9/2 Qualifying at Monza
Saturday the heaven's opened. It was just bucketing rain down, but that's what rain tires are for. The track's dirt roads were mud pits and everything was just soaked. Thankfully we were prepared with our raincoats and rainpants! Some locals apparently missed on buying the Ferrari rain coats as they were seen shivering in their bright red soaked to the bone t-shirts just hoping to get to cheer on the home team. The Saturday morning practice was deemed too wet to send the cars out, and all the support races were canceled. Our grandstand had a giant tent that was serving food and was a refuge for the showers. Cappuccino for Simi and we split a freshly made Philly cheese steak for lunch and continued to wait out the rain. A small break in the deluge had the cars on track for the first of three sessions only for the one driver to hydroplane and spin bouncing off the concrete walls like a pin ball. He walked away, but the head official then set out a red flag ending racing action until the weather cleared. About every 15 minutes they'd send out the safety car to check the track, and the water ponding was too severe. This 15 minute inspection went on for two and a half hours. It was such a tease to just hope maybe they'd send them out, but nope, again and again they would cancel and give another 15 minute window.
It felt like our rain gear just stopped working and the wetness just started to seep into our clothing. It was decided that we'd avoid some crowds and make our way to the shuttle van. Closer and closer to the van, of course the rain was letting up seemingly drop by drop as we took step after step. At our meeting point for pickup behind the start finish grandstand the crowd roared as the safety inspector deemed the track safe for the drivers! It was too far to return to our seats, so we stood under a giant Cyprus tree next to the pit lane exit and watched a giant TV monitor for the remainder of qualifying. We stood with a group of about 100 Italians who cheered every time their Ferrari went by but their driver's couldn't come out on top. The rains returned and we felt like the track was more wet than it ever was during the 2.5 hour delay, but the show must go on.
Traffic bogged down as several cars had to get out of the fields turned to mud but we were back in Milan with our wet clothes draped all over the room to dry out. I put our shoes in a plastic bag and inflated the bag with the hairdryer to get them dried out for the next day.
There was only one option in our heads after getting soaked all day Saturday; it was a must to return back to that delightful pizza place we'd visited earlier. I loaded my plate with just one slice of pepperoni that was bigger than the plate itself. We rarely visit anything twice, but this was an exception. I said it was the best meal the whole trip, right? Still true the second time around.
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