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| Click for big. |
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| That kid there, whose dad apparently takes him racing on the weekends? That's one lucky kid. A) because his family can afford an expensive hobby like this and B) He'll probably have his own car to race in short order. What a life. |
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| This pretty thing had an argument with the tire wall in the previous day's practice runs. The massive tires make promises of huge power and a sausage-shaped body. Too bad it was out of commission. However, the gent in the red jacket insisted it would be back later in the season. |
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| Oooo. A honking big Vee Eight Modurr (see below). Such a glorious noise it must have made. |
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| It must have spun around at some point. The wing is usually pretty hard to mess up. |
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| Race tires are really soft and sticky. Did they get shredded just because they don't like sliding sideways? |
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| A Chevy Corvair. Very much an oddball in the vintage racing scene. Ironically, Ralph Nader's book "Unsafe at Any Speed", criticized the Corvair for its handling in corners. Opinions are divided whether this was just hype. The guy lying on the ground would seem to imply that they can be raced without dying, as he's not dead. |
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| This man's MG was running rich. I didn't want to bug him with questions, but he volunteered the information. |
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| A terrific badge, with some gorgeous deco design and beautiful enamel. Brooklands was the first purpose-built motorsport track, now derelict. It was featured in an episode of James May's Toy Stories, in which he built a Scalextric slot car track around the full length of the historic race course. Available on Hulu. Definite recommendo. |
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| Worlds collide. That tent is covered with biking sponsors prominent in the offroad bicycling industry. I remember them from my time racing mountain bikes in the 90s. Apparently, Answer now owns all those brands you see there. Hayes makes disc brakes, Manitou was a suspension products company, and SunRingle made really good hubs and wheels. Maybe somebody used to race mountain bikes but has since graduated to vintage racing? |
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| Possibly one of my favorite tracking shots from the race. Reason number one, the car is successfully in sharp focus, despite the required slow shutter speed (60 milliseconds). About 80% of my tracking shots are throwaways due to the challenge of following the car perfectly with the camera while using a slower shutter speed, to get the blurred background. Reason number two, I always liked the way turquoise and orange make each other pop when they're in the same picture. The tire wall was actually wrapped in blue plastic, as you can see in the other photos. But because in this photo, that was the only blue in the picture, it was a simple matter to selectively rotate the hue of the blue tire wall over to turquoise, without effecting anything else, or need for masking. |
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| here, you can see some of the limitations of the 1980s-era lens I'm using. It has some serious chromatic aberration. See the purple fringe at the edge of the leading driver's helmet? That's some of the color spectrum not being properly focused onto the sensor. CA will generally show up where white meets black, or other areas of high contrast. That's okay. It's a hell of a long lens for ninety dollars. |
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| Not the greatest feat of tracking the lead car on my part. It's blurry, but I still like the way the cars framed up. |
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| I only saw this Modus on its way to the grid for practice runs. I didn't find the car in its paddock. beautiful car. It looks like a mid-seventies Formula 1 car, but that's just a guess. |
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| Formula Vees fall into group B. They're monoposto (single seat) purpose-built race cars that use a Volkswagen Beetle engine and drive line. They represent the lowest barrier of entry into vintage racing, as you can find a good example with a trailer for about 10,000. However, you also need a truck to tow it, spare parts, tools, and the mechanical ability to maintain and repair the car. They are always present at the vintage races in robust numbers and every color. |
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| Yep. That's all you get. With this little protection, the front wheels in clear view, and your butt a few inches from the tarmac, Formula Vee is about as pure as racing can get. The cars only have about 50 horsepower, but with a total weight of about one thousand pounds, the owner insists it's a blast to drive. |
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| A HANS (Head And Neck Safety) device and a really cool helmet. |
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| A portable battery. Presumably, the car does have a starter on board somewhere, because there didn't seem to be one on the portable unit. A battery is about forty pounds of weight that the car only needs before the race is started. No point in dragging that around the track. |
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| A Jag E Type. I couldn't tell if it was a V-12 or not. |
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| The Shriners were there, promoting a charity circus taking place that evening. Humanitarian works benefiting children's hospitals, funny hats, and kooky little vehicles. What's not to like? |
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| I never had a go-kart as a kid. It's a miracle I didn't become a Shriner just out of spite. Check out the airplane behind the go-kart. There's a clearer shot of it down below. |
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| The younger guy wasn't even looking at anybody, but still wore the glued-on grin. I would too if I had a mini bike. His dad seems to have a better poker face. |
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| Tebala Birds are GO! |
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| This group of Formula Vee owners all share a tent. They are either a team, or are just friends. Probably both. I caught up with them just as they were pulling out for practice laps. |
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