I’ve had more than a few ‘WTF moments’ in my time at inthemix, but it must be said that none had been quite as peculiar as the weekend just passed when I was invited by Virgin Mobile to attend the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix in Melbourne. When asked if I’d like to attend I quickly silenced the little voice in my head asking “what’s this got to do with dance music?” and set out on my merry way. What’s that saying about looking a gift horse in the mouth?

Arriving in Melbourne on Saturday morning, we were met by the Virgin Mobile publicity team in the hotel lobby and furnished with one of the new Sony Ericsson Vivaz mobile handsets each. “Take lots of photos,” we were instructed (you can see the gallery below), and we were promptly whisked off to Albert Park. After a short and informal presentation on the purpose of the junket – it was the launch of a new project called Surprise Gig, but more on that later – we were ushered into the Formula 1 Paddock for a tour of Pit Lane.

The inner sanctum of the world’s most glamorous and richest sport – the Ferrari team reported to spend upwards of $300 million each year – was surprisingly laidback. We were led down to the Virgin Racing compound, where we were informed Richard Branson had just left after a quick visit. Didn’t he know we were coming? Walking through the rabbit warren of corridors that made up the Virgin Racing garage it dawned on me how little I knew about F1. As our guide joked, “you could say ‘well, it’s not like it’s rocket science,’ but… it actually is.”

Making it out onto Pit Lane was quite surreal, with mechanics and technicians furiously working on the two Virgin Racing vehicles in preparation of the qualifying race in a few hours time. Cars zoomed past on the track outside (see the video embed below!), and after five minutes inside the hive we were escorted out so preparations for the ensuing race could continue without a bunch of slack jawed journos staring on intently.

So a tour of the Virgin Racing pit area is all well and good, but what does it have to do with the launch Virgin Mobile’s new Surprise Gig endeavor? Not much, but again I’m going to call on that gift horse saying. Surprise Gig will see all Virgin Mobile customers given a free gigabyte of data on their plan each month between now and the end of June, so if you haven’t yet discovered the joys of mobile internet browsing this might be your chance. What kind of event would lend itself well to the name ‘Surprise Gig’? I know, a surprise gig!

After the tires had cooled on the qualifying race we headed back to the city and arrived at Ding Dong Lounge – one of Melbourne’s legendary/notorious laneway venues – for the official Surprise Gig launch event. After the obligatory drinks and canapés the enigmatic man himself swooped into the venue, with Sir Richard Branson arriving to introduce the crowd to the Surprise Gig concept. For their debut event, he informed, we’d have Wolfmother playing in a few minutes time. Not bad. And then in a few weeks Sydney-siders would get the chance to see buzz-band MGMT. Even better!

Wolfmother played, everyone enjoyed themselves – including Richard – and then we scurried into the night to explore more of Melbourne’s infamous laneway bars. Fortunately I made it back to my hotel unscathed in the early hours of Sunday morning; maybe I rode the gift horse home? Doesn’t matter, as I learned this weekend sometimes it’s best not to question it all.

> Virgin Racing pit tour photo gallery
> Surprise Gig launch party photo gallery

If you want to find out more about Virgin Mobile’s Surprise Gig with MGMT then head to their Members’ Lounge Facebook page.