Monterey Sports Car Championships (Oct 8-11)

Hot on the heels of the rain-soaked Petit Le Mans, the American Le Mans Series has traveled to the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the final round of the 2009 season. While most of the championships will be decided this weekend, it was Gil de Ferran who grabbed most of the attention. The 41 year old Brazilian is set to conclude his driving career in great style. In honour of his former team-boss and mentor Jim Hall, he has repainted his Acura ARX-02a in the style of the legendary Chaparral built by Hall in the 1960s. Ahead of the on-track activities the livery was revealed with Jim Hall in attendance. Hall, De Ferran and his team-mate Simon Pagenaud next took to the track in two of the classic Chaparrals and the Acura. The 2003 Indy 500 winner piloted this [url=http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/86/Chaparral-2-Chevrolet.html]1963 - 1965 Chaparral 2 Chevrolet - Images, Specifications and Information[/url].

Later in the day De Ferran also topped the timing sheets in the first free practice session in the all-white #66 Acura. Today's qualifying session can be seen live on [URL="http://www.SpeedTV.com"]SpeedTV.com[/URL] at 6 pm Eastern Time.

A full preview by John Dagys can be found here:
[url=http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/alms-laguna-seca-race-preview/]AUTO-RACING - ALMS: Laguna Seca Race Preview - SPEEDtv.com[/url]

A look at Gil de Ferran's long racing career by Marshall Pruett:
[url=http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/alms-a-farewell-to-de-ferran/]AUTO-RACING - ALMS: A Farewell To De Ferran - SPEEDtv.com[/url]

A video of Gil de Ferran in the Chaparral 2:
[url=http://www.speedtv.com/video/popup/?bcpid=1797019236&bclid=595226652&bctid=44191259001]SPEEDtv.com Videos[/url]

Attached pictures courtesy of Marshall Pruett

qually on now
[url=http://stream.speedtv.com/alms]American Le Mans Series - SPEEDtv.com[/url]

i'll be there tomorrow. if you are going to be, let me know.

Please take lots of pictures. I thought Yokohama had sponsored the track..

Marshall's entertaining track-side notebook: [url=http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/alms-pruetts-trackside-notebook/]AUTO-RACING - ALMS: Pruett's Trackside Notebook - SPEEDtv.com[/url]

Am I right saying now one will broadcast/stream the race?
And specifically, when will it start?

speed tv will broadcast on sunday. not sure about stream. radio lemans will be doing live commentary.

[quote=cmcpokey;910413]speed tv will broadcast on sunday. not sure about stream. radio lemans will be doing live commentary.[/quote]

What I found as well, thanks anyway.

fantastic race.... a bit of a controversial finish from the GT guys though. i took lost of shots, but im going to relax for the rest of the evening. im wrecked.

[quote=cmcpokey;910448]fantastic race.... a bit of a controversial finish from the GT guys though. i took lost of shots, but im going to relax for the rest of the evening. im wrecked.[/quote]

Just watched the race, such a shame it ended that way in GT2.
looking forward for your pictures!

[quote=LeonOfTheDead;910551]Just watched the race, such a shame it ended that way in GT2.
looking forward for your pictures![/quote]

Was very exciting but that finish put a damper on things. Any word on fall out from it, or is it just passing by?

[quote=wwgkd;910559]Was very exciting but that finish put a damper on things. Any word on fall out from it, or is it just passing by?[/quote]

Officially it was fine, even if it honestly tasted bad to watch.
The Corvette tried all the possible spot to pass the Porsche, and once they made it, they were slammed against the wall. Not fair me thinks.

[quote=LeonOfTheDead;910562]Officially it was fine, even if it honestly tasted bad to watch.
[B]The Corvette tried all the possible spot to pass the Porsche[/B], and once they made it, they were slammed against the wall. Not fair me thinks.[/quote]

Including one illegal spot. I saw it as the vette intentionally ramming the porsche then there was some back and forth until the vette finally lost it and went across the track. I watched it a couple of times trying to figure out exactly what happened but it didn't look to me like the porsche actually put it into the inside wall, just shoved him over close as they jockeyed.

I think both of them should have backed off a little, but if the porsche was the one that crashed would you be thinking it was the vettes fault?

a tease for the rest of the shots.

this is a really crappy shot, but it is the corvette after the wreck. it was very dark, from a good ways away, and shooting over a fence, so not great quality. but it was a beat up car.

Practice and qualifying gallery: [url=http://www.speedtv.com/gallery/view/1027130/319036/?KeepThis=true&TB_iframe=true&height=750&width=844]SPEEDtv.com - Gallery[/url]

[quote=wwgkd;910566]Including one illegal spot. I saw it as the vette intentionally ramming the porsche then there was some back and forth until the vette finally lost it and went across the track. I watched it a couple of times trying to figure out exactly what happened but it didn't look to me like the porsche actually put it into the inside wall, just shoved him over close as they jockeyed.

