Racing for the super-rich

For those of you who didn't receive an invitation to the Simply Red concert courtesy of Bahrain F1 sponsors Gulf Air do not feel aggrieved ... you are not alone.

All over the world the rich and famous flock to the biggest sport on the planet and are not afraid to burst the bank to be seen in the right place, at the right party.

Reporter Peter Auf der Heyde sneaked into the action at last season's European Grand Prix and shares his magic moment of mixing with high society,

celebrities and the super-rich .... Deeply engrossed in conversation with cult director Quentin Tarantino, actor Max von Thun hardly notices the elegant blonde who brings him a glass of bubbly to quench his thirst.

He is much too focused on making himself heard above the loud roars of the powerful Formula One engines and his voice also needs to battle against the yellow ear plugs the Pulp Fiction director has in his ears.

What could easily pass for a scene out of Tarantino's latest movie - that is if somebody were to suddenly appear and gun down at least four of the guests - is actually the Red Bull lounge in the Paddock Club at the Nuerburgring and the cars racing around the track are participating in the European Grand Prix.

While much of the footage of Grand Prix races televised around the world shows Formula One fans to be mostly flag-waving, Ferrari T-shirt wearing and fun-loving, there is a totally different side to each Grand Prix race - one in which glitz, bubbly, prawns and beautiful women dominate.

Well-hidden from the prying eyes of television cameras, paparazzi photographers and autograph hunters, the Paddock Club offers the super-rich, the VIPs and guests of teams the opportunity to watch the races surrounded by mountains of food and entertained by classy bands.

Von Thun, who is considered one of Germany's rising stars, is a regular at the country's A-list events. But for him the Grand Prix is something special. "It is something I really look forward to. There is all the excitement and the glamour and the parties beforehand are very special too."

Each of the Formula One teams that are competing has the opportunity of hiring their own location with access only to their invited guests.

At the Nuerburgring - as at other tracks - there is also a huge function room in which Formula One fans who are not lucky enough to have secured an invitation to the Paddock Club of one of the teams can watch the race in similar style.

Style, of course, comes at a price and in the case of the Paddock Club at the European Grand Prix, that price is 2,000 euros or BD1,190 (just for Sunday, a three-day ticket costs 2,450, BD1,458).

For that, racing enthusiasts are met by a hostess, given the official race programme and a small black cardboard box with yellow ear plugs, and are then free to enjoy the race while they sip unlimited amounts of champagne, freak out on ice-cream and fruit or just glance around hoping to catch a glimpse of a celebrity who might find his way through the open area en route to the team venues.

Needless to say, the Paddock Club enjoys the best seats in the house. Directly above the pit-lane and looking down at the start and finish line, fans could - if they lean out far enough - practically pour their bubbly out over Felipe Massa's helmet.

For those not lucky enough to secure a place right at the window, a dozen or so huge flat-screen TV sets are scattered throughout the room to ensure that not a moment of the action is lost.

If anybody is more interested in driving himself, rather than just watching others do the driving, there are two racing cars in which a virtual ride around the track can be arranged.

A couple of PCs with internet connections enable fans to stay in touch with the real world out there, while souvenir hunters were all to eager to have their picture 'photo-shopped' into the helmet belonging to any of the Grand Prix drivers.

But, if all of that sounds pretty exciting, the team clubs are even more exclusive. Serving beautifully presented food, which could easily have been prepared in the best restaurants of Paris, the invited guests are free to watch the race in sumptuous luxury.

At the Nuerburgring energy drink producer Red Bull outdid the other teams. Not only did it secure the presence of Tarantino at the race and in their club, they also provided their guests with a pre-race party on Friday night that was second to none.

Held a few kilometres from the Nuerburgring, the company hired an off-road motor track and erected a huge tent.

Guests, amongst them Tarantino, were entertained by one of Europe's hottest bands, the H- Bloxx, while Paris-Dakar rally driver Giniel De Villiers took the fearless on a death-defying race around the course, bumping over dusty hills, miraculously missing huge rocks as his Volkswagen Touareg with the guests doubling up as terrified co-drivers hurtled around corners at 80 kilometres an hour.

For the South African, who was leading last year's Paris-Dakar for much of the race before car problems forced him to fall back, events such as these are part and parcel of his sponsorship agreement.

However, the rides in the Touareg proved so popular that he extended his time by several hours to give everybody a chance.

"I enjoy racing and to give guests a chance to share some of it is something I do gladly."

Busty Wolter, a freestyle motor cross champion, was on hand to explain the ins and outs of FMX racing to guests before sending them out on their own on one of the dozens of KTM motorcross bikes, while those who preferred it just a little safer could opt for the quad-bikes instead.

Blane ("Just call me Blane") from Canada, owns a few restaurants and is one of Red Bull's good customers. He was invited to the Nuerburgring in appreciation of his business and he was certainly appreciative.

"I really enjoyed this, everything was just great." Not surprising then, that he said as he left for the airport after the race: "Watching Grand Prix races will never be the same again!"