It was a long, long weekend at Mid-Ohio: the heat was scorching, and both myself and photog extraordinaire Chris Clark stayed for all three days of practice, qualifying, and the actual race day on Saturday. But no matter how exhausting it might’ve been, the excitement didn’t lift, not for a second. American Le Mans Series is some of the most harrowing and brutal racing there is. Imagine finely-tuned racecars from a wide range of classes all battling it out on a winding road-course track all at once—from nearly unrecognizable ultra-high-tech prototypes to production-based sports cars, running everything from big-block V8′s to turbocharged 4-cylinders to twin turbodiesel V12′s. As you can imagine, the competition is fierce, both on the track and in the garage. It’s like you get four races (the number of classes) in one, and this week at Mid-Ohio, the drama was palpable. Check out all of our ALMS coverage from Mid-Ohio here, and head on over to the Events section for full photocoverage of all the action.

People came from all over the check out both the American Le Mans race and the Indy race this weekend at Mid-Ohio, and you’d think these high-dollar race fans would have snootier rides than, say, your average NASCAR follower. Sure, there were more Euro makes mixed in, and more imports generally, but it turns out this crowd is as hard to generalize about as any other, and some of the infield cruisers I saw here were as wild as anything I’d seen tailgating at Talladega. Check out this VW bus with the roof-mounted tent: is this every 7-year-old’s dream or what? View more fun fan rides after the jump.

Continue reading "Race Fans' Rides at Mid-Ohio" »

I shot a few amateur videos during Saturday’s Le Mans race to give a sense of what it’s like to watch from up in the tower. You could see a ton of action from up there, as a lot of passing took place on the front straightaway alongside the pits (Mid-Ohio looks like this). The video below shows the B-K Motorsports Mazda passing one of the Ferrari F430s during a multi-car fly-by, and this one features an Acura prototype car passing the Falken Ford GT. See a whole bunch of the cars rumble past during a pace lap under caution, and see them enter the pits here. For a change of perspective, click here for some close-up video of the cars during the previous day’s practice from the infield side of the track: the tower you can see in the background is where I was stationed on race day. Definitely, the most badass-sounding cars on the track were the E85 Corvettes—you can hear one of those big-block V8s rumbling past here. Enjoy!

Ever longed for a bird’s-eye view of a Le Mans GT2 Ferrari team thrashing out a near-perfect pit stop? Well, now’s your chance, as the Risi Competizione F430 gets a quick going-over in the pits. Check out the video below, and for an interesting rundown of exaclty how an American Le Mans Series pit stop is choreographed, take a look at this pdf.

Another cool thing about the American Le Mans Series: right before the race, they line up all the cars on the front stretch and open up the track to anyone who wants to come mill around, ogle the cars, and interact with the teams. Fans continue to linger on the track even after the color guard shows up and the teams begin filing up for the opening ceremonies. The red-suited race officials bustle around and people are urged off the track with such entreaties as "now folks, we’ve never yet had to delay the start of an ALMS race because fans were tardy in clearing the track"—and the fans listen! It’s all so civilized and orderly, it’s a little hard to believe. And of course, it offers some great photo ops of the cars with the teams behind them. I even got a chance to photograph the pits from the hot side of the wall, as the Intersport Racing LMP1 was in for some last-minute tweaks. See more pics below the jump.

Continue reading "Pre-Race: All Cars On Deck" »

Acura driver Gil de Ferran will take the LMP2 pole for tomorrow’s Le Mans race, and he’s totally stoked. His Acura team has only run three races together as an organization, and for Gil to take the pole with so few is a pretty big deal even if he is a former Indy 500 winner. In the post-race press conference, he made an interesting point about qualifying being like a race in and of itself, one with completely different rules from the endurance grind that is Le Mans: qualifying is just about speed, nothing else. And for once, you don’t have to worry about conserving tires, brakes, or fuel, you just go for it. He anticipates major competition tomorrow from the Audi TDI cars as well as the Penske Porsches. Marco Werner will take the LMP1 pole in one of those feared Audi R10′s.

Our B-K Motorsports LMP2, sadly, didn’t get to qualify due to an engine problem in the late afternoon. Whereas last time it was the bottom end that went bad, the new replacement motor had a problem with what on a passenger car would be the head gasket—though on a purpose-built race engine, it’s more like a thin rubber seal, and it’s pretty easy to blow. Hey, I could tell them all about head problems on a 4-cyl Mazda motor, but I kind of got the feeling it was neither the time nor the place. These guys have worked so hard, and are so clearly intense about what they’re doing, that it’d be awesome to see them soldier through and run well in tomorrow’s race. As it stands, they’ll be starting at the back of the pack. Fingers crossed!

The Indy cars are practicing here at Mid-Ohio this weekend, too—their race is on Sunday. I heard that unmistakable can-full-of-angry-hornets sound that the IRL cars give off, and high-tailed it to my favorite rooftop perch to snap a few pics. See a sampling after the jump!

Continue reading "Indy Practice From The Roof!" »

I spent the day at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Track watching the American Le Mans Series cars test and tune for Saturday’s race. They each got to run on the track by class for about 15 or 20 minutes apiece, and I was able to get up to the top floor of the tower to watch the action. The GT3-class Porsches buzzed around the track for awhile first before they rolled out the big-gun Prototype and GT1 and GT2-class (production-based) cars. That was when things got loud! More pics after the jump.

Continue reading "Thursday Practice at Mid-Ohio" »

There’s definitely signs of race activity here in Mansfield, Ohio—I’ve been seeing race trailers and "Welcome Race Fans" signs all over the place! There also seem to be some pretty serious technical difficulties: for one thing, they sell beer in gas stations in Ohio, but only until 1am. And internet connectivity looks like it’s going to be a major headache. Still, I’m going to do my best to bring you some killer coverage and pics from the American Le Mans Series race at Mid-Ohio this weekend. Practice and qualifying starts tomorrow. Stay tuned!