See if I can beat Jim to starting this thread.

It's really cool when the roads you commute to work on are set up for a race track. Even more amazing is standing on the sidewalk on one of these roads and having a car pass by you 12 feet away doing 170mph. I LOVE IT!

I'm in New England now and have to miss this weekends race (saw 6 Minis from South Bay to Quincy alone, very popular here too).However, I couldn't miss the chance to walk the race course before the event started. Here's a quick couple of shots to get this tread started. No, I couldn't drive "Twiggy" on the track to get her in the photos, no matter how much she begged.

Images below are clickable...


One of several locations that Jimz68 will be hanging out this weekend.
Adobe headquarters and their office's prime view of the track
Brake zone before the hairpin on Almaden and the historic Hotel De Anza.

 

My wife has said how grateful she is, that she doesn't have to work weekends (works in SJ), and will be nowhere near San Jose for this mess.

 

Really nice shots, speednut! I haven't been there for the race but I used to get sent to San Jose fairly often for conferences and such in my former life as a computer geek and your shots give me a really good idea of how the track looks in relation to the city.

And, since Jim is probably still sleeping as I write this, I'll post a link to his shots from yesterday: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimz68/...7594215696753/

Mark

 

Thanks for the props Mark, I really appreciate it. I wish I could have spent more time walking the track that day, but I was already late to pick up Ms. Speednut from the train station. Thanks also for the link to Jim's photos; he must be catching up on sleep after a busy weekend.

 

Yep, beat me to it. I was there Thursday after work to pick up my "papers" and take a look around.
All in all a good weekend. Ran into a few "HOLE HOGS". The kind of shooter with a digi point 'n shoot who stays welded to one spot for a whole session. I had to "accidently" get in the way sometimes.
I really enjoy shooting the pit-lane stuff. Got lucky with the shot of Katherine Legge. Almost looks like she's smiling under the helmet.

Another luck shot, AJ Allmendinger getting out of the car. I was just holding the camera below me, not looking through the viewfinder.


This was from one of the holes on the outside of the hairpin. Great place to shoot. Lots of different angles. Shot using the 300mm lens.


Put up more at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimz68/...7594215696753/

I'll be adding more later.
Thanks All!!!
Jim

 

Outstanding photos as always Jim! Did you happen to get any of the drift cars, especially the FD RX7? (yeah, I know, you don't do photos of figure skating, eh?)

I'll have to get some pointers from you before the Monterey historic races.

 

my photos

...and no, I wasn't a hole hog, I got the prison view... I couldn't see past all the fences.

 

Thanks!! No shots of the drift cars. Not really my cuppa.
For Laguna, consider bringing a small stepstool. A nice shot can be had at the outside of Turn 5, if you can clear the fence. It's a morning shot and you can get head-on, 3/4 front and side pans.
Jim

Figure Skating.....Hmmmmmmmm

 

I like the shots of the Moto guys. Should have gone over there. Missed the pagaent,too.
Jim

 

One drifft video from behind the prison fence at the 2006 San Jose Grand Prix, here
(sorry, not the best visual...)

 

Cool, thanks for the link!