i weld y ras ym mis Gorffennaf, 2024 –

Dydd Iau: Erbyn 14:30 roedden wedi cyrraedd safle campio Woodlands o’r diwedd! Ac wedi gorffen dadbacio a chodi’r babell erbyn 17:00. Roedd hi’n amser bwyd erbyn hyn felly aethom am dro o amgylch y maes i ddod i nabod ein cartref am y penwythnos. Cefais Yorkshire pudding wrap anfarwol, well iddo fod yn neis oni’n meddwl – nesi dalu £15 amdano! Ar ôl mwy o grwydro, aethom yn ôl i’r babell am y noson. Dwi’n argymell campio yn Woodlands yn fawr iawn, roedd ffair, siop memorabilia, tafarn a digonedd o dryciau bwyd ar y maes, â’r cyfleusterau eraill o safon uchel. Dim ond 15 munud o gerdded oedd rhaid i ni wneud i gyrraedd y trac ei hun, roedd yn ddigon hawdd i ni fynd a dod drwy’r dydd.

Roedd hi’n noson hir gyda’r holl synau o’n hamgylch ni, cerddoriaeth yn mynd ymlaen tan 3yb, ond oni’n disgwyl i hyn ddigwydd gan ein bod wedi penderfynu aros yn y maes bywiog yn hytrach na’r rhan deuluol.

Dydd Gwener: Ein diwrnod cyntaf ar y trac! Os oes gennych chi docynnau General Admission dwi’n awgrymu i chi ddefnyddio’r dydd Gwener ar unrhyw drac rasio F1, i gerdded o amgylch y maes i benderfynu lle ‘dachi eisiau bod i wylio’r ras ar y dydd Sul. Dyma yn union beth wnaethom ni. Ar gyfer FP1 (Free Practice) eisteddom yn Vale i weld y ceir yn dod at gornel ola’ y trac a mynedfa’r pits.

Roedd y tywydd yn newid pob hanner awr, typical! Glaw trwm yn llifo i mewn i’r haul fwyaf cynnes, rollercoaster go iawn. Diolch i Dduw bo’ ni ‘di pacio llond llaw o ponchos i bara’r tridiau yn y trac.

Wrth ddisgwyl am FP2, roedd digonedd o weithgareddau yn mynd ymlaen ar y trac, yn cynnwys Formula 2 â Formula 3. Rhwng y rhain, symudon ni i Hangar Straight, lle da i weld y ceir yn rasio ar eu cyflymder llawn ac yn brecio’n drwm erbyn y gornel Stowe.

Er y glaw trwm, penderfynom roi cynnig ar goginio amser te, dim y penderfyniad gora! Ond doeddwn ddim eisiau gwario ar fwyd drud Woodlands bob dydd. Oherwydd y tywydd stormus, arhosom yn y babell am weddill y noson yn chwarae cardiau ac yn disgyn i gysgu i sŵn Stormzy’n perfformio ar y brif lwyfan yn ôl yn y trac.

Dydd Sadwrn: Ar ôl noson anesmwyth arall o gwsg (oherwydd y storm y tro yma), gwnaethom ein ffordd i Becketts, cyfres o droadau heriol, cyflym i wylio FP3, sesiwn ymarfer olaf y dreifars. Wedyn symudon i lawr at gornel Chapel i gael golygfa well o’r ceir yn mynd drwy Maggotts a Becketts ar gyfer y Qualifying, lle bu’r ceir yn anelu i fod y cyflymaf ar y trac ar gyfer cael y safle gorau i ddechrau’r ras ar ddydd Sul.

Dydd Sul: Deffrom yn fuan ar fora’r ras i fod wrth y trac erbyn 8yb. Aethom yn syth at Vale i drio bachu lle da i wylio’r ras am dri o’r gloch. Os oes gennych chi docynnau’ gyda sedd, nid oes angen bod yn y trac mor fuan, ond os ‘na dim ond General Admission sydd gennych, mae’n syniad bod yno mor fuan â phosib.

Roeddwn yn lwcus o gael lle da ar ôl cyrraedd am 8!

