Petit Le Mans 2010

I caught of a couple of minutes on TV before the Challenge banquet. Looked like a great race.

kabel wrote: Wow what a track! I saw a lot of GRM shirts out there, sorry I did not stop and say hi to any of you. I was constantly on the go I was having so much fun. Photos going up soon...

I'm so stoked to hear that you had a good time, dude! Yeah, moving around the infield was a PITA with that many people here (I guess I was wrong about Rd. Atl. trying to limit the infield traffic ), but I'm sure hoping it was worth it for ya. I actually either "punked out", or "manned up", depending on the POV.. Since I waited until Fri to get there, I ended up camping with my old SCCA worker buddies. Had fun running around the infield Fri with the black Corrado (some people actually took pictures of it!), but on Saturday, I didn't dare take her into the fray. I left her behind at our campsite, and ended up actually helping another old friend (one of the assistant Flag Chiefs) support our workers. Delivering the meals/giving them breaks, etc.

David S. Wallens wrote: I caught of a couple of minutes on TV before the Challenge banquet. Looked like a great race.

It was. Peugeot eventually ran away with LMP1..Audi was doing well until about six hours in..Dindo Capello's helmet "eyebrow" pad broke, and shoved his balaclava down into his eyes. The pitstop they made for that put Audi a lap behind, and even all of Dr. Ullrich's scheming couldn't get it back. Peugeot earned this one. No failures, no red mist, no strategical mistakes..they did a fantastic job for a well-earned victory.

Highcroft just marched to the LMP2 win..the CytoSport Porsche ran all nine hours with a misfire, never really got close to Highcroft, but still finished 2nd in class!

GT2 was the real story..Corvette brought their highest placed car in for a splash (with something like six laps left!). Rahal/Letterman did the same thing with the BMW. Risi screwed up, and brought their lower placed car into the pits first. Their "good" car (leading, at the time) ran dry on the last lap. Gave Corvette the win, and may have let Rah/Let take the team Championship,

I watched it from the comfort of my couch, but it was a hell of a race.

friedgreencorrado, Thanks, My first visit to Road Atlanta and a ALMS Petit Lemans. I must go again, I was taking in the whole experience and my photos are hap hazard at best. What a fantastic experience to be at an ALMS Race at Road Atlanta! Link to my Photos: 2010 Petit Lemans - kabelphoto

Peugeot did earn that win, however I wouldn't say it was with out incident though, they made mistakes on and off the track and I was surprised they both came out on top.

I had a great time watching the race during breaks in working on the car outside. It made for a good balance between each and kept me interested.

Rooting for Audi, but it was a great race the whole time. Really showed that there is a whole team behind a car and not just the guy driving it.

Looking forward to the new cars from France and Germany next year.

I was wondering what happened to the Risi Ferrari in GT2...

scardeal wrote: I was wondering what happened to the Risi Ferrari in GT2...

No gas = no win. Sucks for them, but it made for another exciting finish.

Nice to see Corvette win this year; it will be good incentive to perform better next year. They'll need it because GT2 will be THE class to watch in 2011.

friedgreencorrado wrote:

David S. Wallens wrote: I caught of a couple of minutes on TV before the Challenge banquet. Looked like a great race.

It was. Peugeot eventually ran away with LMP1..Audi was doing well until about six hours in..Dindo Capello's helmet "eyebrow" pad broke, and shoved his balaclava down into his eyes. The pitstop they made for that put Audi a lap behind, and even all of Dr. Ullrich's scheming couldn't get it back. Peugeot *earned* this one. No failures, no red mist, no strategical mistakes..they did a fantastic job for a well-earned victory. Highcroft just marched to the LMP2 win..the CytoSport Porsche ran all nine hours with a misfire, never really got close to Highcroft, but still finished 2nd in class! GT2 was the real story..Corvette brought their highest placed car in for a splash (with something like *six* laps left!). Rahal/Letterman did the same thing with the BMW. Risi screwed up, and brought their lower placed car into the pits first. Their "good" car (leading, at the time) ran dry on the last lap. Gave Corvette the win, and may have let Rah/Let take the team Championship,

The TV coverage at least made it look like Risi brought the leader in for fuel but just didn't put enough in. I haven't read any race post-mortems though so I could be wrong. BMW must be very pleased to have won the championship. I agree that GT2 is the series to watch for next year for close competitive racing week in and week out, with more than 2 teams competing for the win.

Actually, I'm interested in seeing what the P2 class looks like next year. P1 will be pretty much what P2 is right now, but the new P2 will be production based hardware limited to just over 400hp.

I know that Roush is going to support EcoBoost engines in some cars.

Other than that, GT2 will be pretty awesome. As it was this season.

pigeon wrote: The TV coverage at least made it look like Risi brought the leader in for fuel but just didn't put enough in. I haven't read any race post-mortems though so I could be wrong. BMW must be very pleased to have won the championship. I agree that GT2 is the series to watch for next year for close competitive racing week in and week out, with more than 2 teams competing for the win.

pigeon, I gotta admit..by then, our worker support duties were done, and we were sitting in the "terraces" (drivers' left) above the chicane. All I could see on the Jumbotron was that it was pitting, and it was red. That would be awful if Risi did call the right car in, and just didn't give it enough of a splash!

In reply to friedgreencorrado:

Watching from the comfort of home, it seemed the announcers called it right and noted Risi pulled the lead car in for a splash n go. Looks like they didn't put in enough "splash" to complete the "go" part. That was too bad cause a few extra seconds on pit road wouldn't have jeopardized their lead.

Since I have no allegiance to any of the four major GT2 contenders, I have to say it was fun to see the "low-end" entry triumph over the "premium" cars.

oldsaw wrote: In reply to friedgreencorrado: Watching from the comfort of home, it seemed the announcers called it right and noted Risi pulled the lead car in for a splash n go. Looks like they didn't put in enough "splash" to complete the "go" part. That was too bad cause a few extra seconds on pit road wouldn't have jeopardized their lead. Since I have no allegiance to any of the four major GT2 contenders, I have to say it was fun to see the "low-end" entry triumph over the "premium" cars.

I agree! Hasn't the entire history of Corvette (both street & race) been about showing that an application of American automotive "brute force" just might be able to match the pace of European elite engineering for half the price?

Well, i went, camped from Wednesday to Sunday, took over 350 pictures!

Here is Mika Salo and Jamie Melo signing my Risi shirt...

350 photos? amateur j/k LOL I shot 1600, and only felt a little over 400 were worth posting

haha! I only had a little digital camera that was too difficult to capture cars moving, so i have about 70 pictures of either the rear wing or front splitter going up the hill from the S's...

kabel wrote: 350 photos? amateur j/k LOL I shot 1600, and only felt a little over 400 were worth posting

Back in the day, I'd shoot 15-20 rolls of film at events like the USGP. Lots' of throw aways, but the keepers made it worth the expense - then.

The nice thing about digital photography is the ability to take tons of pics without burning-up film and tons of money for processing.