The Grand-Am Sports Car Series has become a popular diversion for disgruntled NASCAR fans. Tired of uneventful races, there has been no shortage of complaints from wary NASCAR fans. Judging by the crowds, the Grand Am Series is gaining momentum, reaching out to the NASCAR audience. Producing some of the tightest racing and a wide variety of winners, it’s no wonder many fans are making the switch to Grand Am racing. In short, the Grand Am has been a hit with its participants, while providing truly enjoyable entertainment for its audience and, like NASCAR; Grand Am racing is gender neutral which makes it a natural fit for the entire family.
NASCAR has been the target of criticism on various topics from various sources. Some critics note the significant differences between today’s NASCAR vehicles and true “stock” cars. Others frequently cite the dominance of a particular team/driver. Recently, the increased number of caution flags for debris has been hotly debated. Continue reading →
Regular readers know that I spent some time pushing a Suzuki through the woods of Northern Ontario. Since then, any sort of race worthy Suzuki on 4 wheels has caught my eye. I just think Suzuki should have more world wide involvement with automotive racing. The Garage Flickr pool member Roberto Blank caught this 4 wheeled Suzuki doing a 2 wheeler impression in The Netherlands.
It has been a long hard winter here in Ontario, but it looks like the snow cover is finally beginning to recede somewhat and most racers are thinking about that first race weekend. One of the best ways to get the juices flowing is to visit with some old friends and make new ones at a local swap meet. Tomorrow marks the first annual Canadian Karting Expo at the Pickering Markets in Toronto’s east end. Whether you are an old pro looking to hook up with friends, or are racing for the first time in 08, this event should be just the thing to get your blood pumping on a cold but sunny Easter weekend.
While the drivers and co-drivers where nestled up all snug in their rally rally cars, Canadian film maker Warwick Patterson and his peeps were freezing their fingers off at the side of the road at the 2008 100 Acre Wood Rally. Why were these guys standing in the woods freezing their digits (among other body parts)? To bring us some incredible video of course!
Pay special attention to the voice over. That silky tone belongs to none other than Jen Horsey, who makes all the details work at Team ACP.
If you liked this video and want to see more, visit Flat Over Crest via the button at the top right of the page to buy your own copy of the 2007 FOC Rally Video magazine.
Ever wondered what it is like on the inside of a full on rally car on a winter stage? Take a ride with Ken Block at maximum attack on Stage 2 of the 2008 100 Acre Wood rally in the Monster Energy Subaru. At times this ride is so fast that co-driver Alex Gelsomino invokes the name of The Father, and of The Son. Perfect for Good Friday!
Falling squarely in the “I gotta get me one of these” category is the just announced 50th Anniversary poster from Lola. In fact, I may just have to get 2. You see, this somewhat unique poster has images on both sides.
The poster has drawings of 50 Lola race cars, one for each year of the company’s existence, beginning with the 1958 Lola Mk1 to the 2008 B08/80. It will be available for free at selected events that are involved in the 50th Anniversary Celebration. The first two events will be at Brands Hatch World Sportscar Masters race in May and the Oulton Park Gold Cup in August. Let’s hope that they free up a few for the VARAC Festival at Mosport in June.
Gary Faules’ posts on the history of the Vanderbilt Cup have introduced us to all sorts of new readers and contributers, each of whom have had something valuable to add to the conversation. Our newest addition is Vanderbilt Cup historian Howard Kroplick, a Long Island native who has been gathering stories and images for years. With over 20,000 photos in his stash, Howard was more than prepared to write his new book on the history of the Vanderbilt Cup Races which will be released later this month.
Howard has just launched a companion site to go along with the book which has literally tons of photos. A quick poke about the site shows that Howard also drives a 66 GT350H, the rental cousin of Gary Faules’s Lucky.
In Plasma Red, the 2008 Infiniti G37S seems painted with the spilled blood of the BMW 335i Coupe. One wonders if Infiniti hasn’t delved into Sun Tzu’s 6th century BC military treatise, to guide its battle. The G35 couldn’t have pulled this off, especially with BMW throwing a 300hp/300lb-ft torque twin-turbo grenade into the luxury sport coupe fray. The G37S, however, is a warrior as deeply disciplined in the ways of the road and refined in the art of sport coupe war as any of the competition.
Over the past few months, I’ve been discovering the joy of groups in the online photo dump Flickr. Not only is Flickr a great place to store and organize your beloved photos, but it’s also a great place to network with others who share the same interests. A while back, we decided it might be fun to create a Flickr group for The Garage to see what kind of cool community we can grow.
Whether you are a pro shooter or a newbie hack like me, we’d love to see some of your work the The Garage Blog Flickr group. As the group continues to evolve, you might even see the odd contest here & there to reward group members.
The Ferrari 212 Barchetta above was shot by Flick user cel-Sydney
Things have been a little crazy here in the real life version of The Garage lately, so I’m more than happy to pass on the promotional efforts of Team ACP. Besides, what could be better on a cold Monday evening than a bit of rally action? This is the latest in a series of action videos offered up by Team ACP, with a little help from friend of The Garage Warwick Patterson.
