Virgin Racing HQ visit

[DJS]

As said in the other thread, I'd post the pics in a different one.

I've been to the Toyota F1 HQ in Cologne 5 years ago, so I knew what it could look like, but this was very different though.
I knew it would be smaller, but not that small.

Anyway, it was really cool and I have to thank Laura for the time she took to show us around.

















Afterwards went into Dinnington itself, I was warned by Dan, but still it was kind of a shock.
We wanted to get a coffee, but instead I just got some money and we went away asap.
I was wearing full VR gear and a Ray Ban sunglasses, everybody just stared at me...

[Greyhead]

Nice pictures!

I like the ones where the car has no wheels: typical for Dinno

[MaxX]

n1ce

I think you had a great time there, the only one thing missing is a picture with you sitting in the VR car

[AD]

I like the champagne bottle or what that appears to be in the wooden box on the table in the background of the first picture.

Must be interesting to get such a close look at the car. Seeing the whole rear exposed with the layout of the radiators etc. is interesting.

[DJS]

F1 cars have the wheels rarely mounted, only when they're about to leave the pits or when they're on display.
Besides they were putting them back together for the Belgian GP, as the factory had to close for 2 weeks.

I'm too big to fit in a F1 car, my shoulders are too wide and my feet are too big....
Nobody was allowed to sit in it however, as the cockpit was closed off with a plastic plate.

[HF]

Wow, nice shots! I would love to vistit that much f1 teams / tests / formula meetings like you do... But I haven't enough spare time and money

[AAS]

Nice pictures.

But where is the picture with the 2 (bigger) plus points?

[DJS]

Andreas, funny you mention it.
I have met a pretty girl at a party actually, but we agreed on not putting any of the pics online.
She has however a sporty figure, as she used to play tennis at a very high level, so no big plus points, but nevertheless very pretty.

[V12-Power]

Haha, 2 plus points are good! Interesting pictures! The shop looks really small. It's likely they didn't change much since F3-times, isn't it? Do you have a picture of the entire building (from outside)? But very cool that everything worked out and you were able to make the visit. Did you have any connections to the team or how were you able to get the access? I would also like to visit a F1-team once, to bad Toyota closed it's doors. But maybe we'll see HRT there soon.

[DJS]

Since the meet & greet weekend with Timo Glock last year, I've kept in touch with his management and Porsche Super Cup team "tolimit", that's how I got in.

At Manor, they have refurbished the team's buildings, but indeed it's still basically the same as in F3. I don't have pics of the building itself, maybe my dad has made some, I'll see if I can get his pics and look for them.

About my F1 and racing commitments/contacts, I can't say often enough, that I have done everything myself. I don't know anyone in racing from family or friends, I don't work for a company that is involved with racing and I have had no help whatsoever getting to know the people I know today. It's not a fairytale story or something completely out of reach, you just need to have patience and know what you want and what you're doing.
Try it and see how far you can get, but when you get to hear "NO", don't stop or feel upset, that's the way it goes, keep going untill you get a "YES".

[DJS]

I got my hands on my dads camera, so here are 2 pics of the outside of the HQ.





On the day before the actual visit, I had put on the most recent version of the Virgin shirt, with Full Tilt poker on it.
But since I wouldn't want to get in any kind of trouble, I wore the first available shirt, during the actual visit.

[AAS]

That is the HQ of a F1 team????

The petrol station in our little village is larger.

[Greyhead]

That is the HQ of a F1 team????

The petrol station in our little village is larger.

Yeah but don't forget that a lot of the work is done at Wirth Research in Bicester (about 100 miles south of Manor's HQ). I assume that's because we've only just got stuff like electricity and the wheel up here

[TdK]

That is the HQ of a F1 team????

The petrol station in our little village is larger.

=D>

[TdK]

But where is the picture with the 2 (bigger) plus points?

Andreas, funny you mention it.
I have met a pretty girl at a party actually, but we agreed on not putting any of the pics online.
She has however a sporty figure, as she used to play tennis at a very high level, so no big plus points, but nevertheless very pretty.

Yeah, there's nothing "cheeky" about this pics...