MTosi

and various other things from the Lime Rock this weekend....
(forgive my terrible 3.0 megapixel camera, its all I can afford on a college students budget)
Lally in the TRG 68







The F-L car landing

The RX-8 off throttle

Entering Big Bend






Something missing?


Pontiac 1-2 until Fellows got spun




A few Koni challenge pics:










A few of the Speed Touring Race:










I was having trouble concentrating on the Speed Touring race these two kept distracting me.....

BostonDMD

Nice job Mike, you got some great shots.....

I especially like the ones on two wheels and......two legs......

LVDell

I find it absolutely asinine that a track has a crest that creates a ramp effect for cars to leave the ground. Every time I watch a race a LRP it just baffles me why the track is still used. Bumpy, short, no runoff, ramps for takeoff, etc, etc, etc..

Makes me feel lucky to have a track like VIR as my home track.

MTosi

I find it absolutely the opposite, the track has character. I'm realy depressed they're changing the track . It certainly needs a repave, and some more runout, but the configuration and the uphill should stay just as it is. Nothing wrong with a little airborn action, think the jumps at the ring. As long as the car is pointed at the crest of the hill it isn't much of a challenge. LRP is probably the most momentum orientated track left, no chicanes or tight corners, still a true drivers circuit.

LVDell

To each his own. What you call character, I call asinine. Getting the car light is one thing but to have it airborne is NOT something I would call character.

I would venture to say the Roebling is more momentum than LRP.

earlyapex

Thanks for sharing!

RSchoeni

Nice photos, thanks for posting them.

[QUOTE=LVDell;5449814]To each his own. What you call character, I call asinine. QUOTE]

It's why they're called drivers. Like driving a different line in the rain. What bothers me more is a rule-set that allows RX8s to pull corvettes down the straight, and front drivers to be be raced as rear-driven tube frames.
_____
bs

LVDell

It's why their called drivers? Not sure I follow that. A rain line and a launching pad are not the same thing. I agree you drive the challenge in front of you, but I just don't agree with launch pads. Off camber hill crests that make the car light is one thing, and more of a challenge to manipulate WD. Sorry, I just find the airborne thing just too gimmicky. It's just my opinion though and while I don't like it, everybody that does is surely entitled to theirs, especially if they enjoy that launch pad

I do agree that it is probably more asinine to have RX8's pull on the field on a straight. I remember when I was at the race at VIR a few weeks ago and overhead a lady asking her husband why the Pontiac's where faster than the Porsche. That really illustrated the magnitude of the situation. Who's at fault? PAG? Grand-Am? Both?

Z-man

I was talking to a friend of mine today about race tracks and safety. Funny this line of thought should come up here...

Lime Rock, with all it's 'dangerous' corners and all has a certain element to it -- treat the track with respect, and it will do the same for you. Drive it at 12/10ths, and your day of racing is over. Many other tracks are more forgiving -- allowing one to drive at 11/10ths (and then into a HUGE run off area). There you can drive back on the track and keep on going.

In my book, Lime Rock is one of the few remaining driver's tracks -- where it takes much more than just "***** to the wall" driving to do well. That is why so many folks feel that little circuit has so much character.

My $0.42,
-Z-man.

PS: Excellent pics, MTosi, BTW!

gums

Whenever I'm not at Lime Rock I remind myself that I don't even like it. Great for spectating, but too short and bumpy to drive, plus I get a headache everytime I crest that rise. Then, whenever I drive it, I have to rethink it. Especially when it all goes right, like our last Club Race there....

Seth Thomas

No way. Roebling is unique in its own way but Lime Rock has a lot more momentum than RR does. And Lime Rock is a lot more challenging to get right than Roebling ever was. Both are short tracks and if I had the choice between one of those being my home track I would choose Lime Rock any day.

LVDell

Never said RR was more challenging, just momentum. It's obvious LRP is challenging. But considering you have been on both and I have not, I humbly defer to your choice Seth

MTosi

I talked to alot of drivers this weekend and not a single one seemed happy about the changes, Fellows was there simply to drive Lime Rock one last time before the changed it. I was talking to Andy Lally and he wasn't to happy about them, he said he hoped they figured out that the new config wasn't going to be any good before the ALMS race and ran the old one. All the drivers seemed to say they hoped they had a chance to still run the old config. Apparently they don't mind getting air, one of the last tracks left where you can't make mistakes and get away with them. In my opinion the only reason they are making a second config. is so skip can appeal to all the rich NYC guys with ferrari's and lambo's who would get bored with just one config, and don't understand the concept of real momentum driving. They just like point and shoot, plus it gives them more runout so they don't constantly crash.

gums

I feel compelled to let you young whippersnappers in on a little history from time to time, so let's reconsider the uphill. Sam Posey once left his CanAm car literally suspended in the trees up there, on a quiet test day. No one really knows how he got down. John Morton did a sensational complete back flip in a Nissan GTP, wrecking the car in a fireball, he was lucky to escape. That's what prompted the chicane. And there was a fatality back there early one race morning. Not sure what the cause was or if the crest had anything to do with it, but a promising young star named Tom Stewart tumbled to his death in a F/Atl on that straight.

The Brewmeister

I was quite surprised that Grand Am chose to bypass the chicane. It should be
noted also that the track was designed and built over 50 years ago. Sports cars
of the period were not nearly as fast as those that would come later.