On 15 June 2013, the Top Gear Festival came around to SA again. F1 and @F1_Madness fan, Charlene Sprong (@LeneZone) sent us a summary of the awesome experience!

In December 2012, we decided we were going to attend the 2013 Top Gear Live Festival in Durban (our first time).  When the tickets became available earlier this year, we snapped them up and started making arrangements.  The main highlight for me was anything to do with Formula 1, but we were not sure what F1 action there would be happening at the show at first.

About a month after the tickets went on sale, we were delighted with a surprise announcement from Top Gear SA that Formula 1 World Champion racing driver Mika Häkkinen would be appearing at the festival’s street circuit events which take place before the main show. Our excitement escalated even more, when about another month later the next surprise announcement was that Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s RB7 (raced in 2011) would be a highlight of the show. We were ecstatic!!!

After a few street circuit events, including Mika Häkkinen racing against street circuit presenters Gugu Zulu and Sasha Martinengo in Tuk Tuks (of all cars) which entertained the crowd greatly. It was very amusing and they all had great fun racing each other. Check out the video of the Tuk Tuk action here.

A bit later, I went to buy a T-shirt in the Top Gear Village as I was getting too hot in my jersey.  Just after the purchase, I heard the loud unmistakable sound of an F1 car on the street circuit … I literally RAN back to my seat on the grand stand, wildly looking around. At first I saw nothing, only heard it.

Then, it made its grand appearance. What a BEAUTIFUL piece of machinery! It was the first time I had seen a Formula 1 car in the flesh. It came zooming by, driven by Red Bull Junior Team member, António Félix da Costa.

I watched in awe as it went around the circuit a few times and then set the fastest time of the day at 1:14:09.  It then did a cool off lap, to be followed by more F1 action.  In order to show the speed and power of the Formula 1 phenomenon, it got set to race against a KTM X-Bow (which had set the previous fastest lap earlier in the day, at 1:27:02).

To watch the raw speed of the RB7 against an already fast racing car was just staggering.

All this excitement and the main show inside the Moses Mabida stadium was yet to come!! We got seated, and watched several highly entertaining events hosted by the ever amusing TopGear presenters.

We were treated to some synchronised drifting when again, we heard the sound of the F1 car at the other end of the stadium, the RB7 had arrived, it was about to show the drifters how some rubber really gets laid on the track by The Stig …

See Video of the RB7 street circuit and live show here.

It was just fantastic and I cannot recommend it highly enough to anyone! Go and watch the Top Gear Live show if you can!! To get that close to a F1 car without literally attending an F1 GP race is such a great chance and an awesome experience.