Crwydro a Mwydro

Fel fan Lando Norris, mae gen i deimladau cymysg am y penwythnos yma…

Gyda’n ticedi general admission am y penwythnos, dyma fy nhro cyntaf yn mynychu ras mewn gwlad tramor. Fel pob penwythnos Fformiwla 1, y dydd Gwener ydy’r diwrnod lleiaf prysuraf o’r 3 (ddim yn cynnwys dydd Iau pan does dim ar y trac), ac felly oedd y daith yno ac yn ôl o ganol y ddinas yn reit hawdd.

Gyda chymysgedd o gerdded, y metro, trên a bws, roeddwn ni trwy’r giatiau i’r trac am 11:30. Defnyddiwch y ddolen yma i ddysgu mwy am y ffurf o deithio i ac yn ôl o Hungaroring – Trafeilio i’r trac. Erbyn diwedd y penwythnos, mi oedden ni wedi ychwanegu tacsi a bws mini i’r rhestr o deithio wrth drio ffigro allan y ffordd cyflymaf o fynd a dod. Oedd pob opsiwn (oni bai am y tacsi) yn rhad ac yn gyfleus.

Fel riwin sydd wedi bod i Silverstone ddwywaith, dwi’n deall pam fod pawb yn ei alw’n “spectacle”, yn enwedig wrth ei gymharu efo’r Hungaroring. Oni bach yn siomedig i ddechrau, oedd popeth yn fwy sylfaenol a bach i gymharu. Ond, oedd hyn yn ddisgwyliedig gyda’r pris a’r enw da o fod y ras rataf yn y calendr. Felly fedrai ddim cwyno gormod!

Oedd popeth wedi’i ledaenu allan ac yn teimlo ar hap o ran lleoliadau bwyd a gweithgareddau i’w wneud. Oedd y Fan Zone yn fach, yn enwedig pan yn ei gymharu â Silverstone – nai drio peidio cymharu’r ddau ormod! Gyda sim racing, twneli gwynt, podiwm i dynnu lluniau ac wrth gwrs y llwyfan. Roedd y gynulleidfa’n fach a chefais olygfa dda o gyfweliadau James Vowles ac Ayao Komatsu. Oedd siopau dillad F1 wedi dotio o gwmpas hefyd.

Oedd cinio’n ddrud ac yn blaen, ond digon o ddewis. Di’r ffaith fy mod i fach yn ffyslyd byth yn helpu, dwi’n siŵr gesi’r un peth i ginio bob dydd yna (oni bai am crepe ar ddiwrnod y ras).

Gyda’n ticedi general admission, doedd dim gymaint o ryddid i grwydro. Oedd hanner y trac wedi’i rwystro, ac oedd angen math arall o dicedi i symud ymlaen. Dim bwys, oedd digon i’w wneud beth bynnag, a digon o bethau ymlaen ar y trac i wylio megis F2.

Oedd digon o lefydd i eistedd (ar lawr) o amgylch y lle, ond dim cysgod o gwbl! Mi oedd hi’n ferwedig o boeth trwy’r penwythnos felly prynom ymbarél i ni gysgodi. O amgylch y trac roedd “sprinklers” ymlaen, oedd o’n ddoniol gweld pawb yn mynd allan o’u ffordd i gerdded o dan y dŵr oer. Hefyd, roedd ddigon o stondinau ail-lenwi poteli dŵr, handi! – Felly cofiwch ddod a botel efo chi!

Ar ôl cerdded o amgylch yn chwilio am le i setlo am ein hail ddiwrnod, daethom ar draws llwybr tu ôl i’r lle bwyd sydd yn rhedeg ar hyd y llinell dechrau ac sydd reit uchel i fyny. Felly oeddwn yn gallu gweld dipyn o’r trac ac yn bwysicach, y sgrin. Felly, treuliasom y diwrnod ar y llwybr, yn cymryd ein tro yn mynd i nôl bwyd fel bod neb yn cymryd ein lle.

Yn wahanol i’n taith adra’r diwrnod cynt, oedd y siwrne i’r ddinas ar ddiwedd y dydd yn hunllefus. Dychmygwch hyn; Dechrau ciwio wrth giât #3 am chwarter i chwech ar gyfer y bysys i’r orsaf drenau…a chyrraedd adra am naw!

