ALMS Eye Candy

Did you miss the American Le Mans race that took place at Lime Rock Park this past Saturday?  If you did, go look up who won.  Then come back and look at these pics of what you may have missed.

ALMS at Lime Rock Park: FPH wrap-up 2011

On Friday, Danny Chin shared about his first experiences at Lime Rock Park a couple years ago and his affections for the scenic racetrack.

Although I have been an avid fan of motorsports for many years now, I never had the opportunity to attend a live race. Yet since I was armed with a camera and a media pass, I somehow believed there will be no surprises. I was in for a big surprise.

Lime Rock Park and ALMS

Ever since I got into racing, I promised myself that I would make it to at least one race every summer.  It didn't really matter what cars were racing either.  I just wanted to experience anything and everything that I could afford and/or could actually find time to get away for.  For the most part, the promise has been kept.  There have been some memorable international series like MotoGP at Laguna Seca and Indy along with some homegrown racing such as Nascar up in Loudon and IRL at Watkin's Glen.  However, there is one particular Sunday from a few years back where I remember the track more than the racing.  That track was Lime Rock.

So with an engineering degree, a bad job market, and a lack of funds, I've decided to forgo the plane tickets, get back to basics, and return to what was such an inspirational place.  And what a return this event will be.  Since the serene beauty of the track is expected and won't broadside me like last time, I will be able to focus on the actual racing, a series that I have never seen before but I hope will be a precursor to many future adventures.  The American Le Mans Series, what some people say is the pinnacle of relevancy to street cars in motorsports, will hold its third race of the season at Lime Rock Park.

The meandering 1.5 mile track will play host to about twenty ALMS cars in both Prototype and GT classes including Aston Martin powered Lolas, Mazda powered Lolas, Ferrari 458s, Corvettes, GT3s, and XKRs.  Additionally, there will be a Porsche GT3 Cup race and a Prototypes Lite race. With no monolithic structure containing the racetrack, it should prove to be an amazing juxtaposition of nature and technology existing in harmony while we, the viewers, benefit with amazing racing set against a striking backdrop.

Here are the highlights from last year:

I along with Danny Choy will be at the races on Saturday.  They start bright and early at 9am.  Please feel free to seek us out and chat.  My phone will be on and receiving e-mails for the address listed on my profile.  More information can be found below.  We hope to see you there!

Lime Rock Park
American Le Mans Series
Tickets

I love me some T-Rex

Shaped like the head of a Tyrannosaurus-Rex, Laguna Seca is my favorite track on Earth.

Enjoying the warm weather!

I'm done with midterms! Sunny 73 degrees! Wow, it's as if I've forgotten what 73 degrees feels like.

Though this would be the first weekend I'll get to enjoy the warm weather, the race season has already begun without me last week.

Bahrain kicked off a season that looks to be more dramatic than the season before (for all the good reasons). A significant rule change in F1 dictates that teams are no longer permitted to refuel after the start of the race. In the past, both teams and F1 fans could have calculated pit times to predict where each team will eventually finish. However, Last week displayed blazing pit stop times of less than 4 seconds on average for the replacement of tires only and losing only 2 positions in the process. To that end, where the driver will join and reform from exiting the pits is no longer significant.

Other than the redesigned rule for this season, we now see that there are four teams vying for the championship-- Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes Benz. Let's hope tight racing continues for the rest of the season.

The other racing series I'm excited about is ALMS this weekend at 12 hours of Sebring. The last few years have displayed some outrageous racing in the closing laps, most notably with the GT class Porsche Flying Lizard Team. Will they win again?