To the uninitiated, auto racing is all about speed. While that is true, there is an awful lot that goes on behind the scenes before the cars ever hit the track. That is perhaps most evident in endurance events, where crew members often work around the clock before the green flag drops. Crew members prepare cars, load trailers and set up the pit and paddock before most drivers even arrive at the track. Once those pesky drivers show up, it’s not uncommon for them to head out on track and break something. Even worse, sometimes they stuff the car. All this means the crew might work as much as 48 hours straight before the final event of the weekend. Once the race starts, they actually get some time to rest. All their work is done until the driver comes in for fuel & tires, a driver change or maybe some major repairs.

Once the race is on, all they can do is wait:
Continue reading →

While there are those that feel gratuitous girly pics are a bit too voyeuristic, we know that most of our readers just love to see the girls. So we scour the pit lane and paddock of every event we visit to bring you, the loyal reader some eye candy. Don’t worry ladies, we’ve got lots of shots of the guys for you too. Just not tonight.

Check out the ladies Mosport had to offer at this year’s ALMS weekend after the break.
Continue reading →

Well, wouldn’t you? Being short has it’s perks!

Aside from the obvious, our young lad had his first real media credentials for a race weekend today and used it to take some stunning paddock shots at Mosport. As regular readers have seen before, the boy has an eye.

Unfortunately, his dear old Dad is way behind the times. I’m almost embarrassed to say that I’ve made it this far without using the actual Adobe Photoshop program, instead using a freebie photo editor. Now that I’ve bought and installed Photoshop, I already ahve a love, hate relationship. First off, the damn thing won’t resize photos! I ask long time users and they shrug…”well, yeah”. Sorry, but I don’t get it. Secondly, the interface isn’t all that friendly when working through a couple of hundred images trying to decide which files to upload. Either that, or I’m just useless.

At some point over the next day or so, we’ll show you how The Dude’s day went. He truly grabbed some incredible shots!

You could say it was sort of an ultimate customer appreciation night. Porsche Canada and uber dealer Pfaff Porsche invited loyal Porsche customers to Toronto’s Roy Thompson Hall to meet American Le Mans Series drivers Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard and their steed, the RS Spyder. A handful of local automotive media types were also in on the evening.

While the current model line up was well represented, the star of the show had to be the bright yellow Penske Porsche RS Spyder. This 500 horsepower sports racing machine boasts the latest aerodynamic and technical details such as Direct Fuel Injection. A prime example of how racing improves the breed, the DFI system will be appearing on production 911 models very soon.
Continue reading →

As I’m on vacation this week, I’m taking things a bit easy here in The Garage. That’s right, no challenging posts, nothing that takes more than a few minutes. Photos are fun and every gearhead loves some cool pics.

For some reason, I’ve become drawn to helmets and the way they are just dropped around the pits. Sat on a nice shelf, plunked down on top of the car or tossed into the seat, they all look pretty cool. Not to mention the pros expensive lids offer up some cool ideas for us not so pros when it comes time to paint our own lids. These shots were taken around the pit lane at Lime Rock a few weeks ago.

Gallery after the break
Continue reading →

Some photographers love nothing better than to stand trackside and grab thousands of shots. Personally, pit lane is like candy for the budding shooter in me. There really is no other spot that has the same energy and so many incredible photo possibilities. I could literally spend an entire day toting the camera around the pits.

ALMS rules prevent photographers from entering the pit lane when they are hot unless they are wearing a fireproof suit. I think that will be an excuse to sausage my lard ass into my old driving suit when the ALMS crowd visits Mosport next month!

Yet another gallery after the break
Continue reading →

And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: The lovely ladies of Lime Rock!

Full gallery of sweetness after the break
Continue reading →

I really need to get a digital slr, as my manual focus skills with the FZ-8 are seriously lacking. Of a few hundred on track shots, there are only a few that I’m happy to share. Not to worry though, these few should keep everyone happy until the Girls of Lime Rock set appears!

Oh yes, the shot above is the surprise winner, the Patron Acura of David Brabham and Scott Sharp.

Gallery after the break
Continue reading →

Lime Rock Park is one of the grand old ladies of North American motorsports, having made it’s mark during the golden era of sports car racing in the Fifties and Sixties. In fact, it is one of the few remaining tracks from the early days, with places Like Watkins Glen and Mosport carrying the flag for road racing in a natural setting. What a setting it is indeed!

Nestled in a valley in the Berkshire mountains, Lime Rock is surrounded by some stunning scenery which makes for a couple of incredible natural grandstands where spectators can see as much as 3 turns at a time. The track is also relatively short (when compared to a place like Mosport) and the LMP cars were lapping in the 50 second range, which means there is always something going on in front of the fans. I almost cringe to say it, but Lime Rock offers better spectating opportunities than my home track, Mosport.
Continue reading →