Fel byswn yn awgrymu gydag unrhyw ras a thicedi general admission, mi wnaethon ni gyrraedd y trac yn fuan am wyth i ni gael lle da ar gyfer y ras ar brynhawn dydd Sul. Dylwn i wedi gwrando arnaf i fy hun a sefyll fy nhir wrth ddweud bysai’r un sbot a ddoe yn well na unrhyw le newydd i ni allu gweld a deall beth oedd yn mynd ymlaen yn y ras, ond na, oedd yr hogia isio mynd i rywle newydd lle oedd pawb arall. Er ein bod ni ar fryn, dwi ddim yn jocian pan dwi’n deud oni ddim yn gallu gweld dim. Dim byd o gwbl. Dim ond cefnau pen cannoedd o bobl. Yr unig beth da ddaeth allan o wylio’r ras o fan hyn oedd yr awyrgylch a’r bobl.

10 munud i fewn i’r ras nesi roi’r gorau iddi drio gweld a deall beth oedd yn digwydd, nesi benderfynu mynd i nôl crempogau i’r tri ohonom ni yn lle. A pan gyrhaeddais yn nol, oedd hi’n rhy boeth i sefyll felly nes i wario gweddill y ras yn gorwedd i lawr o dan yr ymbarél gyda Joe yn gwaeddi diweddariadau ata’i. Hanner ffordd trwy’r ras wnaeth Joe wneud ffrind efo’r dyn tu ôl i ni. Mr Ferrari oedd y dyn yn galw Joe gan ei bod yn gwisgo coch o’i goryn i’w draed, Mrs McLaren o ni, a Mr Lotus oedd y dyn dieithr o’r Ffindir! Erbyn diwedd y ras oni wir wedi laru. Dwi’n siŵr ei bod hi wedi bod yn ras difyr, ond oni’m callach! Fel ffan Lando Norris, oni ddim yn hapus efo’r canlyniadau, felly’r eiliad gorffennodd y ras, o’n i ar fy nhraed ac yn stormio tuag at yr allanfa. Nesi ddim hyd yn oed gwylio’r podiwm!

Wnaethon ni ddefnyddio allanfa gwahanol i’r arfer gan ei bod yn agosach, ac ers i ni wario dros dair awr yn teithio adra’r diwrnod cynt, oeddem ni eisiau trio dull gwahanol i gael adra heddiw. Camgymeriad cyntaf oedd peidio penderfynu ar un ffordd o drafeilio. Gwastraffom amser yn cerdded yn ôl ac ymlaen rhwng y banc tacsi, y lon waelod i ddal Uber, a’r maes bysys mini. O ddifrif wan, gwastraffom tair awr (eto) rhwng penderfynu sticio i un dull. Y bysys mini enillodd yn y diwedd, oedd y ciw yn lleihau’n gyflymach na’r lleill ac yn bris rhesymol hefyd.

Pan ges i ar y bws, oedd y pedair sedd blaen wedi’i gymryd gan bedwar dyn canol oed Iseldireg mewn dillad Red Bull – Max Verstappen. Oedd gweddill y bws yn llawn a pan welodd y dynion fy nillad oren gwaeddodd un, “No McLaren fans on this bus!” felly dywedais yn ôl, “Awh are you upset that Max finally has some competition?”. Chwerthodd pawb ar y bws ac oedd yn siwrne gyflym ac ymlaciol yn ôl i’r brif ddinas gyda pawb yn trafod yn gyfeillgar gyda’i gilydd – dim ots pwy oedden yn cefnogi.

Ar ôl mynychu 3 penwythnos rasio gwahanol gyda thicedi general admission, byddaf yn ddigon bodlon i dalu mwy ar gyfer sedd mewn grandstand y tro nesaf…

English

As a Lando Norris fan, I have mixed feelings about this weekend…

With our general admission tickets for the weekend, this is my first time attending a race abroad. Like every Formula 1 weekend, Friday is the least busy day of the 3 (not including Thursday when there is nothing on the track), and so the trip there and back from the city centre was quite easy.

