GTs and air conditioning in Saudi Arabia

Since 2006 and the creation of Endurance-Info, SRO Motorsports meetings have allowed me to travel to the four corners of the world and the latest is Saudi Arabia for the European GT3 and GT4 finals. We can’t say that we do a common job and we can’t complain about everything. We move like acrobats to report on car races. Each new country is synonymous with discovery.

I owe my very first flight to an SRO meeting to go to Silverstone to follow the FIA ​​GT in 2006, the year of the launch of the GT3 category. First flight and first jet lag ????. Subsequently, there were, among others, Argentina and San Luis, Australia and Bathurst, Abu Dhabi and Yas Marina, Azerbaijan and Baku, Japan and Suzuka, California and Laguna Seca. Closer to home, the Val de Vienne. This time, it is Saudi Arabia and its urban layout of Jeddah.

You can legitimately ask yourself why we are going to the country for two European finals. We’re going there for a rally called Dakar. We must not hide our faces, the championships go there because the financial attraction has its effect. Good or not, that’s how it is. As media, team or driver, you can also refuse the trip. The country is gradually opening up and sport is an integral part of its communication vector.

Saudi Arabia is less than 6 hours from Paris when the plane is on time, which is becoming increasingly rare. First failure, no wifi on the plane for work. The first contact with the country is through identity and visa checks required to enter the country. As in the United Arab Emirates, you are welcomed with a smile and everything happens very quickly. A stamp on the passport and a ‘welcome to Saudi Arabia’ is enough.

For this trip, my driver is Thomas Bastin, who we leave from his Cul-des-Sarts before Christmas. I’m a GPS, he’s a driver. For the short time spent there (3 days), no local package is required. Bad luck for him, driving in the country is how to put it… rock n’roll. Do not expect to respect a stop sign, a solid line or a crossing on a pedestrian crossing. No one mind crossing a four-lane road with a stroller in their hand at night. If you are reading this article, it is because I survived even if my pilot had difficulty managing the speed bumps and a big lack of Vmax against the locals. No Superpole but back of the grid. If you don’t ride like the locals, that’s where the problems arise.

Our hotel is located about fifteen kilometers from the airport, which left around 11:30 p.m. We say to ourselves that at this time things are rolling cream. Error, serious error! Much more traffic than on a qualifier on the Jeddah circuit. To find your way, an offline GPS does the trick except that it doesn’t give the address of the hotel, just the name. Is it the right one? We decide instead to trust the name of the street and that we will eventually come across it. Nope. You have to pull out plan B, open 4G, type the address that is at least 50 letters long, and turn off the 4G to avoid paying the price of an iPhone 16 outside of the package. The particularity of the system is that you must stay on the correct route because it does not readjust in the event of a change of route.

We came across the hotel which was indeed the one given by the offline GPS. It took a little time to get the rooms back without really knowing why. The hotel has the particularity of having two buildings inside, a building A and a building B. Without my Belgian friend, I might still be waiting for the elevator. The panel shows the floor numbers with Braille keys next to them for the blind. As in other hotels, you press the braille button which is valid for everyone. Not in this case because nothing moves. You have to press the number which is not a key.

Once in the room, which looks exactly like a hotel room, one thing bothers me: the noise. Even if you turn off the air conditioning which was at 18°C, the air conditioning compressor outside makes a racket worthy of a modified moped. How to find sleep? No luck, I have a fairly large double bed. It happened to me with a single bed to put the mattress in the bathroom in the Czech Republic. Another time, I don’t remember in which country, I had a bathtub so big that I had put the mattress inside to avoid the music from a nearby club. I slept very well but I can’t tell you how bad the mattress was the next morning. The female company next to me doesn’t bother me, quite the contrary, but the air conditioning compressor doesn’t. It’s late, so it will be the noise canceling headphones to reduce the decibels for a few hours of sleep.

Head to reception early in the morning to explain the matter and request a change of room, which doesn’t pose the slightest problem. After the day spent at the circuit, return to the hotel to try to have a longer night. I collect a new card and I leave the reception with my chest out towards the elevator where this time I press the right button. Failed because the guy gave me the wrong building. No problem, it can happen. So I go to the other building to reach my new home. I open the door and the room is bigger. However, there is a wolf, it is adjoining and the door to the other bedroom is open. In this style of country, it’s not what you expect. Return to reception to explain my case. The guy, embarrassed, quickly understands and gives me another room. There, I feel that it is the right one…

Place on the fifth floor. I arrive in front of the door which is ajar. Hmmm, what will I find? I come home and there are around ten small buckets scattered all over the bathroom. Believe it or not, there were leaks on the ceiling with water that kept dripping. Come on, we go to reception and the guy sees me arriving with my suitcase. I read in his eyes: “What else does he want? » I explain my case and then I state my request a little more by asking if it was possible to have a quiet room. This time, I’m not allowed the little case with the room card, just the card and the number written on a post-it. The guy must be thinking that I’m going to come back again, so there’s no point in losing a case.

I’m on the top floor. I get out of the elevator and not a sound, just a few rooms on the left side of the hallway. I really feel the royal suite with sauna and everything. Now it’s starting to smell good. Something still intrigues me in the hallway. There is a fire extinguisher on the ground, partly red, partly rusty. It must have been out of date for years. I open the door, not a sound. Yes! I put down my suitcase, I have a quiet night. A few minutes later, I hear a loud noise with the activation of large fans which must be on the roof. A devil’s racket that stops after five minutes but returns five minutes later and so on.

With all these stories, it’s getting late. This time, I have a single bed but it’s impossible to put the mattress in the bathroom, it being too large. Two melatonin tablets and the return of noise reduction headphones, which are still not very practical for sleeping on one side. In the end, the night wasn’t bad. Being early in the morning, I have a few articles to write except that I don’t know why but no access to the Internet. There is the network, the password is good, the wifi works but only instant messaging passes. No email and no connection possible. I try to go to work at reception but the problem is the same. This time, I decided to give up! On to the race…