I think both of them should have backed off a little, but if the porsche was the one that crashed would you be thinking it was the vettes fault?[/quote]

For what I understood, the Porsche was moving on the left to reduce the free spot for the Corvette, and when the Corvette eventually passed, the Porsche while keeping on moving to its left, hit the rear of the Corvette on the right, hence why the Corvette suddenly crossed the track that way.
Surely the Corvette was pushing the Porsche in many corners, but I didn't see the Porsche getting out of the track or loosing control, [I]that[/I] I'd say it's racing, while what happened on the last straight is pushing the contender out of the way.

[quote=cmcpokey;910584]a tease for the rest of the shots.

this is a really crappy shot, but it is the corvette after the wreck. it was very dark, from a good ways away, and shooting over a fence, so not great quality. but it was a beat up car.[/quote]

It's actually a good shot :), perhaps not technically perfect, but it's the kind of thing you expect from a guy hanging around the track waiting for something...

practice shots

more practice.. i'll put more up later.

last of practice.. on to the real stuff in a bit.

Excellent stuff so far :)

I absolutely agree. Great pictures. Got more? :)

post 18 shot three, I see a Porsche and a BMW both in third position.....I thought the leading lights were there to help the public, not to confuse them:)

[quote=faksta;910692]I absolutely agree. Great pictures. Got more? :)[/quote]
i will post more up in a few hours. from the race this time.
[quote=henk4;910695]post 18 shot three, I see a Porsche and a BMW both in third position.....I thought the leading lights were there to help the public, not to confuse them:)[/quote]

it was practice, so most of them had all of their lights on.

[quote=LeonOfTheDead;910614]For what I understood, the Porsche was moving on the left to reduce the free spot for the Corvette, and when the Corvette eventually passed, the Porsche while keeping on moving to its left, hit the rear of the Corvette on the right, hence why the Corvette suddenly crossed the track that way.
Surely the Corvette was pushing the Porsche in many corners, but I didn't see the Porsche getting out of the track or loosing control, [I]that[/I] I'd say it's racing, while what happened on the last straight is pushing the contender out of the way.



It's actually a good shot :), perhaps not technically perfect, but it's the kind of thing you expect from a guy hanging around the track waiting for something...[/quote]

Actually much earlier in the race the corvette pushed the porsche completely off the track right after turn one. It really didn't need to in order to complete the pass, either. They showed a shot of the vette's crew cheering (as they did after the illegal pass using the pit exit road,) but the announcers commented with a little less approval.

Running down the final straight right before the accident it looked to me like the two cars had several impacts (going both directions) as they accelerated and the vette certainly swerved into the porsche as they were still side by side. I think the porsche probably wouldn't have pushed back as hard if he hadn't been forced off the track earlier that race and at an earlier race in a similar situation (I think the announcers said sebring?) But I could be wrong. Either way it was a bad end to a good race. I just wish the Rizi team had still been in it at the end.

ok, here I go:

1. the race was preceded with a parade lap by Jim Hall in the Chaparral 2E.
2. Simon Pagenaud goes through the corkscrew after the green flag, and had already built up a sizable lead.
3..... every one else follows after.

a bit of a note. i really loved the 66 acura and (strangely) the GT, so there may be a preponderance of those cars in my shots. also both mazdas, as i have a thing for mazdas (remember, 2/3 of my cars at the moment are mazdas).

more from the corkscrew... i spent the first 15 minutes or so there, so have a bunch of shots.. a few more next post, then moving on.

ok, i underestimated how many shots i have from the corkscrew... so i could post a ton more from this part of the race. but i wont. i will get to some other places next post. which i will post later. need to go do some homework right now.

from turn 9 looking up toward the corkscrew, and in turn 9.

turn 9, rainey curve, is my favorite corner on the track. not good for passing, but as you can see from the porsche in pic 6, it is fast and invokes a bit of oversteer. driving it is great, but so is shooting it.

Is turn 9 the one just after the Corkscrew? I like that one too.. in Forza anyway. Great fun when you nail it just right.

[quote=pimento;911071]Is turn 9 the one just after the Corkscrew? I like that one too.. in Forza anyway. Great fun when you nail it just right.[/quote]

yeah, the long slightly banked left. when you get it right it is awesome, fast, and will set you up perfectly for turn 10. when you et it wrong, you need help to get out of the kitty litter.

Confirm, turn 10 is awesome...in many racing games.