2003 U.S. Grand Prix and Car Show

[Brad B.]

This thread could have gone several places but the link will take you to a number of pics to some cool owners cars (so I put it here), some Porsche Cup race cars and of course, Formula 1 race cars.

I went to the GP race at Indy and got to park on the actual back straight of the Indy 500 race track. Jeez iz that a long track!!! Over the weekend we saw several Porsche Cup races, a "parade" with the F1 drivers in classic autos around the track, autograph sessions, all sorts of stuff. All the international influence was quite thrilling. I felt like a foreigner myself!

Here are some more pictures!

Go Shuey!
<img src="http://www.fototime.com/17669C078E9C293/standard.jpg" border=0>

[joed1228]

Looks like fun, I never got to see how fast those f1 cars take the turns in person, I bet it's a night and day difference from what you see/feel on t.v.

[Aurora40]

Nice pictures. That was some race you got to see! I would like to hit the US Grand Prix some time in my life. I guess this year would have been good. Next year it will be in June and likely a lot hotter.

I should have gone to the first ALMS National Grand Prix in DC last year... who'd have thought it would be the last one...

[Brad B.]

Originally posted by joed1228
Looks like fun, I never got to see how fast those f1 cars take the turns in person, I bet it's a night and day difference from what you see/feel on t.v.

It was way better than I expected. We sat right by turn two and saw everything that happened from the end of the straight right throught turn six. It was incredible. To be there in person you see much more than on TV plus there are monstorous TV monitors every 100 yards or so that play Speedvision so you never miss a beat. The thing you never forget is the sound! Those high pitched V-10's are wonderful! You notice not only how fast they accelorate but how fast they stop! Awesome!

[Myles]

Being a huge F1 fan myself and the fact that I have been to all races in melbourne since I have moved here (past 3 of them) i can say that you dont really get an idea of how fast they are in corners.
I found that i was only when i saw them doing practice starts and accelerating out of a corner that i saw how fast they really were. Braking is awesome as well, although its harder to get a perspective on how much they do brake. I looked at how fast they were coming towards me on turn 11 at somthing like 280km/h then just washed off massive amounts of speed within only a few metres.

If you want to see how fast they are, watch the monza race. They have a high up camera that lets you see their speed, then watch them wash the speed off as they brake.

To put it in perspective i will divide the viewable straight into 100 parts. They are, for that shot, pretty much at full speed, somthing like 350km/h, then as the shot swings left, you see them brake and come down to somthing like 80km in say 10 of those 100 sections.

What i love about F1 is the sound of those V10's. By the end of the race weekend, i could just about tell each time who was coming down the straight. For instance Renault has a high pitch buzz in the lower revs to the sound, where as ferrari is very high and airy in its sound, but williams revs much higher, so they sound higher in pitch, and mclaren has alot of bass in the form of a low buzz to their engine all the way through the revs.

I could waffle on and on all day but id bore us all after awhile.

Hope you enjoyed F1 though.

[TortoiseAWD]

Have any of you F1 fans seen the "F1 Decade" show that Speed trots out on off-race weekends? They're re-showing races from the '93 season . . . very cool to see how things have changed, not only the tech, but where the drivers were at 10 years ago. The engines sound so much different back then; they weren't turning near the RPMs the modern engines do (19k+ rpm, yowza!).

Tort

[Pats300zx]

Awesome pics...

[bet993]

I think the sense of performance in person is much greater than on TV. The acceleration squirts out of turns 1, 2 and 3 are just awesome and the braking points of these cars are just unreal. If you just watch the F1 cars you can tell the performance they have, but what really makes it stand out is to see the Porsche Supercup cars on the same track. The cup cars are no slouches but they don’t compare. You really get a perspective once you see both on the same track. Even the performance of the worst cars in F1 are just incredible. That sound…. there is nothing to describe it…you just have to experience it.

Brad,

Did you park in the Porsche paddock on Sunday? Did you have a problem with traffic getting out of the track? Just curious. I have contemplated parking there for the last couple of years but always end up parking and walking to avoid the traffic.

[bet993]

Tort,

Yeah it is interesting to see the differences. The engines had bigger displacement then 3.5 liter I think. It was reduced in '94 I think. They also had slicks and maybe active suspension (can't remember when it was banned).

The horrible or greatest thing about 1993 (which ever way you want to look at it) was it was the last full season for Aryton Senna. Senna was one of the greats and could do things with a car that no one could (can?) do.

[Brad B.]

Originally posted by bet993
Did you park in the Porsche paddock on Sunday? Did you have a problem with traffic getting out of the track? Just curious. I have contemplated parking there for the last couple of years but always end up parking and walking to avoid the traffic.

Yes, I did. But they didn't park on the infield, instead we parked on the backstraight of the actual 500 track itself. It was awesome. They divided all cars up by marque. (It's amazing how long that straightaway is!)

By the time I watched the post race activities and listened to the interviews on Speedvision on the big raceway monitors, then walked to my car, there was virtually NO line whatsoever getting out of the Speedway on the backstraight side. I was shocked! I will do it again next year for sure.

<img src="http://fototime.com/E8B864F05E76E75/standard.jpg" border=0>

[Aurora40]

Originally posted by Brad B.
They divided all cars up by marque.

Um, so where are all the pictures of the Aurora area??

[Brad B.]

Originally posted by Aurora40
Um, so where are all the pictures of the Aurora area??

Ummm....bloody european snobs!