In "Rory's Ramblings" this season, I have tried to avoid commenting on current events, recent races and up-coming races. I have tried to provoke, to stimulate, perhaps to make you look at F1 in a slightly different light, perhaps to help you see it in a slightly different way.

This time, something different.

My favourite F1 GP for the past ten years has been the Australian F1 GP at Adelaide. This will be the last one.

I suppose you could call this double-the-usual-length column my "tribute" to, and a preview of, the Adelaide GP. It's not, but I don't care! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I have enjoyed being in Adelaide.

Once again the final race of the Formula One season rolls around, and the circus is in Adelaide again for the 11th, and final, time.

I like Adelaide and I like going there for the GPs. I used to live there, so I can catch up with old friends; my father flies out from Britain to attend his one GP of the year; my family stays at home in Canberra, so I can have a "good time"!; Adelaide puts on a show at GP time, and comes "alive"; and, of course, there are the teams with their ever-so-pretty cars. That's the up-side of it this year.

Then there's this year's down-side. This year is the last foreseeable year that Adelaide will host the Australian F1 GP - in 1996, the GP moves to Melbourne. I rarely visit Melbourne, I have no affinity for Melbourne, I'm not even sure that I like Melbourne. But, it's off to Melbourne in 1996.

As usual with the Adelaide GP, there will be an end-of-season air among the teams. What was taken so seriously just a few months ago, will now be showing signs of being taken in a much more light-hearted manner. There will be the serious side to this meeting, of course.

Some drivers will have been drafted in (or will have bought seats) just for this race, and they will be out to make an impression for future seasons. There will be some teams that still have a point to prove to their sponsors; given the usually odd results that the Adelaide GP has thrown up, they may well do so.

But, all in all, there will be that particular "Adelaide" feeling in the air. Added into that, will be the knowledge that this is the last Adelaide GP. All along the pits, you'll get the understanding that many of the people involved are sad to see the end of the Adelaide race. They have had good times here, whatever their results, over the years.

Many of them have seen or heard about the Melbourne circuit and its facilities and are looking forward to being back in Australia in March of 1996, on a new circuit in a new city.

The cargo jets start coming in early in the week, with all the gear on board. It's unloaded, transported to the circuit and unpacked. On the Wednesday, the pits tend to have a casual mood. Things are being done, but there seems to be no real hurry or rush about the whole thing.

Mechanics will be assembling the cars, putting up the various banners that adorn their pits, setting up their telemetry and having the occasional natter with passer-bys - whether they be old friends not seen for 12 months, or mechanics from other teams.

Some, but only a very few, will admit that they are feeling a little tired and emotional, and perhaps one will admit that the night before he was "tired and emotional as a newt" and feeling it - his eyes will definitely show it.

There's no public admittance, so if you're one of the privileged (and there seem to be quite a few) it is the perfect opportunity to wander along the track itself, investigate some of the corporate boxes, catch up with some of the marshals (who, incidentally, are volunteers and literally come from all over the world) and similar activities which you can't do any other day.

Thursday, and things start to get serious. Team managers and bosses, who might have spent Wednesday lurking, will be keeping their eyes on the progress being made. Mechanics will be bending to their tasks and showing total concentration. The beautiful sound of engines being started up - first the characteristic sound of the air starter, then the actual engine being revved. Drivers will be beginning to lurk around the pits in jeans and t-shirts.

In the meantime, support events progress on the track. In the press centre, the media conferences are underway. The public has been allowed in, but they tend to be corporate guests on freebies and the REAL fans who will be getting out to the track on a day when security is slightly less restrictive than it will be.

Friday and the business jumps up another gear. The first practice and qualifying day. Drivers will be in full view, but now in their racing overalls and seemingly withdrawn, concentrating on the task at hand.

The sound of revving engines will be almost constant as the last-minute changes and tuning are made. Across from the pits, the stands will be sprinkled with people, getting themselves organised. In other areas, the souvenir stands and food stalls are winding up, getting ready for Sunday's onslaught of humanity.

The F1 sessions are over and done with much too quickly. In the morning, there is the first practice session. Basically, all the cars come out early, go around the circuit and then go straight into the pits, having re-acquainted themselves with the circuit and needing to make some changes to the car's settings. A couple of the lesser teams will stay out, putting in some valuable (to them) road time with the cars. Remember that for some of these teams, the morning sessions tend to be their testing sessions.

Adelaide is a bit of a leveller between all the teams, rich and poor. They come here only once a year, and since it is a street course, it's only open once a year. (To many Adelaide people, it's actually "closed" once a year. But that's getting into another discussion altogether!) That means that the teams can't come and test at Adelaide, to try out various combinations of car settings. So, ALL the teams have only a vague idea of what settings to use, based on history, computer simulations and guess-work.

