Anyone going to the 12 Hours of Sebring?

My wife and I will attend for the third year in a row. I'm currently researching info on the BMW Corral at turn 17 and whether it will be OK for MINIs to join.

Maybe we can have a MINI meet.

Check my sig for pictures of the previous two years at Sebring.

 

I just got my saturday superpass!, it will be my first time seeing the event, but I have been doing HPDE at the track for a few years now. I am not sure if I will be driving up the MINI, but if I do I'll meet up!
Your images of the event helped me decide to not miss it this time around, very good shots (and I am an amateur photographer!)

 

I'm going to order the 4-day BMW Corral package today. I'm taking the JCW but have been to the BMW corral the past two years with my M3 (and even won the drawing for the 2-Day M School in 2007).

Glad you liked the pictures. Can't wait to get some of the M3 GTR.

 

I will be there with my Son. Did you find out if we will be able to park in the BMW coral?

 

I have an email inquiry about MINIs parking in the Corral to the sponsoring club, but haven't gotten a reply. I'm just going to assume it will be OK. Last year there were one or two with rental cars that parked there out of the way. I have a BMW CCA membership, so I guess I can fall back on showing my card if necessary.

 

Well... as it turns out, it looks like I'll be at Sebring. A buddy sold his IT to a buyer in FL. He was going to ship it but... shortly thereafter, he bought a new race car from, as luck would have it, a guy in FL.

So... we're using the money paid for shipping for gas, leaving from VA on Wed., doing the deals on the race cars on Thursday and going to the track Friday and Saturday.

Although he works for VW at their US HQ, they won't do anything for employees in terms of scoring some VIP treatment. A friend at Rahal-Lettermen has hooked us up before with credentials but with the late notice, it might not be possible this time. Crossing our fingers... otherwise, we'll pick up something outside the track or at the gate.

 

Just curious, what would your "VIP treatment" get you at Sebring?

 

I'm not sure but... He got to crew for Danica when she raced for Rahal Lettermen. He was the guy that sprayed the water on the fuel and vent hose connections from behind the wall, for the Watkins Glen race. His two boys got to hang out in her coach, get pics taken, all that.

Not real sure what you expect at Sebring though I'd guess and operation like Rahal would have a hospitality tent (though perhaps not as big as Indy cars) or something like that. Even if it's just free tickets, I'll be happy.

We were kind of dissappointed the VW/Audi doesn't really make much of an effort to help their own employees support the company. He could purchase tickets through the company at very minimal savings over box office prices. At least we're taking a brand-new Touareg (company car) as the tow vehicle.

 

OK. The standard gate tickets get you everywhere, except the Club Sebring pit box, the hot pits, and the team hauler private areas. Otherwise, you have mostly full access to the paddocks and trackside.

The Club Sebring pit box is on the front straight. It would be cool for some photo ops looking down on the hot pits, but it is way overpriced ($500 or something like that) for people with too much money to spend.

BMW Rahal-Letterman barely put the funds together to field the second M3 GTR. They are operating on a tight budget. I wouldn't expect anything really fancy from them. Ditto for Audi. They have scaled down their US operation. They are only planning to race ALMS this year for Sebring and maybe Petit Le Mans.

You will have a great time with the regular tickets. I'll be all around (doing tons of photography), but will spend some time at the BMW corral (we've been BMWCCA members for a while) at the outside of Turn 17.

You can see my photos of the previous two years at http://racetripper.com

 

Well... you never know. We've been hooked up nicely at other events and at the very least, hopeful for free passes.

I was a guest of HP a few years ago for the tire-debacle F1 race. It was fun, except for the actual race itself. We got to go in the actual garage stall while they were working on the cars. Q&A's and pics with Nick and Mark. Police-escorted transport to and from the track in minivans they'd stickered up with all the team logos... It was a blast.

Who's not operating on a tight budget now? Doesn't mean we can't get team credentials. We'll see. Keeping the fingers crossed.

VW/Audi's tight wallet has been around since before the recent cutbacks. When the last GTI came out, they had three non-VIN'ed pre-prod cars brought into the states for magazine reviews, photo shoots and such. They couldn't be titled. John tried to buy one to make into a GTS car after they were done being flogged. He could pick up a slightly-used streetable car for the same money. Despite the whole "drivers wanted" thing, they don't seem to encourage much enthusiam amongst their employees. His lease deals are pretty good though...

 

Nice photos, by the way... I put one in my gallery from the F1 race. That was taken from our lunch table in the suite. I have one of a whole cargo flight-case of nuttin' but headers. The money...

 

Thanks. I still have photos from Road America and Petit Le Mans I haven't poted. After next week, I'll have Sebring too for catching up on my galleries.

We went to the USGP each year 2003-2007. We were disappointed when the USGP was canceled, but now I don't care as much. I have become less interested in F1 because of all the whining, bickering, and political BS that goes on. It's just become too adversarial and that has spoiled the sport. If the USGP returns, it will be a difficult call on whether we're willing to give up on a ALMS race to attend.

 

Yeah, I went the 1st and 2nd years that it returned and then two other years here and there...

I really didn't care about the loss of the USGP until Canada went away too... I've gone to Montreal several times as well. As a matter of fact, between the last post and this one, I was cleaning up the garage (60 degree weather will motivate) and opening some boxes I'd not opened since we moved 2.5 years ago. I opened the one with the Players banners I'd taken from a bar in Montreal. Time to hang 'em back up I guess.

We have Audi corral passes, I guess, but... I'm not sure if the parking the $70K Touareg with an SCCA IT car in tow is what they're really looking for...

 

As luck would have it, RaceTripper, my buddy's co-worker at VW/Audi came through... I think she just didn't want to give up credentials to somebody who may or may not make the 950 mile trip. She had told him to ping her when we arrived and she'd hook us up if she could.

We were able to get into the VIP tent (not the Audi club tent), get the food, the booze, hang out with Derek and Justin Bell, Allan McNish and some of the others. We also go to be in the Audi suite above the pits for the last couple of hours.

I do have to say, I've been to F1 races in Montreal and Indy, NASCAR all over, CART in their heydey and many other races. I've never seen a party like Sebring. Nothing really prepared me for the stripper poles in the back of the lifted 4x4s.

 

With Sebring, for every race fan that attends, there about about 10 others in attendance that don't realize a race is going on.

Yeah, Sebring is quite an event. It's not our favorite event, not our favorite track, but it does have it's own unique character that you won't find elsewhere. We'll be back again next year.