Yeah, that probably has to do with the fact that I was shooting from at least 200 meters away (for those of you who know the layout, I on the food area's patio at the end of the straight).

If Bernie and Max would leave, I have a feeling that F1 and the FIA in general would suddenly become much more popular.

Besides, IMO, F1's been a bit boring for the last 10 years for the most part. Stuff like touring car racing is just so much closer and exciting.

Oops, sorry I miss understood his question.

Quote from Danke :

I love low budget racing, so the TDI and ST races were the ones I had circled on the schedule. I'm not sure if you got to see qualifying for the TDI race on Saturday, but more than half the field was up on two wheels at the top of the esses, some guys almost rolled it. It looked like UF1s at Fern Bay.

Most everybody kept it under control for the race. There was a little beating and banging, but less than I expected after watching that series on Speed last year.

The first hour or so of the GS race was good, with the top Mustangs duking it out with that Turner BMW. I do like bigger fields and more variety in the cars (and lower budgets) like the ST class has though.

We did the pit walk before the ST race and that was a blast. All the drivers were signing autographs. The VW guys gave us a shirt and the #29 Honda guys let my son sit in the car on the pitlane for pictures. We lost track of time and found ourselves stuck on the pitlane when during the national anthem. I hope they cut us out of the TV broadcast.

Yeah, we had some Paddock passes for one of the ALMS races (when ever Panoz's last year was) and that so much fun. I think I remember loosing hearing in my left ear from a Panoz starting as I was looking closely at a sticker near the exhaust. Next year, I'll try to make an effort to see the VW race, that sounds like it was good.

Quote from Gabkicks :

where the heck did u guys see the Koni challenge race? i went to watch it, and I saw trucks racing on an oval.

Mid-Ohio. . .

Quote from Danke :

Hey, I was there too. I was sitting in the esses most of the time, although I did a fair bit of wandering around too.

Me and my five year old camped there that night and stayed for the TDI Cup guys and the start of the Koni ST race. Good times!

Nice, I love the atmosphere at midohio. What did you think of that GS race? Personally, I thought it was one of the most boring pieces of racing I've ever seen. I dont think there were enough cars to make it exciting. How was the TDI race? We were thinking about going up again (for some reason, it was 5$ cheaper to get a weekend pass than it was to get a one day pass with some coupon we had), but decided it probably wasnt worth the 3 hour drive.

Quote from Sueycide_FD :

I managed to watch the last 45 minutes of the race and it was some of the best racing i've seen from the rolex series in a while. Highly disliked one of the Farnbacher porsches blocking Krohn. You have no idea how happy i was when he got clipped by the DP and caught a flat.

Yeah, I saw that, almost fell out of my chair laughing. There was a battle going on between the two Burmos Porsche's and a few others. I dont remember if it got uploaded, but there was one lap where they went 2 wide into the esses for basically the entire length.

Quote from evilpimp :

Yep the facebook ones are visible

Nice pics. I like the black and white one with the red mustang.

Thanks, right now, I'm trying to upload to flickr so you can get closer to actual sized pics.

I went up to Mid-Ohio on Saturday with a friend and took my dad's Canon XTI. I took around 600 pics, but ditched just about all of them (many were duplicates/crap). I'd like some feed back about the photos as this is the first time I've shot anything moving. Unfortunately, I got to the track and realized I didnt have a polarizer, so there is a bit more haze than I'd like, and, this sounds really stupid, but I couldnt figure out how to change shutter speed. . . As for editing, the biggest thing for me is that I think I may have over edited some stuff. Thanks

http://www.facebook.com/album. ... ;id=1570460405&ref=nf

Edit: Most of the pictures were taken through a 70-200 lens with a doubler as we were around 2-300 feet away, and on the grandstands I wanted to be able to zoom in on the farther portions of the esses.

I just re-uploaded the pics in a larger format for better quality, but the order got screwed up:

http://s278.photobucket.com/al ... Am%2009/Mid%20OH%20again/

Edit again: Just added the Tom Cruse car and a BW Porsche.

Last edited by speed1, Tue 23 Jun 2009, 17:36.

In the US at least, I think the way to do it is to go to an SCCA PDX. Its a track day, but you get an instructor who knows the track.

Poor layout, yes. But the race organizers are completely responsible. Look to the cause of the crash to place at least part of the blame.

