Alex, I sure hope you are submitting these to all the right magazines and press in general. You might want to be careful, I hear the ALMS is looking for a few good contract guy for the full season. Do you know John Thawley? I have his contact info if needed, you need to reach out to him and see how to get paid for your work.

I don't care if it is only March, this is my 2011 thread of the year and you still haven't posted any shot of the damn race!

 

Do you have anymore pics of the Rothmans 962, either on track or paddock?

 

I just came across this, Alex! Great job buddy! You've really been polishing your techniques I see! I'm happy to hear that you had a great time. Your legs/feet probably are thanking you for all the marathon training running you've been doing.

How many pictures did you take on this trip?

 

Ha! You should've seen the death stare Alan McNish gave me in the pits on Saturday night as the race was winding down and it was looking like they had less of a shot of winning! I've actually got a pic of it that I'll post tonight. I must've missed uploading it.

 

Thanks Rob! I met John during the race when we were both shooting at Turn 11. I didn't get his contact info though. Send me a PM if you have time.

I have a couple that I haven't edited yet but I'll save those til I'm done posting up all the race coverage.

Thanks Jason! I think some of your skills rubbed off on me when we were shooting together in August. I haven't kept track of how many total pics I took (I deleted a bunch that weren't keepers already) but I filled up at least 6 or 7 16GB memory cards. That's probably right around 4,500 photos.

 

Alright folks, it's time for the moment you've all been waiting for...

RACE DAY PICS!

I had a 7AM media safety meeting on race day so I got to the track a little early and putzed around, enjoying the peacefulness of the dark, empty race track. This would provide a stark contrast to just a few short hours later!























After the safety meeting, the sun was starting to come up and a thick fog had enveloped the track. It was eerily beautiful.



I grabbed a quick bite to eat for breakfast and started hearing the cars start up for an early morning warm-up/practice session. Watching, or rather hearing, these cars cut through the dense fog was quite surreal.





The track must've still been slightly damp with the morning dew because I noticed quite a few cars were locking up their brakes going into the hairpin.











After the morning practice, I started making my way back to the pits, and over to the backside of Turn 1 for the start of the race. The noise of the cars running during practice had woken up most of the campers by then and they were ready for some racing!

 

I nabbed one more pic of the Ferraris getting prepared for the start of the race in the pits before I made my way to Turn 1.



After about an hour wait at Turn 1, the polesitting drivers in their respective classes went around the track for a parade lap.





With about 15 min to go until race time, they started the pre-race theatrics with a couple guys parachuting down and a fly-by before the national anthem.





Then, after two parade laps, the green flag dropped and we were RACING!!!

Peugeot led the pair of Audi R15+'s into Turn 1 with two more Peugeots following hot on their heels.







One of last year's F430s managed to nab pole position for the GT class and led a Corvette and the two BMWs into Turn 1.

 

Alex that black/green 458 challenge just looks mean.

Your pics are amazing but TS won't let me rep you now for 2 days..hmmm

 

That's a hell of a compliment coming from you Alex. Thanks man! I learned a thing or two from you as well.

In about 13 days I've managed to take 8600 pictures here in Europe. Ouch...

Your pictures from Race Day are what I'd call, "legendary!" Keep up the great work! I look forward to seeing that stare down photo!

 

Beautiful shots!!!