WHO CARES?: Silverstone thrills rev up treasured childhood memories with Dad
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My Dad loved sport. Saturday morning at 10am he settled on the couch in front of Grandstand or World of Sport and that was him for the day.
The best part though was that Dad shared his love of sport with me and many an hour passed with me sat at his feet watching the tiny screen and discussing the action. I learned to love athletics, gymnastics, swimming, and all sorts of other sports that filled the space between the on switch and when the wrestlers heralded the approach of Mum announcing tea would soon be ready.
But most of all we both had a passion for motorsport. Any kind of motorsport. But the king among kings was Formula 1. We followed all of it and revelled in the cars, the speed and the drivers’ characters and team dynamics.
Now the days of squinting at that wee telly in the corner and fending off anyone else’s attempts to change the channel or make us move while the Grand Prix was on are long gone.
We have a big telly now, but as the races are no longer all on free-to-air, we are confined to highlights for all but the British Grand Prix, often shown at ridiculous o’clock depending on the location of the race.
But the British Grand Prix is sacrosanct. Held these days at Silverstone, it is a landmark in the calendar for all UK F1 fans. For us, it always occurs around the boy’s birthday. This year, he turned 21 and I decided that he needed to have a birthday to remember, so managed to secure tickets to the Friday free practice day.
Mum of the Year award secured, we set about the planning and execution of our attendance. This is always more complex than you’d expect if you travelled with a typical 21-year-old, but for us it is second nature.
It was an amazing experience made easier by our winning free tickets in a ballot to attend the launch event on the Thursday which meant he could acclimatise to the set up with a slightly smaller crowd before the big day. The organisation around the event was slick to say the least and everything that could be done by the track to make it a day to remember happened. The weather obliged with 32-degree temperatures under cloudless skies and folk were in great humour everywhere.
We had some challenges of course, but the pay off for us was to hear the roar of the cars and see them speed round Luffield at full chat from a few feet away. The cheers as the three British drivers passed bonded the crowd and it was thrilling to be part of something we’d only ever seen via the screen.
I don’t have enough space here to do the experience justice, but I know my Dad would have been delighted that one of us had finally made it to see a race in person. Maybe I will get there again and be able to pull the funds together to attend the qualifying or even the actual race day. But the memories of what I saw and felt and the joy it brought will be there for me always.
Karen is Mum to an autistic son in his twenties and campaigns for the rights of unpaid carers to be supported in their caring role and involved in the decisions that affect their lives and the lives of the people they care for. You can find her on twitter and Instagram @Karen4Carers.