Quote from ajp71 :

Sitting for long periods of time with the clutch down is bad practice, it wears the clutch bearing out and it means you have to keep your foot held down for no reason, which is uncomfortable and if your foot slips the car will lurch forward.

Again, the state cares not about the health of your car. Besides, I'd think it would be bad practice to look in your rear view mirror and see a truck skidding at you and not be able to get out of the way. That almost happened to me the other day, only it was an idiot on a cell phone who didnt see the light. Just buried the throttle and made a right turn into a gas station. No way in hell I could have made it into first if I wasnt already there.

Last edited by speed1, Wed 10 Jun 2009, 16:45.

Quote from S14 DRIFT :

To be fair they are manuals with automated clutches.

I dont know that I completely understand how that works, but how often does something like that go through a clutch?

Quote from amp88 :

Read my post above. Fully automatic gearboxes have been used in F1 before.

If you look at the spacing between our posts, you'll see that they are quite close. I posted it before The page had been refreshed.

Quote from DTrott :

I don't think automatic transmissions have ever been used in F1. Or many motorsports at all.

Yeah, only autobox I can think of in a racing car was the Chaparral, and that was the down fall of that car.

Quote from MadCat360 :

Don't assume. But why keep the clutch in when you can just put it in neutral? I don't understand why your test says you must have the hand brake on..

Thats just it, not only is putting it in neutral not completely legal, it is a bad idea. You need to be in control of your vehicle at all times.

Also, I took my drivers test using a standard gear box, and I have no idea what you're talking about with the hand brake.

If you recall, this was being discussed a few pages back. Why dont you go read that, you'll see that just about everyone said this was probably not actually true (automatics being cheaper long term), and that it was just perceived to be.

Quote from MadCat360 :

So, you're supposed to just sit at a 3> minute light with the clutch in? Or am I reading that wrong?

3 Minutes at a light with a clutch in is not hard, at all. Unless you are driving something with a beastly heavy clutch, its not much different from keeping your foot on the brake at a light, so I'll assume you're one of those drivers who shifts into park every time the car stops.

Quote from MadCat360 :

don't know what all the automatic hate is about. Manuals are fun, yes, on a track, but automatics are faster, usually smoother (unless you're well above an average driver), and probably cost less due to less wear. In my opinion, for the everyday "tool" car, you'd be somewhat crazy to buy a manual, unless cost was really that big of a deal.

An everyday "tool" car is most likely going to be an ungodly underpowered ecobox, the exact type of car that benefits so much from a lighter tranny with less power lost by the time it reaches the wheels and more engine control.

Quote from MadCat360 :

read somewhere that something like 75% of cars sold in the US are automatics. In European countries that number is usually reversed. I wonder, are Americans just lazy that way, or is there another reason?

Lazy, thats the only reason I can think of. And I dont think that number is right. It might have been right 10 years ago for all cars (not those sold, but older ones to), but defiantly not now.

Quote from MadCat360 :

It's also odd that there isn't a separate "manual operator" license in the US, like there is in the UK (I believe?).

Not enough people drive standard to make it profitable for the DMV/BMV.

Quote from Jakg :

Why would a manual have less wear? It's much much more complicated system.

Yeah, thats one of the exact arguments FOR and automatic.

Personally, When I have the clutch pushed in down a hill, its going at a fairly slow speed, so that wouldnt be an issue, and I'm in the habit of blipping the throttle to smooth things out.

I'd just like to point out that, at least in the us, it is technically not legal to put the car in neutral while moving other than between shifts. Pushing in the clutch down a hill is fine, but the car must be in gear.

Gear ratio might have been a better word.

Quote from senn :

(IE cheap auto boxes with "manual mode" *vomit*)

The things thats even worse than that (I can say from experience) is the CVT's with the pre-programmed "manual" shift points. Thats probably the worst thing ever.

Quote from flymike91 :

I love the automatic transmission in my car. When I'm driving hard in the mountains, I like not having to take any focus off of steering. One of the main arguments for manual transmissions is that you have complete control over the engine but frankly I'd much rather have complete control over direction.

See, thats the time that I most want a manual. Way gentler on the brakes. And yes, I do realize you can engine brake with an automatic, but you just dont have as much control.

Thats exactly what I was trying to say, but for some reason my narrow mind wouldnt allow it.