Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach 2008

[West]

http://s283.photobucket.com/albums/kk31 ... ch%202008/

Link updated with some videos.

A really fun event; my first ALMS race and the first since the Super GT series came over to America in a one-off in 2004. I loved seeing the cars up close and taking the best pictures I could... I wanted more shots of the C6R but it was so crowded every time I walked by. I couldn't get many race shots since I was using a digital camera (Sony Cybershot 4.1 MP) and there weren't many open spaces to take pictures.

Then I got really drunk and wandered for a while. I had no idea on who was winning or whatever. The buildings and parking garages amplified the sound so much, I got a huge headache that won't go away. But it was worth it. My friends and I got tickets from a coworker's friend who works for HPD, on the Indy engines.

[mx_tifoso]

Thanks for the pics, but next time spend less time drinking and more time taking more pictures!

My favourite were the C6R ones for sure, the brakes look awesome and the hood design does too.

And I couldn't help but to acknowledge the similarities even more between a prototype in Le Mans and a Formula One car when I saw a picture of the brakes and suspension of one of the proto's.

And 2009 promises to be even better since BMW will finally race their new M3 in the ALMS!

[West]

My camera is three or four years old; I tried my best. I also went with friends who don't follow racing at all, so I was pretty much keeping them back. With the exception of Corsa Racing and Covette Racing, it was really hard to get pictures since the teams put their cars pretty far from prying eyes. Like I said earlier, the Corvette team got the most attention, because I think the manager was talking to the fans. You can also tell by the way Acura covered up the footbox and Penske covered the engine. Finally, I didn't go back to the autograph session because we were just messing around, and that my friends don't know (or care) about them.

It was funny though; my friends thought the Ferrari sounded like rice rockets and the American cars were insanely loud.

Hopefully, my next racing event, I will have a better camera. The link has been updated.

[Ray]

You can see Jake in the rear shot of the C6R! Hell yeah!

[West]

http://www.thellanas.com/ImageGallery/v ... ongBeachGP

This gallery is from coworker's friend, who also knows the person from HPD.

[teecof1fan]

Let's not forget that it was an awesome race too! Both Audi's getting past the Penske's late in the race, and the Taffel Ferrari just barely holding off the Flying Lizards for the last few laps. Great stuff! A lot more exciting than the (sadly) final Champ Car race that followed, though I enjoyed seeing Franck Montagny up there in 2nd place. Speaking of former F1 testers, anyone know what Robert Dornboos is up to?

[vyselegend]

Thanks for the pics and all, West!


I carefully avoided internet for the past three days, as I feared having the result spoiled like last time at St Pete. I don't know why Motors TV is delaying the races, they depend of the speed TV stream anyway, so they could very well show it live, as they did for Sebring... I guess I'm missing something there.

An interessing race, with Acura stealing the win to Porsche for the first time since Sebring 2007, IIRC. And with style, too! Dumas couldn't do anyting against that Brabham move, although I suspect the RS might have had some problems near the end. Dumas waved the car as if he was desperate for some more tyre pressure after the restart, and his pace dropped then. He and Bernhard are quite unlucky with the yellow flags also, twice time in two race they are robbed from an almost certain win. But that's the game...

I really love the way ALMS races proceed! IMSA is actually running endurance cars in sprint races, or more exactly some sort of Grand Prix emulation. That's how we get to see some LM proto raced wildly, in contrast to the usual conservative drive intended by definition in "endurance".

Audi seemed on the back foot after Sebring's demise, but they're fearsome now. Last year Mac Nish described Long Beach as the most terrible place for the R10. I guess now they've won here, they can win everywhere.

Great to see the Porsches in the pace of the F430 now. Strange how Tafel took the dominant Ferrari spot this year, while Risi are nowhere near where they should stand.

Now in the wait of Salt Lake, we've got 1000km of Monza and 1000km of Spa (with Villeneuve & Wurz) to watch. Quite a luxuous way to wait!

[West]

I don't know what the situation over in Europe is, but ABC taped the program and played it the next day at 2:30 PM local time. I had to watch it to see what the hell was going on during the race.

The Ferrari was not very attractive sound-wise, but I guess that's what you get w/ a race engine. The 911s are a tad bit quieter. I think they look cooler than the F430 GTs. But the American V8s sounded the best IMO. The Aston also made a nice growling sound as well. The movies aren't that great, but I just wanted to get some sounds as I have to wait another year for this event. I envy the guys who get to go to Le Mans though...

[WhiteBlue]

http://www.motorsport-total.com/mehr/bi ... &sort=1&d=

a bunch of pics on this site