"All the fun happens between 40 miles an hour and 120..."

Metaphysics, Kramer, and a VW bus.

The poster that launched a thousand petrolhead addictions...

I wish I still had mine.

"Lambo Alpine Poster turns 30"
(article from Feb 2012 in the Chronicle Herald)

Light and shadow

The best part of photographing endurance racing....the magic that dawn and dusk light creates.
It adds a whole new dimension to power and speed.

Dewis, Wallace, and some Jags.

"All he's got to do is keep his foot hard down. 
Don't lift that little pedal...keep it flat to the board."

Jaguar F-TYPE V8 S recreates historic sprint test in Jabbeke, Belgium

 "Sixty years after Jaguar's legendary test driver Norman Dewis achieved a world record average flying mile speed of 172.4mph in a modified XK 120. Jaguar returned to Jabbeke, Belgium on Saturday 2 March for another sprint test - this time with a new Jaguar F-TYPE V8S and 1988 Le Mans 24 hour race-winning driver Andy Wallace."

The car was the one

While reading Mark Donohue's book "The Unfair Advantage", I came across the chapter that inspired Mark Knopfler's song "The Car was the One".

Nice to listen to a tune about cars written by a car guy...

By the way, it's chapter 6 in Donohue's book..."Cobra: Awesome Power (for a few races)".

Knopfler doesn't just write about them. He owns and races them...

Too bad there's no mention of VIR in this one (okay, I'm biased).

Redundant name....awe-inspiring car

Jedi Master

Allan McNish talks racecraft with Drive.

Great design = timeless

Iconic, indeed. How about "legendary" design...

Iconic racing prints from Petrolicious

A blast from the past

September, 2010....one of those days when you have to pinch yourself and ask "I get paid to do this?"

Top Gear UK on location at VIR

 

VIR (and me) through that magical Top Gear lens...

VIR's start stand on the BBC. A nice bit of convergence for me.

It's all about the experience

One of the best features of the Drive channel on YouTube...."Trackside".

A great track, well shot...

 

The Start

“Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting.”
-Steve McQueen

Sunset, East Horseshoe, Daytona

One of the coolest parts of racing for 24 hours....those 'transitional' times of the day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Atomic Power

(originally posted on Race Tech Magazine's blog - November 16, 2012)

For pure track day performance, the ideal blend is reduced weight and an increased amount of sensory data available to the driver. One would be hard pressed to find a package where Colin Chapman’s mantra of “simplify, then add lightness” is put into action more so than in an Ariel Atom. Rather than starting with a car where you must remove bits to achieve light weight and balance, the Atom starts from the ground up adding only the bits that are absolutely needed for performance and safety. It’s an intoxicating formula, to be sure.

I recently had an opportunity to drive an Atom on track, courtesy of TMI AutoTech located at Virginia International Raceway (Alton, VA, USA). It is a pretty good bet that no one in the US knows more about Atoms as TMI is the exclusive North American manufacturer of the car. In addition to building these cars from the ground up (including fabrication of the chassis), TMI also provides track day experiences and operates the VIR-based Spec Race Atom racing series (watch the pages of Race Tech for an upcoming feature).  

TMI’s Driving Experience begins with an introductory classroom session to ensure that all participants are familiar with the basics of driving on track and are aware of the marshal’s flags. After a brief overview of the day’s events, the group is led outside to the paddock to inspect their Atom. Upon meeting blue #05, my ride for the day, I was struck by the fact that there is nothing on this car that is not absolutely necessary (the only exception being the passenger seat, as I’d be solo today). From the suspension and brake system to the entirely visible Honda 2.4 liter engine (the same on found in the Civic Type R), it’s all there for your eyes to feast on. 

After becoming familiar with the car, it’s finally time to mount up and prepare to take the track. Step over the side tube frame and then lower yourself into the driver seat. From your new vantage point, you realize how much you can see. In addition to the instrument pod, steering wheel, fire bottle and gear shift, the rest of your view is filled with front wheels and suspension. Behind your head is a very reassuring roll hoop and the intake box for the Honda engine. That’s it…just you and all the bits you need to go fast.

The first session out behind the pace car is meant to familiarize drivers new to the Atom with the basics of the car’s dynamics. On this day, we were on VIR’s South Course, a short 1.65 miles of twisty bits and elevation change which will prove to offer both technical segments as well as short straights for a quick blast of speed.  The second session out starts behind the pace, but on each subsequent lap the next driver in line is given a point-by around the pace for open track. After a lunch debrief of the morning’s experiences, participants have two more sessions, this time without a pace car.

TMI offers extra value to its participants by placing experienced instructors around the track as observers. Between sessions and during lunch, these observers provide feedback on your braking zones and improvements to the driving line. Throughout the day, you find yourself realizing another tenth in your driving performance thanks to these sessions. 

