F1 new champion

[Hammerhead]

hey zack, Jenson button won another
brawn racing is kicking ass

[ballzack]

JUST saw this Hammer!

YES INDEED! I knew that! FANTASTIC!

I'm kicking off the Easter weekend watching "DRIVEN" with Sly Stallone.
Like that movie very much.

Did I tell you I happened to be ON THE RAIL at INDY when Rick Mears broke the 225 mph barrier for the first time? Guessing this was 1997?
I bet you can't get that close any longer. I was standing literally 20 feet from him when he went by. AMAZING! A yellow flash. His noise trail was 100 yards behind the car.

i'm not a HUGE fan of Indy racing - Prefer Formula 1. But I still enjoy it!

-thanks for the heads-up

Zack

[Hammerhead]

wow that would be awesome, Rick mears is a driver that i admired
but no matter what i was and still am a A.J. Foyt fan
the one wish that i had was to see him drive in person
but never happened.

[ballzack]

The Story, Hammer...


I was doing business in Indy back then. I flew in during the 'Qualifier Time Trials" and the guy I met with said "Hey, you ever walk through the "Snake Pit" at Indy?"

I said "No", so we went there (wearing our SUITS) and walked through the Snake Pit. This, if you have never been to Indy, is where the druggies, hard core Hell's Angels, and anyone you would NOT want to meet in a dark alley without a gun hang out. Even the cops don't patrol the Snake Pit (well, at least NOT back then).

As we walked through we got eggs thrown at us, insults, and general harassment. Luckily no physical stuff. It would have been two against about 150. Yikes.

We walked RIGHT UP TO THE FIRST TURN INSIDE RAIL, crossing the drainage ditch and literally stood ON THE RAIL right on the TRACK. I bet you can't do this today. You'd probably be arrested.

Mears had just gotten out on the track in his Yellow (Penzoil???) Car. First lap 160, 2nd lap 190, 3rd lap 215, Fourth lap 225.5 mph! That was a record at the time.

Three things I remember.

1. You don't SEE the car at 225 mph when you are THAT close to the car. Guessing 20 feet. All you see is a FLASH past your eyes. You have to SEE the car as it passes and goes around the first turn. NOTHING seen past your immediate vision area on the track in front of you. WAY too fast.

2. You HEAR the noise trail about 100 yards BEHIND the car. If you were blindfolded, you'd swear the car is 100 yards behind where it actually is.

3. The TIRES look FLAT at 100 mph. They look OVER-INFLATED at 200 plus MPH. Seriously. It appears that they are being INFLATED as the car goes faster.

Funny what you remember...

[Hammerhead]

another win by button for braun racing,

I love it, Ferrari where are you ha ha ha ha

on a side note American LeMans series was at V I R
on sat. great race and some post race excitment
Scott Pruit got wrecked and confronted the guy
awesome glad to see passion in race car drivers

[ballzack]

I happened to catch "LeMans" with McQueen on HDmovieNET.
Man, that's a blast from the past.

Actually, an awesome movie. Ferrari VS Porsche. A movie based purely around the RACE and the CARS, not around the characters. Really trend-setting for a 1970' movie.
Loved it.

I may make the trip to MidOhio to see the race this year.

[Hammerhead]

I happened to catch "LeMans" with McQueen on HDmovieNET.
Man, that's a blast from the past.

Actually, an awesome movie. Ferrari VS Porsche. A movie based purely around the RACE and the CARS, not around the characters. Really trend-setting for a 1970' movie.
Loved it.

I may make the trip to MidOhio to see the race this year.

That is a cool movie, the thing that amazes me is I'm surprised
that more people were not killed driving race cars back then
I know there was some but damn compared to todays cars
I don't think i would like just a lap belt holding my ass
in the car

[ballzack]

Yessir.
Lap belt, open face helmets, and a cloth scarf covering your nose and chin.
Oh, and a cloth jumpsuit.

Fire? You're toast. Crash? You're mincemeat.

Good point, Hammer. Seriously. 150 mph or better back then, and horrific crashes and relatively few deaths.
I think mostly because the cars were made to disintegrate on impact dissipating the shock.

I took a QUICK down and dirty tour of the Ferrari plant when I lived in Europe. Amazing.

I'm a much bigger fan of Volkswagon/Porsche/Audi. The Audi TDI is really burning up Lemans.

[Hammerhead]

The Audi TDI is amazing ,

[ballzack]

Hammer,
Who would have believed, 20 years ago, that a DIESEL engine would RULE LeMans?
:)

[Hammerhead]

never, hell Zack

twenty years ago, all that I remember of diesel power on the road
were your big rigs and the volks wagon rabbit
and some pick ups
never in a race car but look at them now

[ballzack]

No shit!

I had a Jetta TDI for a while just to have one. I thought it was novel to have a sporty Diesel that got 65 miles per gallon.

That was a neat car. Change the oil and filter once every 5,000 miles and you're set.
Plenty of power with the turbo. That's the key.

They were supposed to do an Audi A6 diesel but that fell by the wayside.

Audi DID however just start importing the Q7 Turbo Diesel. That will ROCK. Great idea. A high-end sport SUV that gets 35 mpg with the turbo diesel. Plenty of power. That rocks indeed.

Those Lemans cars that Audi is powering with the TDI are unreal. And they SCREAM when they go by you. You'd never guess them as Diesel engines.