Hi everyone, I live on the sunny island of Bahrain. If you dont know where that is, lets just say it is in the middle of the Persian Gulf. This country is considered the poorest(!?!) yet most free of the gulf states, yet "poor" isn't really what this place is. There are alot of Ferraris for a country of 600,000 people.. There is an official Ferrari dealership. The ferraris consist of mainly 348s, 355s, and 360s. There are alot of other older models (from the golden days of the oil) though, but they rarely see the light of day. There is an Enzo on the Island yes, it belongs to the Crown Prince who also owns a MacF1 and just about every other car you can think of.. I saw this enzo from a distance once, when it first came.. i hope to see it again. Ferraris arent that common site, perhaps i see one or two a month. Usually its the same one outside the same cafe, a red 360 spider. There is a black 355 for sale in a used car showroom, i have my eye on it, hopefully one day it'll be mine.. hopefully I summed up the scene pretty well over here, anyone from Bahrain can put in input to please if they know anything else! Thank you
If they're not already do, a lot of people worldwide will get to know Bahrain very soon thanks to the Formula One event in april. Hopefully the circuit gets ready on time, but that won't be a problem I guess? I'm from the country of Spa-Francorchamps, it's about 2hours driving from my home (1,5hour with a Ferrari )
romeoturk - i'm curious to know how the citizens of bahrain feel about F1 coming there. i read the recent article in F1 magazine about it, but there wasn't too much info, and i'm sure it'd be "partisan" if you know what i mean! were the bahrain citizens (my apologies - i do not know what the correct word is - bahrains? bahranians?) serious F1 fans before you had a track? is everybody excited about the race in april (04/04/04!!!!!)? i'm very much looking forward to seeing how the new track does - i'll be up early to watch the race live that day. do you have tickets? best, doody.
Yep, Bahrain is going to be quite famous i guess after this.. About how the "Bahraini" people feel, they are really excited actually. The tickets sold out in November last year, i got a ticket for about $100 US. Its the cheapest one and I doubt ill see very much as its going to be very crowded. The other tickets were pretty expensive.. Everyones talking about it, from kids to the elderly. Its probably the biggest thing to happen to the people of this island. (btw just to let everyone know im not an bahraini, im turkish i just happen to live here) THeres a great love for cars here, especially the Crown Prince who was the key to bringing the race over here. After the race, i'll be sure to give a full run down of what i see with pictures and all. Until then this all i can really say.
Yeah, enjoy the race (maybe we'll see you on tv ). And may the good ones win (a 1-2 for Ferrari would be nice). Also looking forward to your experiences.
Hey, and Mister Doody, Is it still true that F1 isn't that popular in the States? I've always heard that most Americans find Nascar and Indycar much more intresting. By the way, nice 550 you've got there. How long did you have the F355? And was it a black one?
there's a relatively small group of americans who think F1 is cool stuff. for sure, nascar owns the minds of the vast majority of "racing fans". maybe it's sorta like arena football and the baseball minor leagues - only one group/league in each type of sport in america can be front and everybody else takes a back seat. i dunno. i don't think bernie has made serious efforts to push into this market though either. for example, the last time i looked into subscribing to F1 magazine it was crazy-pricey. furthermore, the television coverage is, well, crappy at best (IMO). i have to assume the coverage outside the states is WAY better than what we get on SpeedTV, and it's unclear why bernie doesn't put his best possible product into the states - or at least ship it on PPV and let us buy the season and get great race coverage. doody. ps: yellow 1999 spider. had it for about 18 months. pics on the old board in the showroom section.
Coverage by national tv, here in Belgium isn't that bad, but commentary could improve. Mmmm, that Spider certainly is a great car too.
NASCAR is the most popular form of auto racing in the US AND the fastest growing sports TV audience in the country. Why? I believe it's marketing, voyeurism, and competition. Marketing: you can buy NASCAR stuff everywhere and the major drivers are all visible and well-known. Mark Martin does TV commercials for Viagra! Marketing is why Bud Light sells better here than Duvel or Leffe. Voyeurism: like it or not, we seem to want flying cars, metals, tires. NASCAR does that well, because of the mostly oval courses and the competition. Competition: NASCAR, by extensive efforts on NASCAR's part, is very close racing and on any given week there are probably at least 8 teams that stand a very good chance of winning. When was the last time that was true for F1? Bernie isn't going to put money into a losing market in the US. By the way, I think that everyone gets the same feed from F1, but can use their own commentators. So if the visual is bad, it's Bernie. If the audio is bad, it's the network...SpeedTV in the US.
Hi Romeoturk I live in Dubai and am reliably informed that my 1986 Mondial 3.2 Cabriolet is the only one here. Apparently there was a white one that lived in Dubai a few years ago, but was then shipped to...Bahrain. Any ideas? We have a thriving Ferrari Owners Club here, supported by the dealer, and have yearly trips to Fujairah airport for a whole day's sprints and auto-tests. They also remember to divert flights elsewhere for the day, which is handy. I have quite a few friends with 360s and 355s, and have seen F50/F40s in the dealership. I've seen a rather sad looking 400 in the garage and there is a very tatty 308 GTB in a local auto dealer, but nothing more exotic on a day-to-day basis. I really enjoy my Mondial here - petrol is cheap and there is never any worry about somebody 'keying' the paintwork out of jealousy. Having said that, I do sometimes long for a good windy, hilly road. Can't have everything I guess. I would be interested to hear of how you look after yours in the desert climate - do you cover it, air con garage, how to keep clean and remove dust particles etc? Robin Wells 1986 Mondial 3.2 Cabriolet
bryan - i don't know about that. i remember watching a couple races on abc (one of the major networks) and they had some telemetry feeds, which was way cool! i've NEVER seen that on Speed. doody.
Brian, you're probably right about the spectacle-issue, I guess that's the same reason why soccer is very popular in Europe, but in the States it's overclassed by american footbal? Different culture/other intressts? (off record; I don't like ballgames, I'm only intrested in motorsports) Doody, about the tv-coverage; in Europe we all get the same feed, no matter if you are in Belgium, France, Italy,... I also think it's the same worldwide. But you DO know Duvel and Leffe? Funny, I've always thought most Americans only knew Belgium of Stella Artois, choclates, silly politics in Brussels and off course ...Spa-Francorchamps. If they do know Belgium at all, that is! It's such a small country. Greets, Alex.
RobinWells: Its good to see a fellow expat living close by .. Dubai is just filled with the best cars in the world huh.. i go there regularly i have a few friends there.. unfortunatly i do not have a Ferrari, right now its too unrealistic for me plus i'd like to try a few other cars before reaching the top of the food chain .. about the mondial, is it white by any chance?? Ferraris are rare sites here because people tend not to take them out unless its weekend night in the seef district.. About the climate The service here is reallly bad at the moment Alfa Motors is horrendously expensive and there not that good so if people have ferraris, they drive them as little as possible because of how bad the serivice is (and i'm sure the climate does a number on the older ones to, the sand storms that happen and the summer heat waves YIKES! ).. Now the liscene has gone to EuroMotors which already has BMW Mini Rover Land rover Rolls royce.. now ferrari.. they extended the showroom. THey have an amazing service center (knowing from personal experince) and sales are expected to jump.. Inshallah if things go well for me over the next few years, my friend has a babyed 355 in his vast array of cars, and ill be hoping to purchase it from him.. I heard about the Enzos in dubai, Bin Suleyem apparently rips up the night with one over there... any sightings?