So, what is the Atom like as a track car? The experience is like none other that I’ve driven. The scale of the car is more sports car than open wheeler, but it delivers the precision and sensory experience of a formula car. With a total weight of just over 1,300 pounds (612 kg), the 2.4L engine propels it to 60mph in 2.9 seconds.  Brakes are solid and predictable, though you do learn the importance of having the car properly balanced before going into a turn in order to prevent lockup. The 6-speed gearbox (also sourced from Honda) is smooth and precise with short throws on the shifter and a readily accessible power band. You quickly learn that the car has loads of torque which makes many downshifts on the tight circuit unnecessary.

The Ariel Atom is a very fun car on track and, in the hands of someone able to wring a few more tenths of performance from it than I was, it is a very well-balanced and fast racer. With the wave of the checker flag signaling the end of my day with #05, I was left with just one burning question….when can I do this again?

 

Petit Le Mans 2012 – Innovation, drama and a Rebellion

(originally posted on Race Tech Magazine's blog - Oct 24, 2012)

Traveling to Road Atlanta (Braselton, GA) on Thursday prior to the 15^th running of Petit Le Mans, many wondered what sort of a show to expect. Of course, the Nissan-powered DeltaWing was going to make its North American racing debut. But, with no Audi-Peugeot rivalry on the 2.54-mile circuit, the question remained…just how good was the competition going to be?

The answer was readily apparent at Thursday’s night practice. The Lola of recently crowned WEC LMP1 champion Rebellion Racing was fastest on the grid, the top nine GT cars were within 1.17 seconds of each other, and the unclassified DeltaWing was ninth fastest. Qualifying on Friday revealed the same dramatic results…Rebellion grabbed the pole position with only 0.339 separating them from the Pickett Racing P1 car while 1.16 seconds covered the top ten GT entries. On its best qualifying lap, the DeltaWing would have been placed in P10 on the starting grid. As it was running as an unclassified entry, however, the sleek black machine would start at the very back of the pack for Saturday’s green flag.

Having to fight its way on the start through the GTC, GT, PC and P2 fields to do battle for overall results wasn’t the only uphill battle that the DeltaWing had to face. During practice on Wednesday, it tangled with a GTC car at the crest of turn 11 resulting in a scary upside-down slide off the circuit into the grass. Through the Herculean efforts of the Highcroft Racing team, the car was rebuilt in time for Thursday’s night practice. (See Race Tech’s facebook page for a link to the time lapse video of the repairs.)

 

Saturday morning saw a beautiful autumn day dawn in north Georgia. With the drop of the green flag, spectators were treated to what they hoped would shape up to be an epic battle between Pickett Racing and Rebellion in LMP1. This was not to be, however, as the Pickett car was spun off-course and impacted a barrier after contact with a GTC car in the uphill turn three. Incidentally, this was the same GTC car which caused the DeltaWing’s shunt on Wednesday. In order to solidify their American Le Mans Series P1 driver and team championships, Pickett Racing had to complete 70% of the 1,000-mile race. After being returned to the paddock from the turn three incident with suspension damage, the crew worked feverishly for over an hour to return the car to competition. While never able to bring the fight back to Rebellion for the win, Pickett finished third in class and clinched the ALMS P1 championships. Rebellion was the overall winner in convincing style, finishing three laps ahead of the second place prototype.

Despite all of the amazing competition taking place around Road Atlanta on Saturday, it would be a safe bet that spectators and professional photographers alike took a higher percentage of photos of the DeltaWing than any other car on the circuit. During the pre-race grid, the scrum of spectators crowding the car to get a photo or speak to the crew rivaled the best of the GT entries with their scantily clad grid girls.

 

The diminutive dimensions of the car are really put into focus when witnessed in its natural habitat…carving through a pack of competitors. Comments in the paddock and along the spectator fencing ranged from calling it a technological work of art to speculation that beauty must really be in the eye of the beholder. Regardless of your position on the debate, it was hard to argue that the DeltaWing was something special to witness on track. And with a P5 finish overall (only six laps behind the winner), the car proved that it could deliver both performance and reliability. There is definitely a new batch of fans anxiously awaiting the car’s return to competition in 2013 as a fully classified entry.

 

All things considered, the 2012 edition of Petit Le Mans was a fitting (and successful) end to a year where many in the North American sports car racing community have been debating the future of the sport. Beautiful weather, an enthusiastic crowd of spectators, and epic battles both behind the wheel and in the paddock made for an upbeat finale to the American Le Mans Series season.  Throughout the weekend, conversations around Road Atlanta frequently turned to the upcoming marriage between ALMS and Grand Am. Speculation of class structures, balancing performance, and which tracks should remain on the schedule will certainly dominate the off-season debates throughout the long quiet winter.

Let the countdown to the Rolex 24 at Daytona begin!