My 2009 Petit Le Mans Trip (Photos and Videos)

Before I start: You can see all 200 pictures available on flickr here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12689113@N02/sets/72157622485227428/
They max out a 1024x768. If you want any of them on 2MP size let me know.
And all 11 videos here:
http://www.youtube.com/foolkiller79#play/uploads

So, in what is becoming an annual tradition with my two friends Matt and Dave, we packed up took our 7 hour drive to Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA.



We arrived just a few minutes late to see the beginning of the Jetta TDI Cup race, but we could see it as we drove in.



As you can see, it was wet. We were parked in the grass so we immediately packed up our stuff (beer and camera) and walked down to the paddock.



From there we could see the Jetta TDI Cup race as they went by on the front straight.





But it quickly became hard to stay focused as on the other side all the Le Mans cars were being prepped.






The excitement really gets built up as they begin to roll out to the pits, and you have to step aside to let them through. You could touch them.






But pictures don't do it justice.




My friend Dave yells "Fail" at the end.


This is my favorite because they rev just as they go by me.

But the race cars are not all that there is to see in the paddock. The teams' personal cars are there too.


Corvette Racing's ZR1 road car


LG Motorsports Corvette ZR1 road car

And the local track's safety cars.


And if you are really lucky, you may just get to see a driver getting his final pep talk.

Can someone confirm for me that this is Lucas Luhr?

And I can't forget the Jaguar that only put in one lap.


And then we went wandering to check out cars and vendors before the race started.

First up, the S2GATZ Esperante.



And a No Bull Noble.


I swear this is the same one I saw for sale at Mid-Ohio in 2006. I mean, how common are Nobles?

Which was parked just outside the Club Patron tent.


And then head first into the vendor areas, a seedy place with hot women, fast cars, and greedy merchants.
















I forgot, some hot women were giving away free cigars. My friend Matt got suckered in and wound up with three boxes of cigars. He doesn't smoke.


Free photos with hot women so your wife can kick you in the crotch later.


From there it was a quick stop by the car for more beer (the cooler only held six), where I noticed these cars were parked within sight of our car.







Then we started heading toward a good vantage point and saw this:

Gotta love a classic

We settled in just past Turn 4 so that we could see 3 and 4 as they headed into the Esses and then look over the valley as they came up the hill out of turn 5.

We got there just in time for the hot laps.



Peugeots start out in 1-2


Allan McNish is in 4th.

Then the green flag flew and as the first lap came by I noticed a certain Audi was already in 1st.




And it was very wet at the start. Check out the rooster tails on the prototype class cars.












I suddenly feel like playing a video game.





And it wasn't long before the weight shifting of coming over a hill and into a right then left exchange on a wet course took the P2 class Porsche RS Spyder and spun it.




But once he got straightened back out we all cheered him on.



And the racing went on:



My favorite shot

We once again ran out of beer and made a small detour by the cooler and then headed over to Spectator Hill to watch the Esses into Turn 5.








The Flying Lizard is chasing down the Michellin Man.





As you can see it was still wet, and it finally took its toll on the Viper.




That'll buff out.

Wind was coming up the hill pretty fast so we decided to move down by Turn 6, which is where we watched the race end.











And this is the last picture I took of racing before the red flag. As you can see, it started coming down heavy enough for my camera to pick it up.


They tried to clean up the track, but it was no use. It just kept coming down. So, eventually the race was called early.



In case you aren't sure just how wet it was, I saw this truck on the way to the car to leave.



And here is a video of Speed coverage showing the rain's effect on the race.



The off and on rain at the beginning made for exciting racing, but it eventually ended the race. It was OK though, Loco's bar and grill in Winder had a hot bartender. 👍

I had planned to go, another thing came up which precluded it, and with the weather, I'm just as glad I didn't make it. I really really really wanna see those diesel cars, though!!!! I keep planning both Sebring and Road Atlanta, and can't get to either one, it seems.

Nice looking Pics!

I went on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Had tickets for Saturday but I had enough of the flooding the week before and Road Atlanta tends to turn into a mud bog when it rains so i decided to stay home and watch it on TV. I wonder if the Corvette Club made it out on Race Day They were parked on the infield side of the Suzuki bridge when I saw them. Some of them folks looked like the type that would never drive their cars in the rain let alone park in a mud hole. I posted some pictures in the video & photo section a while back.

FoolKiller

And a No Bull Noble.

I swear this is the same one I saw for sale at Mid-Ohio in 2006.

Click to expand...

Before I even saw the license plate I thought "why would a person put all seasons on the rear of a car like that?" And then I thought "hey, I've had that same thought before..." And then I thought "I know who would put all seasons on the rear of a car like that."


















This guy:





Those were taken on Sunday, midday. We were on our way home, and he may have been too.

I mean, how common are Nobles?

Click to expand...

Ironically, I said to the driver "Wow, you don't see these things too often..."

Wow, Keef. Small world.

84SSccc, the Corvette Club was parked in the infield, but it was nowhere nearly as crowded as previous years. All the car corrals were emptier than usual, and I didn't bother trying to grab pictures due to the mud.

I wore an old pair of shoes and tossed them at the end of the day. The soles were starting to come loose anyway, and the fresh red stains just gave me more reason to do so.

uuu.. so many corvette's

What was the temperature? With the rain, that could have been miserable. Enjoyable, sure, but still a bit miserable. I'm just picturing what we have today - 43 (just 43, not -43. That'll come in a few months weeks ), 13mph wind and raining = not outside for long.

TB

What was the temperature? With the rain, that could have been miserable. Enjoyable, sure, but still a bit miserable. I'm just picturing what we have today - 43 (just 43, not -43. That'll come in a few months weeks ), 13mph wind and raining = not outside for long.

Click to expand...

I think that it was about 72ish. We only got cold when sitting on Spectator Hill because a strong wind was blowing up through the valley.

As you can see, we were in shorts and not miserable, just wet. The beer may have played a role in that too though, but most of the people were in shorts.