With a mixture of walking, the metro, train and bus, we were through the gates to the track at 11:30. Use this link to learn more about the choice of travel to and from the Hungaroring – Traveling to the track. By the end of the weekend, we had added a taxi and a minibus to the list of travel while trying to figure out the fastest way to get there. All options (except for the taxi) cheap and convenient.

As someone who has been to Silverstone twice, I understand why everyone calls it a “spectacle”, especially when comparing it to the Hungaroring. Initially it was a bit disappointing, everything was more basic and small in comparison. But, this was expected with the price and reputation of being the cheapest race in the calendar. So we couldn’t complain too much!

Everything was spread out and felt random in terms of food locations and activities to do. The Fan Zone was relatively small, especially when compared to Silverstone – I’ll try not to compare the two too much! With a racing sim, wind tunnels, a podium to take photos and of course the stage. The audience was small and I had a good view of the interviews of James Vowles and Ayao Komatsu. There were F1 merch/clothing shops dotted around too.

Lunch was expensive and plain, but plenty of choice. The fact that I’m a little fussy never helps, I’m sure I had the same thing for lunch every day (except for a crepe on the day of the race).

With our general admission tickets, there wasn’t as much freedom to roam. Half the track was blocked, and another type of ticket was needed to move on. No matter, there was plenty to do anyway, and plenty of things on the track to watch such as F2.

There were plenty of places to sit (on the ground) around the place, but no shade at all! It was boiling hot all weekend so we bought an umbrella for shade. Around the track there were sprinklers, it was funny seeing everyone going out of their way to walk under the cold water to try cool down. Also, there were plenty of water bottle refill stands, handy! – So remember to bring a bottle with you.

After walking around looking for a place to settle for our second day, we came across a path behind the food area which runs along the start line and is quite high up. So I was able to see quite a bit of the track and more importantly, the screen. We spent the day sitting on the path, taking turns going to get food so that no one took our place.

Unlike our journey home the day before, the journey to the city at the end of the day was a nightmare. Imagine this; Start queuing at gate #3 at a quarter to six for the buses to the train station… and back at the apartment at nine!

As I suggest with any race and general admission tickets, we arrived at the track early at eight to get a good place for the race on Sunday afternoon. I should have listened to myself and stood my ground saying that the same spot as yesterday would be better than any new place for us to be able to see and understand what was going on in the race, but no, the boys wanted to go somewhere new where everyone else was. Even though we were on a hill, I’m not joking when I say I couldn’t see anything. Nothing at all. Just the backs of hundreds of people’s heads. The only good thing that came out of watching the race from here was the atmosphere and the people.

10 minutes into the race I gave up trying to see and understand what was happening, I decided to go get pancakes for the three of us instead. And when I got back, it was too hot to stand so I spent the rest of the race lying down under the umbrella with Joe shouting updates at me. Half way through the race Joe made friends with the man behind us. The Finish stranger was calling Joe Mr Ferrari as she was wearing red from head to toe, I was Mrs McLaren, and we dubbed the Fin as Mr Lotus! By the end of the race I was really fed up. I’m sure it was an entertaining race, but I was none the wiser! As a Lando Norris fan, I was not happy with the results, so the moment the race finished, I was on my feet and storming towards the exit. I didn’t even stay to watch the podium!

We used a different exit than usual as it was closer, and since we spent over three hours traveling home the day before, we wanted to try a different method to get home today. Our first mistake was not deciding on one way to travel and sticking to it. We wasted time walking back and forth between the taxi bank, the bottom road to catch an Uber, and the minibus area. Seriously, we wasted three hours (again) just deciding which mode of transportation to stick to. The minibuses won in the end, the queue went down faster than the others with a reasonable price too.

When I got on the bus, the four front seats were taken by four middle-aged Dutch men in Red Bull clothes – Max Verstappen fans. The rest of the bus was full and when the men saw my orange clothes one shouted, “No McLaren fans on this bus!” so I said back, “Awh are you upset that Max finally has some competition?”. I earned a chuckle from everyone on the bus and it was a quick and relaxing journey back to the capital with everyone chatting amicably with each other – regardless of who they were supporting.

After attending 3 different race weekends with general admission tickets, I’ll be sure to pay more for a grandstand seat next time…