The Paddock lane from Lotus Racing's Hospitality
A view of Lotus Racing's Hospitality from the garage entrance.
Tony has his own parking space.
The corridors and walkways along the paddock lane
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One thing that makes many to look at AirAsia and Lotus Racing is the energy that they potray. They vibrant colours of their brands travel very far. I have always liked contrasting colours and how they blend well on logos. As I move around the Lotus Racing's garage and hospitality, my eyes were busy looking for such colours and beautiful reflections. Let me share some with you.
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Here's The Lotus Racing Hospitality. It's at the paddock lane and the finest of all you can find from any F1 tracks around the world.
It's a complte three stories building with the lounge and engineering office at the ground floor. The have offices and meeting rooms one floor up and a rooftop.
A great place to chill out with a cuppa coffee. Or even with some books in your hands. Trust me, it feels like home.
Inside the Lotus Racing Hospitality. You can see Fairuz on the far right corner of the table is having a chat with his race engineer. There are four screens on the left wall for everyone to enjoy the race from the paddock itself.
A view from the second floor looking down at the main entrance. I absolutely liked the light & shadow it gives. Thus, I captured.
This was on Friday. Got back from garage and headed straight for lunch with Anand. And.. yes, that's my headphone next to the plate.
Meet my friend, Fatna. She works there :)
These are two of the team members at lunch before the practice session starts.
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Here's the Lotus Racing Team with Heikki and Jarno on the front wheel of their cars. Truly an inspiring team and given a chance I would want to be with them all again.
Quoting Tony, “I am completely relieved, completely ecstatic, completely happy and completely vindicated in making the decision to go into F1. What we have achieved today is what dreams are made of. To complete 19 races after having just five months to build a car and finish in tenth in style is something that is truly magical. It shows you that even in the modern age where money and power counts for so much, there is a chance for ambition and dreams to shine."
The Drivers Parade before the race starts. All drivers were on truck moving along the circuit waving at thousands of fans as they get interviewed live in front of everyone. That's was the best chance to see all race drivers at one go.
It was the race day and the atmosphere was getting more and more exciting as the day got closer to the evening. I was at one of the grandstands to watch the race. And, I was not the only one supporting Lotus Racing. Both drivers made us proud; there were the best among the new teams.
My seating not only allowed me to see the support race action up close but take in a broad sweep of the circuit including critical turns around the Marina. This is Lotus Racing in action. I captured this shot while Heikki is making his turn at the 17th corner halfway through the lap before the Yas Hotel.
It was the final race of the season. The entire team and everyone else was so busy spinning around with testings, preparations, meetings and interviews session. But, I still had time for a meet and greet session with them all and manage to capture some photos. Here's me and Tony at the Lotus Racing's garage.
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It was another exciting day at Lotus Racing's Paddock. I was at the garage by noon to join the pit stop practice - where you get see how all the four tyres on the car are being changed to new ones in front of you. And all that happens in close to four seconds flat. Lotus Racing gave me a chance to be part of the practice. With my gloves on, I was all set with a pneaumatic gun to changed the front right tyre. It was really an experience.
Watched the first practice from the garage and the qualifying from the paddock. Mod from AirAsia was with me listening to the strategies and game plan discussions on radio. It was great to know how the drivers and race engineers put up a plan and execute them carefully. Great qualifying from both Heikki and Jarno and they were best among the new teams.
Dropped by the garage in the evening and everything was wrapped up by then. None of the teams can make any significant alterations to the set-up of the cars between qualifying and the race. Here's Heikkis car at Parc Ferme. It's ready for tomorrow's race.
It's going to be a big day for Lotus Racing and Virgin. I believe many of you are aware of the bet in place between these two teams. The representative of the team that finishes second to the other has to serve as a stewardess on the other's airline. Well, Tony and Richard Brandson weren't kidding. They have gotten the measurements ready for uniforms.
Had a quick dinner and managed for a short walk with Cyrill along the track before leaving the place. It's all set for tomorrow and I'll be watching it live from the grandstand. I'll keep you posted with more photos.
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Here's Zue from AirAsia. She is with me at Abu Dhabi to join the excitement of Formula1 race. Met many more interesting people at the paddock and had quick chats with them.. including Watson (Team Manager), Riada (CEO), Tom (Press Officer), Mike (Chief Technical Officer), Mia (Head of Operationas) and of course, Tony (Team Principle).
