A Scottish Yarn - from 2013

With the kind permission of the Fraser family.

All of you reading this know what it is I do for a living, in case any of you don't, here is the short version of a long-story. I take people to enjoy the Monaco Grand Prix.

As time has passed, I (for "I" read GPA) have taken a lot of people to this wonderful event as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  Many 40th birthdays, some anniversary's, a honeymoon (no kidding...where do you find wives like that??) and even a 70th birthday.  The one I am writing about today was from 2011, a nice Scottish family who, in spite of never having met half of them stick out in my memory banks more than most.

The Visor still in my possession!

In 2006 at The Autosport Show at the NEC, I met David Coulthard at a backstage event.  For 'met' read 'doorstepped'.  I was only in the VIP area as Autosport magazine were keen to sell me more advertising pages to promote Grand Prix Adventures, and as DC fingered the sausage rolls I bounded up to him resplendent in my best suit, shirt & tie and extended my hand....DC's automatic reply was: "You're no gonna try and sell me something are you?"  I explained that I was not trying to sell anything but that in fact, I wanted him to make an appearance for my company in Monaco and how would I go about securing his services.  He gave me the name and the number of who to speak to, and then later in the day he auctioned off a visor which he wore at the 2000 Montreal GP - as I was keen to make an impression, I made sure I was the winner of said auction in front of a fairly large crowd at the Autosport Stage, from memory it ended up being some £600.00 or so, it would have been a lot cheaper but for the half-wit who kept bidding against me....how very dare he!

2009  Fairmont Hotel

Whether it was my door-stepping technique, my visor-winning escapades or simply my broad Scottish accent, somehow or another every year since 2006, David has taken time out of his schedule, which at Monaco is as bonkers as you would imagine, to say hello to the assembled GPA customers.  We always make it a Thursday as this is the best day to work with DC's schedule, bearing in mind that for the first couple of years DC was in fact out on circuit pedalling his Red Bull - even once his "Superman" Red Bull - remember that cape?  Very funny!  A couple of things I've learned about DC from our modest interactions:

2008 Columbus Hotel

1. He is one of the biggest fans of F1 that I have met, and in my line of work I've met a lot of people who know an awful lot about the sport.
2. He really knows his stuff, I suspect he knows a lot more about the sport as a sport than just about any other driver, and this goes well before his TV days.
3.  In spite of his considerable success, wealth and fame, he appears very much like a regular guy who is happy to spend time, chat, pose for photos, sign stuff and generally be an all-round decent sort.

Allie & Susan Fraser

Shirley Fraser (aunt of Allie) called me early in 2011 to enquire about meeting with David Coulthard, she had seen from our website some of the imagery of DC and she explained that this was for their nephew who had been diagnosed with Non Hodgkin Lymphona.  Shirley & Duncan (aunty & uncle) lived at that time in Tain, Invernesshire and whilst I should be impartial to customers from all nations, it is always nice to have a Scottish accent on the other end of the phone as it means I don't have to put my 'proper-posh-phone' voice on.  "Oh lah-de-dah" is much more "Och-Aye-The-Noo".  Initially she explained that our packages would normally be out-with their reach, but that as F1 was such a big part of Allie's life, and that DC in particular had impacted positively on Allie, they were willing to 'push-the-boat-out' to give Allie the literal trip of a lifetime.  This was to be a surprise booking for Allie and we concluded negotiations early in 2011 for our Gold Adventure staying in Nice.  Given the unusual circumstances, and Allie's liking for 13-time-GP-Wining DC, I figured we should organise a one-on-one with DC & Allie for 5 minutes or so before David would come in and meet with the other guests.  And so it was that the booking was firmed up and we'd ask DC to have a wee side-bar with Allie.

Due to the nature of Allie's illness and the uncertainty, whilst the booking was confirmed well in advance of the May date, it was in fact a challenge that Allie would even be able to travel.  Between us, we worked out a plan ensuring that none of us would be left high-and-dry and all of us kept everything crossed that Allie would be strong enough to enjoy this event.

January 12th I was sent the below email from Duncan:

Allie chuffed with his champers

"Following our conversation, myself and Shirley discussed the matter and decided to tell Allie about the trip and his meeting D.C. You would not believe his reaction, as it turned out (unknown to us) he had had to go back into hospital today due to complications and he thought I was taking the mickey out of him. It took some time to convince him otherwise. Since then he hasn't been off the phone telling all the family. It would appear it is having the desired effect already!!"