For those of you who have not been to Adelaide, probably the best way to describe the circuit is to tell you that MicroProse got it VERY close in their World Circuit/Formula One game. About the only quibbles I have with the circuit in the game is that it misses a few things.

First, it doesn't quite get the feeling of the trees overhanging the circuit on a couple of stretches. These really add to the atmosphere of a tunnel for the cars. They also make it seem as though the circuit isn't based within shouting distance of the centre of Adelaide - which it is.

Second, the game doesn't have the catch fencing that is on top of the concrete barriers that are around the entire circuit.

Third, there is a building at the western end off the circuit that you can just see as you come to the hairpin at the end of a lap. It should have a sign coming out of it stating: "This is the Queen Victoria Hospital. This is where Rory's daughter was born in 1984." That one is my main quibble - maybe the next version!

Apart from those, the game circuit is remarkably close, apart from a few changes - like bridges and chicanes - that have been made since the game came out.

To return to the story. First practice comes and goes, and so does first qualifying. And is the end of the day at 2.30pm. In the pits, the team-members were showing that it was serious time. They were a little harder to talk to than the previous days. The PR people and the drivers were still doing their PR jobs, and the mechanics will be concentrating on their jobs. There will be a load of support events, but most people will be there for F1. So that will be Friday.

Saturday will be roughly the same as Friday. The main difference is that the crowd will have swollen dramatically. Up until Saturday, the circuit area is quite easy to move around, and it isn't necessary to queue at the various food, drink and souvenir stalls - nor for the loos! Saturday will see that change as the weekend hits and the crowds come flooding in. And that will be Saturday.

Sunday. Race day. The last Adelaide Australian Formula One Grand Prix.

One nice thing about having a reserved seat is that you don't have to be queuing at the circuit at the crack of dawn to be among the first in, so that you can get a decent spot; and then sit there for ages waiting for the race to start. If you have a reserved seat, and you've been out at the circuit every day, the first thing you really notice as you arrive at the circuit on race day is the MOBS of people everywhere.

The F1 paddock area is one of the most tightly controlled areas anywhere. No-one gets in unless they have just the right pass. I have heard of ridiculous amounts of money being offered for a paddock pass. Despite that, the paddock will be full of people - all of whom have excellent reasons for being there, I'm sure. Sponsors, friends, hanger-ons, beautiful people, "celebrities". Oh, and there will be a few mechanics and drivers there too, but they will be pretty hard to find.

Out in the "public" areas, the crowds will be huge. Forget queuing for food or a drink unless you're a masochist. You'll even have to queue to get over on one of the bridges. And this is while the race is going on!

In the pits, the mechanics will be in mixed moods. In one pit, you'll be lucky to get a word out of anyone as they all concentrate on their drivers' performances. In another pit, there will be a very relaxed feel as they watch their drivers going around. In another pit, they'll be packing up all their gear already as the two cars have dropped out.

After the race. There are a couple of things worth seeing. The first is how quickly many of the crowd leave. Within an hour or so of the race finishing, parts of the circuit will be comparatively deserted. Over at the post-race concert area, the crowd will be building up for the concert.

The second thing worth visiting will be the post-race pit-lane auction. A cynic would say that this is where the mechanics make their bonuses for the year. On one side of the pit wall are the general public - five or six or ten deep. Some are just waiting for a glimpse of someone famous, preferably a driver of course.

But there are many others who are there to get the best possible bargain from the mechanics. Want a team shirt? Got plenty of dollars? Then you can get it here. Want a bit of a car? Got lots and lots of dollars? We may well be able to do a deal. The amounts of money that changes hands is incredible.

The third and final thing worth seeing is not something that most people would probably not think about. Remember that Adelaide is a temporary street circuit, half-way around the world from where most of the GPs take place. Within hours of the race finishing, all the teams' gear will have been loaded into containers, trucks will have pulled into the pit road, and will be loading the containers for their short trip to the airport for the long trip home to Europe.

So that will be the eleventh and final Adelaide Australian Formula One Grand Prix. Usually, at the end of the Australian GP, I am regretting that it will be another 12 months until the next Australian F1 GP. Not this year. Apparently, it will be only 4 months to the next Australian F1 GP: Melbourne, 10 March 1996.

Adelaide brought the F1 GP to Australia and established a "tradition" by setting standards that have yet to be reached by some of the older, more established circuits. Let's hope that Melbourne can maintain that tradition.

Farewell Adelaide.

But that's just me.