In May I officially turned freelance as a motorsports journalist, which essentially changed my job description to traveling around the world to write about fast cars going around a track. It sounds like a dream job. And it is.
But all dreaming aside, there is work to be done and money to be made to cover all the expenses. It is not easy. But if it was, everyone would do it. I am making mistakes great and small on a daily basis, but that’s part of the adventure and part of the attraction. There is no better way to learn about the job, the world and one’s self. It’s called experience. A hell of an experience, may I add.
The first part of my trip took me to the lovely city of Barcelona, where I made plenty of new friends, discovered the brilliant yet forgotten circuit of Montjuïc and covered my second Formula 1 race as an accredited journalist, following my home race at Spa-Francorchamps last year.
But a long time dream has been to attend the Indianapolis 500. The Indy 500 generally clashes with the Monaco Grand Prix, but having already covered the Monaco weekend as a Bridgestone E-reporter, it was a no brainer to go to the Brickyard. And the great race sure delivered far beyond any expectations I could have had. It is a sensational event one cannot fully understand without being there.
Formula 1 may be flash and ‘glamourous’, but the Indy 500 is really something else both on and off the track. One 40-year-old driver with 19 years of F1 experience, Rubens Barrichello, couldn’t stop smiling all week out of genuine wonder and excitement. Exactly the same applied to this young reporter.
Read the next couple of columns to find out why.