May 23, 2018

F1 on The ESPNs: Monaco 2018

Monaco.


To your common American, the word conjures up images of impeccably tailored men gambling away fortunes in the Casino while impossibly beautiful women try to catch their eye.  International spies lurk in every corner, camouflaged by supercars idling in the French Riviera night.  

To your common Formula 1 fan, it means "oh god I hope it rains."  There would be no way the sport would be racing on the streets of Monaco if the race was proposed today.  Too narrow, too unsafe, too small.  But yet, every year, here we are:

And we as fans love it.  It's the counter-American type of racing.  Here, we go for monster high-banked ovals or 500 mile long races.  Last year, the two worlds came together when Fernando Alonso and McLaren took a run at the Indianapolis 500, and former F1 driver Takuma Sato won the race.

No such luck this year... Alonso will be driving at LeMans, for example... but it really is the greatest day for auto racing in the year, Sunday is.  Monaco, Indy, then Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600.  But it all starts at the tiny little constitutional monarchy with a nice harbor.

ESPN has done us good this time 'round... here's the schedule
Thursday
Practice 1: 4a - 530a, live on ESPN2
Practice 2: 8a - 930a, live on ESPN2
Friday
...is traditionally an off day so the rich people can get out of town before the noise arrives.
Saturday
Practice 3: 5a - 630a, live  on ESPNews (be careful here... there are conflicting reports)
Quals: 8a - 930a, live on ESPN2
Sunday
2018 Grand Prix of Monaco: 8a - 11a, live on ESPN, the real deal.  There's also a replay on ABC in the afternoon.

So there's your weekend!  Get comfy, order a deep-dish pizza, and enjoy the racing!  F1Update! will be along afterwards... I promise.

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:16 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 Order a deep dish pizza...undoubtedly easier to do in Duckford, not far from where the delicacy was invented, than most other places, but we do have a couple of Pizzeria Uno chain restaurants* within reasonable driving distance, and I haven't had one in a while.  That, sir, is a pretty capital idea to include in my Memorial Day weekend festivities, like maybe having one at Uno while catching the replay of the race.  Cheers.


*I fully accept that pizza at my local Uno franchise "just isn't the same as in Chicago", just as NY pizza outside the NY area isn't the same, as well as cheese steaks outside Philadelphia.**  It's still a pretty darn tasty meal, and I'm looking forward to it.


**NY pizza and Philly cheese steaks not being as good elsewhere I can vouch for.  I grew up in NJ about halfway between the two cities.

Posted by: Thomas at May 25, 2018 07:07 AM (mSIXR)

2 Oh yeah, about F1Update!  Good to hear!  I hope this means you're feeling better, and things will do nothing but continue to improve for you.  Reading the F1Update!s is, no joke, what got me interested in the sport, and are still a delight to read.  Thank you WD.

Posted by: Thomas at May 25, 2018 07:16 AM (mSIXR)

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