David Leigh » sport

75th Anniversary of the Circuit de Montjuic

david — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:13:57 +0000

This weekend Barcelona celebrated the 75th Anniversary of the Circuit de Montjuic, with a lovely selection of racing cars from across the decades. We went to watch the cars in action on Sunday, including Emerson Fittipaldi putting his Lotus from 1973 through it’s paces, and Michael Schumacher’s Ferrari from last year was also there.

The old Nou Camp

david — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 10:06:43 +0000

I don’t quite know what to think about the Nou Camp redevelopment plans, but the stadium certainly needs to be covered.

I’ve been to see FC Barcelona play numerous times and sometimes take a camera with me. This is from about 4 years ago I think and shows the view from the top tier.The advantage is that you get a great atmosphere and a good overview of the pitch. The trouble is you’re too far away. But it’s much better up there than in some areas and if you take binoculars you’re laughing.

The Nou Camp

Moan. Bitch. Complain.

david — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:52:54 +0000

Why isÂ Fernando Alsono so unpleasant? Whenever he’s interviewed its always about how well he did, or how it was somebody elses fault that he didn’t drive well.

Now he’s started bitching about his new team, McLaren, amid rumours that he’s going to move to Ferrari. He’s not comfortable, they give preferential treatment to his British team mate, Lewis Hamilton,Â blah, blah, blah, boo bloody hoo.

Let’s remind ourselves how well Alonso drove in the Canadian GP – I lost count of the times he span off the track, making the same mistake on the same corner time after time. Whose fault was that? Alonso’s? Or deliberate sabotage of his car by the McLaren mechanics?

Ok Fernando, take some advice:Â move to Ferrari. See how long you last with them. Let’s face it you’re unpleasant, obnoxious, and better off out of F1 completely.

Ouch!

david — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 14:26:26 +0000

Did you see the Canadian F1 Grand Prix yesterday?

Great result (Hamilton won, Alonso proved again what a miserable human being he is) and some great excitement – I’ve never seen the safety car used so much. In qualification it was obvious that there would be a good number of smashes, but we didn’t expect anything like Kubica’s car shredding impact (below).

The amazing thing – slight concusion and a sprained ankle!!!! The technology used to ensure driver survival is rremarkable, I can’t believe he would have survived this impact even 10 years ago.

Espanyol v BarÃ§a

david — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 13:07:14 +0000

Last night saw the first roundÂ of theÂ Barcelona derby with Espanyol playing host to FC Barcelona at their home stadium on Montjuic. In fact the I can see the stadium from the front terrace and if I stretch a bit the other way I can also see Camp NouÂ - or as mostÂ Anglophones insist, the Nou Camp.

But what a terrible performance put on by Barcelona – the score was 3-1 to Espanyol, but could easily have been 5-1. They just didn’t get it together as a team and Ronaldinho was completelyÂ missing the spark that makes him Ronaldinho. I can’t wait for Messi to return to fitness and see if the team returns to form in the second half of the season.

Even the normally calm Frank Rijkaard managed to lose his cool at one point, slamming his fist into the perspex side of the dugout, knocking out a broken section and thereby drawing the close attention of two members of Espanyol’s ground staff.

BTW, you can buy FC Barcelona tickets online and save yourself the hassle of getting them when you’re in Barcelona.