As the 'surprise' was out the bag, (was it ever even *in* the bag?), and whilst I knew Allie would be in no position to enjoy the contents, I did wonder if a bottle of champagne signed by DC would be a welcome wee gift to send out, and promptly cleared it with Duncan & Shirley, I was greeted a couple of days later with this image in my inbox:

Correspondence flowed between us all until Allie & Susan would arrive on Wednesday the 25th of May.  To their hotel they'd go and look forward to the Thursday meet & greet with DC.  To give you some idea of how excited Allie was, I was told, more than once, by almost everyone in the Fraser family that whilst he looked forward to being in Monaco, watching F1 cars from Café de Paris and from Loews Hairpin and whilst he was glad of a wee bit of sunshine (a very rare commodity in Scotland!), most of all he just wanted to meet with David Coulthard.  And so onto the Thursday of the Monaco GP weekend which is as we all know, practice day.  Luckily for us DC had hung up his racing gloves and has no BBC commitments so we arrange a loose time for him to be with us, and it falls around lunchtime.  Drill is that he'll call as he leaves Fontville (where his hotel and hoose are) and I go meet him at the roadside to 'escort' him to the premises.  I don't know what use I am to be honest, as my wee short legs struggle to keep up with his uber-fit gazelle strides, but as he has the courtesy to come visit with us I do the courtesy of going and meeting with him acting as his short-overweight-unfit bouncer.  To convey my toughness I always wear my mirror-sunglasses and speak into my sleeve as though I'm a federal agent charged with protecting the President.

Allie and Susan enjoy their lunch at Café de Paris

I had already explained to David's PA that we're taking 5-minutes out to meet with Allie, but as DC is a bit of a workaholic, I remind him of this.  "Oh, what's up with him?" he asks, and I relay most of the tale whilst puffing and half-jogging to keep up with him.  All the while we hear screams of "David David" requesting he stop for a photo/autograph, I use my tough-as-nails stare to frighten off the would-be autograph hunters which doesn't really have a lot of impact - which I put down to the mirrored sunglasses. We get to the venue and head up in the lift as I catch my breath, I've text'd my team and told them to have Allie ready in a little side-room at the front of Le Café de Paris.  Sure enough, in we go and Allie & Susan are waiting and I can see for myself just how anxious Allie is!  DC being the pro he is starts chatting to Allie as though he'd known him for donkeys years, asking him about F1, was it his first time in Monaco, what did he think of the season so far and a few other things besides.  Allie, God love him became a little quiet perhaps star-struck, who knows, but I joined in chatting and we had a brief but happy wee chin-wag in our broad-Scots-dialect.  Interestingly, in Scotland there are no 2 counties with the same accent, DC is from the very bottom of Scotland and Allie from the North, I'm somewhere in the middle - yet with our 100MPH speed-speech we all understand each other with great ease.....

Allie & Susan's big moment!

David would then come and chat with the rest of the assembled guests from the stage relaying tales from the paddock, and from his own wins around Monaco.  His insight is both educational and more than once, as this is an informal meeting, his insights are hilarious about what drivers get up to when there aren't any team-bosses or sponsors around.  And with that the DC part of Allie's Adventure is gone and I can only hope it has lived up to his expectations.

I have a chat with Allie and Susan afterwards, and indeed, they are both quietly buzzing from the encounter, I get the impression even though Allie didn't say so, that they were 'pinching' themselves from the meeting.  Something which I can relate to, at the exact same venue some 8-years earlier I recall standing with a group of friends watching the F1 practice (DC at that time would be in the McLaren and we somehow ended up at a party of theirs in his Columbus Hotel) and thinking: "Am I really here?"  It is something of a surreal moment in itself to be stood in the heart of Monaco's Casino Square watching F1 cars scream by at outrageous speeds, no doubt for Allie factoring in that he'd just met his hero of many years that he was in double-awe!

Enjoying the view from the Fairmont

As Friday is a busy day for the GPA team with arrivals, pit-lane tours and planning coach runs for the weekend, it would be Saturday morning before I'd see them again.  That year I think we had just shy of 200 guests with us, and not only Allie who was suffering from an illness, we had another lady who'd been through an awful lot too, and it is always a balance between 'going-the-extra-mile' and appearing somewhat disingenuous.  So, I tried my hardest to simply treat Allie and Susan as just "two more guests", not referring to the illness or even the DC meet but simply now focussed on qualifying and the Formula One Race.  As I always do I'd take shots all weekend thinking I am David Bailley so I'd be in and out of all the nooks and crannies getting photos to both give to customers, and to put onto the GPA website.  Quietly, I'd make sure that Allie looked to be enjoying himself and from the body language and facial expressions he certainly seemed to be having a ball.