Spend most of my Friday at The Lotus Racing's Paddock at Yas Marina. It's an excellent place to chill out and enjoy the race. It has a lounge and an engineering workstation on the ground floor, offices and meeting rooms at the second floor and a rooftop that promises an amazing view.
The engineers and the mechanics at the garage putting up a great teamwork to get Jarno's race car ready before the practice. There are more than 50 of them in the team. I spent complete time at the garage during the practice sessions and Anand, The Brand Manager of Lotus was with me expalining how everything being done in there.
From the pit lane looking towards the tower. Was hooked up to the radio listening to Heikki and Jarno as they were out on the rack for practice sessions. It's really interesting to see the operations happening along this pit lane and most importantly how fast they get done.
A spectacular view of the iconic Yas Hotel, the luxurious Yas Marina & Yacht Club from the rooftop of Lotus Racing's Paddock. The Yas Hotel is of two buildings, with a connecting skybridge that goes above the race track. Now, that's practicality with style.
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I can't believe my luck. Still. I got a twitter DM from Katherine two weeks ago and she told me that I've just won the 25,000th Facebook fan prize for Tony Fernandes' page. And guess what my random click has won me? A fully sponsored trip to Abu Dhabi by Air Asia, along with the tickets by Lotus Racing to enjoy the final and the most exciting race of the Formula1 2010 season! Yes, you read it right! I'll be at The Yas Marina this weekend with Tony and rest of the Lotus Racing Team. Woot!
I'm an engineer by profession. I love gadgets and technologies that relate to speed, anything from bits and bytes per second to the spinning set of carbon-rimmed wheels. That simply translates how fantastic this experience is going to be for me. On top of the tickets,
Lotus Racing is also getting me the paddock access *woohoo*,and that means I'm going to be at the heart of the action, watching every second of the thrilling minutes unfold in front of me – the speed, performances, game mechanics, the winning moments and the extraordinary team spirit of the champions. And needless for me to say about the exceptional surroundings, magnificent foooooddd and race queens ;)
On the other half, I'm a photographer by passion. I practice photography as a creative art. I always take time to look at amazing tiny little details and to concentrate on breathtaking moments that breeze my way. I focus on moments that give a gesture and capture them all through my lens. Usually, my photos speak louder than my words. Travel photography being my favorite niche, I enjoy framing places, nature, people and moments. Now, that couldn’t complement better to what I have just won. Expect some brilliant photos to come soon. I'm aching to freeze some spectacular moments around the paddock, behind-the-race actions, off-the-track scenes, The Yas Marina and breathtaking views of Abu Dhabi at once.
On top of everything, I'm most excited about meeting Tony and rest of the team. Tony is a man who has always inspired me not to give up on my dreams. Not just him alone; I tend to find the entire Lotus Racing Team to be full of inspiring and passionate bunch of people. If you happen to flip through AirAsia's Travel3Sixty issue for November, you'll believe me more. I'm so thrilled at knowing I'll be meeting Heikki, Jarno, Fairuz, Ananda, Mike, Cyril and rest of the Lotus Racing Team very soon. It's going to be absolutely amazing! Thanks to The Group CEO, Tony Fernandes and Air Asia for this great opportunity.
You'll be hearing more from me this weekend. Keep an eye on my Facebook, tweets and my blog space at www.puvanan.com for interesting updates and frame-ups. Cheers!!
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The Taj Mahal Palace & Tower is a prestigious luxury hotel located in the Colaba region of Mumbai, India, next to the Gateway of India. Part of the Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, this iconic 105-year old heritage building retains its stature as the flagship property of the group and contains 565 rooms. On November 26, 2008, in a series of attacks in the southern part of Mumbai, the hotel was attacked as part of a terrorist attack in Mumbai, during which material damage occurred including the destruction of the roof of the hotel in the hours afterwards. It opened it's doors. On August 15, 2010, the Taj Mahal Palace, was reopened after restoration.
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The Bandra–Worli Sea Link, officially the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link is a cable-stayed bridge which links Bandra and the western suburbs of Mumbai with Worli and central Mumbai. The Sea Link reduces travel time between Bandra and Worli from 45–60 minutes to 7 minutes. The link which costed $400 million to complete has an average daily traffic of around 37,500 vehicles per day.
p/s: This shot was captured minutes before midnight from a high-hill view point.
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