http://www.flickr.com/photos/92934077@N00/

So against my better judgement (responsibilities and weather conditions) I went to the A1 Grand Prix racing at Laguna Seca.
The weather was nuts, big clouds, heavy rain, and probably the lowest temperatures I've experienced in California so far. 30 mins later it's sunny, nice, and light breeze. I think after 3 laps we already had people going back to change tires, and few laps later, again, back again for some more tire changes.

The dude from Netherlands (got a quick nickname of Mr. Orange) was nuts. I've seen he do 720's, force passing in the craziest spots, and even pass under safety car, which got him penalized of course. He disappeared at one point, I'm not sure why, but I heard they explained it in the tv version of the race.

It was fun to watch, at least when i wasn't freezing my butt off or had rain completely cover my glasses. And these people are doing 150mph+ in these conditions. Definitely a fun series, something new to watch for me, in addition to WRC, F1, Grand Am, Speed World Challange, and some occasional bike stuff...

god bless bittorrent!

I had plans to go to that race to support the Spec Miata friends I have. Of course, this was before they canceled the race TWICE before bringing it back in the period of 2 days.....SCCA finally said "you guys are nuts.....have a nice day....." and cancelled the SM race that weekend.

Looks like I need to say a big THANK YOU to them as I HATE standing out in freezing rain at the track more than anything. Doesn't look like too many people were there....how many would you say?

not many people showed up, and i can't blame them, as the weather was aweful. well, awefull as far as cali weather gets at least, i still remember walking to school during chicago winters just to find out that the school was cancelled due to low temps. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)
I spent most of the time on top of the hill watching either the corkscrew or overlooking 1-4 sequence and 10-11. not many people there, as the wind and rain were extra brutal with nothing to slow it down. then we came down to the stands by T4, and they were maybe like 60% full.
the few moments when the sun came out and it didn't rain were nice, but it was just not enough to make people come out. people were giving tickets away (i found 2 sources of full 3 day passes for free) and still not much of a turnout. of course today, it's a perfect monterey sunny/60F day as always. just bad luck i guess.
it did make for a good show though, as 500hp+ and no driver aides made for some spectacular spinouts.

Until I saw those pictures I never quite realized how close people's houses are to the track! Much different perspective than what I see on TV or on GT4.

Yeah and soon racers around the world will UNITE AS ONE to tell those spoiled rich B#$%#DS to STFU when it comes to dictating to the track just when it can and cannot have "loud" cars on the track....its a RACETRACK dammit.....and it was there LONG BEFORE YOU BUILD YOUR $4 MILLION HOME....so....

DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/banghead.gif)

This post has been edited by rmackintosh: Mar 14 2006, 05:06 PM