Mae’r trac ei hun yn brysur drwy gydol y dydd, felly aeth yr amser yn gyflym wrth wylio ras Formula 2, 3, GT a mwy. Mae’n syniad mynd a chadair campio gyda chi, neu byddwch yn sefyll drwy’r dydd ac wedi blino erbyn i’r ras ddechrau. I gadw ein lle, roedden yn cymryd twrn i fynd i nôl bwyd ayyb.

Gan ein bod wedi cyrraedd yn fuan ac wedi gwylio’r ras o Vale, cawsom fynd ar y trac i wylio’r podiwm gyda Hamilton, Verstappen a fy ffefryn, Norris. Hefyd, cawsom fynd ar y trac ger y pits ar Hamilton Straight lle mae’r ras yn dechrau ac yn gorffen. Roedd yn brofiad gwych cael bod ar y trac gyda’r cefnogwyr eraill ar ôl i Lewis Hamilton gwneud hanes trwy ennill yn Silverstone am y 9fed tro!

Cefais benwythnos bythgofiadwy yma, mae Silverstone wir yn fwy na jyst y ras, roedd yn werth pob ceiniog.

English

Silverstone was the first ever F1 race, and it has since grown to one of the grandest, most iconic GPs on the Formula 1 calendar. This is what I got up to on my visit to the track in July, 2024 –

Thursday: By 14:30, we had finally arrived at Woodlands campsite, then finished unpacking and pitching the tent by 17:00. It was now dinner time so we went for a walk around the site to get to know our home for the weekend. I had a delicious Yorkshire pudding wrap, this better be nice I thought – I paid £15 for it! After some more wandering, we went back to the tent for the night.

I highly recommend camping at Woodlands, they had a funfair, a memorabilia shop, a pub and plenty of food trucks available, with the other facilities being of a high standard. We only had to walk 15 minutes to get to the track itself, it was easy for us to come and go all day.

It was a long night with all the sounds around us, music blaring until 3am, but we did expect this to happen as we had decided to stay in the lively area rather than the family part. I must bring ear plugs next time!

Friday: Our first day on the track! If you have General Admission tickets, I suggest you use the Friday at any F1 race track, to walk around the field to decide where you want to be to watch the race on Sunday. This is exactly what we did. For FP1 (Free Practice) we sat in Vale to watch the cars come towards the last corner of the track and the entrance to the pits.

The weather changed every half hour, typical! Heavy rain flowing into the warmest sun, a real rollercoaster. Thank God we packed a handful of ponchos to last the three days at the track.

While waiting for FP2, there was plenty of activity going on on the track, including Formula 2 and Formula 3. In between these, we moved to Hangar Straight, a good place to see the cars racing at full speed and braking heavily for Stowe corner.

Despite the heavy rain, we decided to try cooking at dinner time, not the best decision! But I didn’t want to spend a mortgage on the food trucks at Woodlands every day. Due to the stormy weather, we stayed in the tent for the rest of the night playing cards and falling asleep to the sound of Stormzy performing on the main stage all the way back at the track.

Saturday: After another restless night’s sleep (due to the storm this time), we made our way to Becketts, a series of challenging, fast turns to watch FP3, the final practice session for the drivers. We then moved down to Chapel corner to get a better view of the cars going through Maggotts and Becketts for the Qualifying, where the cars aim to be the fastest on the track to get the best position to start the race on Sunday.

Sunday: We got up early on the morning of the race to be at the track by 8am. We went straight to Vale to try and grab a good place to watch the race at three o’clock. If you have tickets with a seat, you don’t need to be at the track so soon, but if you have General Admission, it’s better to be there as soon as possible.

We were lucky to find such a good spot at 8am!

The track itself is busy throughout the day, so the time went by quickly watching the Formula 2, 3, GT and more. It’s a good idea to take a camping chair with you, otherwise you’ll be standing all day and tired by the time the race starts. To keep our place, we would take turns to go and get food etc.

As we arrived early and watched the race from Vale, we got to go on the track to watch the podium with Hamilton, Verstappen and my favourite, Norris. We also got to go on track near the pits on Hamilton Straight where the race starts and finishes. It was a great experience to be on the track with other fans after Lewis Hamilton made history by winning at Silverstone for the 9th time!

I had an unforgettable weekend here, Silverstone really is more than just a race, it was worth every penny.