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Way back when (1970's) I had watched F1 races on TV when I was a student in France. As I recall, I had also watched F1 as a kid when certain big races (like Monaco) were broadcast in the US on ABC's Wide World of Sports, one of my favorite shows.
Years later ESPN started to broadcast F1 races live from Europe on Sunday mornings and I watched some of those. Gradually I got hooked and I resolved to attend a race sometime.
Then I found myself in Montreal attending a conference at the same time as the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix. I was free on Sunday and I thought, "Well, here's my chance to see a live F1 race finally," so I took the metro to the track, bought a ticket from a scalper and saw the race. It turned out to be a great one--Jean Alesi's only career victory during an era when Ferrari was still somewhat of an underdog. The fans ran on the track after the race while the cars were still finishing the race. It was much better than watching on TV.
Several years later (2000), I finally made a trip to Montreal just for the race. And I've returned every year since.
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