Choosing his yacht over lunch at L'Argentin

His suite overlooking Loews Hairpin, he took it ALL in

Top left box, below the word "Carlo" - see Allie?  A lot of empty boxes but he wanted to soak it all in

The weekend would draw to a close with a Webber win and a lot of hilarity from the Australian's I had in the group, a group of them reverted to type and 'indefinately procured' an Australian flag that I borrowed from the hotel's side entrance. To this day, the GM of the hotel asks me "Kenneth, have you brought us another Australia flag?" On Monday after the race weekend my duties are in Monaco so I bid Allie and Susan a fond farewell on Sunday evening and then get back home to Scotland from an exhausting couple of weeks in the South of France.

Not long home when I receive a delivery from CityLink and I'm wondering what it is, fairly bulky, moderately heavy and not expected as I hadn't ordered anything.  I open the parcel to find a lovely thank you letter from Duncan & Shirley to tell me that Allie won't (or can't) stop going on about meeting DC and the time he had in Monaco, and with the thank you letter are two cracking gift boxes of Scotland's finest malt whisky, one for me and one for David.

This box is displayed in my house, and very much as I suspect the bottle of DC signed champagne which I sent to Allie, the contents will not be consumed as it was such a wonderful gift to receive.   I emailed Duncan and Shirley to thank them for the gift I am told Allie & Susan have won a trip to Silverstone and they are working hard so that he will be well enough to get a weekend pass from the hospital to go!  I had hoped to see him there but our paths never crossed, I had a cunning plan to use my 'other' Scottish F1 connection to get him into the pits, however,due to the treatment Allie was receiving at that time he couldn't make it down until Saturday, and I only had pit access on Friday given the demands on British drivers at the British Grand Prix.

As is the way of life, things move on and I get my head down to focus on Singapore, Abu Dhabi and indeed, begin planning and selling for the 2012 Monaco GP and of course, booking new customers for their 40th birthday's, for that once-in-a-lifetime trip and for those wishing to enjoy the most remarkable race on the F1 calendar.

Only a couple of days before I am set to leave for Abu Dhabi to host some guests at The Yas Hotel, I received the below email from Duncan & Shirley:

Hi. Just a very quick e-mail to let you know Allie passed away late last night and as you can imagine we are all a bit distraught just now. 
Anyway I was just writing to thank you again for making his dream come true in being able to meet David Coulthard at Monaco. He was still talking of same up until very recently. Both myself and Shirley and Allie's parents will be eternally grateful for that.

Allie died on the 1st of November aged 30-years-old.

Author Allie Fraser!

Today, the 6th of March 2013 I received another parcel from the Fraser's thanking me for the GPA Christmas card and newsletter I had sent to them, inside the parcel was a book entitled "Hospital Musings", written by no less a man than Allie Fraser!  The book is a collection of his blogs detailing his time in treatment and living with Lymphoma.  I've not had a chance to read over the whole thing yet but have scanned some of the entries, from what I've read it truly is remarkable he was able to make the trip to Monaco and it is testament to the human spirit, it is testament to Allie's spirit that he made it and that he enjoyed every single second of it.

Allie and his family embody everything that is excellent about the people/fans who enjoy Formula One motor-racing.  Through our shared passion (I only do what I do because of my love of F1) Allie was able to meet his hero, he was able to attend one of the biggest sporting events in the world and he was able to take those memories back to Scotland to give his family some much needed respite from the progression of his illness.  He enjoyed Mark Webber winning, he enjoyed the chat with DC and he took everything in - every sight, sound, smell and touch.  From subsequent correspondence with the Fraser family, they kindly explained to me that he kept all of that passion with him until the end and for that I am genuinely touched to have been able to play my modest part in the process.

I note only today that Allie and I share the same birthday, March 29th, in actual fact only a couple of days after DC who celebrates on March 27th.  I shall be on the Isle of Skye on the 29th of March this year for my birthday weekend where I will raise a glass of Glenmorangie to Allie Fraser and remember a Fine F1 Friend, and as the 2013 F1 season opener is only a couple of weeks away, I chose to write this blog as testament to his love of the sport of Formula One and how that passion and enthusiasm kept his optimism high during his, and the Fraser family's difficult times.

I felt compelled to write this and if you've enjoyed the read, or the images or both and you'd like to donate in remembrance of a Fine-F1-Friend, Allie supports the below charity or please do purchase his book "Hospital Musings", or view it online here: http://hospitalmusings.wordpress.com/

http://www.balmoral-group.com/foa/
The Aberdeen and North Centre for Haematology, Oncology and Radiotherapy (ANCHOR) unit brings together experts and specialist nursing support to coordinate care of patients with all forms of cancer, leukaemia and benign blood disorders such as haemophilia.

OR

Scottish Liver Transplant Unit
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh
51 Little France Crescent
Edinburgh
EH16 4SA
Telephone: 0131 242 1171