Going again tomorrow, looks like we might be in for a bit of rain...

The usual suspects are there - Audi R8, Ferrari 575, Porsche 911, but we might be in with a treat appearance of one or more works Aston Martin DBR9s
There's also a Lambo Murcielago registered for the series, whether it puts an appearance in at Silverstone is anyone's guess...

The 1000km race has also been put back a couple of hours from last year, to get some true night racing, valuable practice for the privateers doing the Le Mans 24h. A start at 1600 means the finish will be 2130 or thereabouts.

Support includes qualifiers for the British GT series, Formula Palmer, and F3. Best of all, the Classic Endurance Race - Porsche 917, Lolas, a Capri 2600 and GT40 are scheduled among others.

Photos, naturally, to follow

Cool! I race on that course all the time Forza Mortorsport for X-Box, it'll be cool to some pics of the track to see how it compares with the real thing.

I'm gonna hang you by the balls if you don't get me some pics from the classic race!

I'll try, semmern - and I know you have the hots for the 917

Having been last year, I have a better idea where one can and cannot take decent shots

Make sure you get some of the GT40 as well...in fact, make sure you get some pics of all of them

Sometimes, the car park can be more interesting than the race... this was parked next to a GT40 and an XJ220! Not to mention scattered 355s, 360s, and a clutch of baby Bentleys!



The day started off dry, but at around midday the skies darkened and it turned wet. This made things quite interesting as things got rather slippy. Unfortunately, as the day progressed, the safety car was brought out an annoying number of times (doesn't it rain at La Sarthe?!) even though, as far as we could see, it wasn't causing any major accidents etc.

When we left at about 7pm, the race directors were trying to decide whether to abandon the race, which seemed peculiar as there had been no major incidents that we were aware of related to the weather, except a few cars having problems with misting up their windscreens. Oh well.

As such the rain confined us to the covered stands for most of the day - luckily we got into the BRDC stand on the in-field, which gives the best view in the house of Brooklands/Priory/Luffield.

Pics to follow as I sort 'em out. The spray and location made it difficult, but hopefully some turned out okay...

Luffield must be the most moronic name for a turn EVER! I mean, they used to figger out nice names like Stavelot, Moss, Parabolica, Flügplatz and such. And now...Luffield. Hehe

Here's the first batch: open wheelers from the support races.

Formula Audi Palmer: this is a relatively new class, designed for amateur club racers to do some competitive open-wheel racing. They use 300-350hp Audi engines with a turbo, and stick like glue to the track. It's proabably as close to F1 as any "normal" person can get! For £900 they'll even let you drive one at their Bedford test track... Official Website


Ludovico Manfredi getting ready to leave the pits for a very wet qualifying session.


Bill Knowles approaches Club at speed.


British F3 International Series: F3 has been a breeding ground for F1 drivers for over three decades. Fittipaldi, Piquet, Senna, Lehto, Hakkinen, Barrichello and Sato all won championships in this formula.
Standardised cars, weighing 550kg and powered by 2000cc 220hp Mugen-Honda or Opel Spiess engines, propel drivers at up to 165mph.


Ireland's Ronayne O'Mahony shows his frustration at being stuck in the gravel and facing the wrong way.


Viewed from the Luffield stands, a pack weaves through the Complex.


James Walker (2) tears through Woodcote onto the pit straight, while one of the two women drivers, Keiko Ahara (5), defends her position.


It was pretty cool to be able to walk around the infield and paddock areas. Because of the large numbers of races over the weekend, the F3 teams were relegated to a village of tents and trailers, where you could watch the mechanics at work and talk with the teams.

nice what lens u use?

balls

It's my trusty Canon Powershot S1IS. It has 10x optical zoom and Image Stabilisation, both of which are very useful for events like this.

As you may know, without a big-lens (D)SLR or a media pass, Silverstone is awkward to photograph because of the safety fencing and distance from the stands to the track.

The spray and poor light made things tricky too, I was after some crisp, sharp shots, but most of the day I couldn't shoot much faster than 1/200, with a high ISO and f3.1.

Cool shots, can't wait to see the GT cars.

I've got my tickets for Petit Le Mans here at Road Atlanta next month, I'll be sure to bring my camera.

Here's tonight's additions: the Classic Endurance Race, which pits cars from the 60s and 70s against each other. Don't be fooled by their veteran status - these guys were racing, not just doing parade laps in museum pieces.
For whatever reason, the grid was severely reduced from the original schedule.


Porsche 914/6 from 1971


Ford GT40 from 1965


BMW 3l CSL from 1972


Lola T70 Spyder from 1967


Chevron B16 from 1970

I'll be posting Part #2, GT and LM Prototypes, in the next couple of days.

Geez those pics make the wait for GT Legends longer

And whoever is responsible for the paint scheme on that bimmer should be strung up, it looks like a Christmas nightmare.

Oooh, me like

Wow! very good shots

Nice shots. I was at the FIA GT 24 hours of Spa at the end of July, always nice to see the cars you've raced around in sims The DBR9s are definitely some of the most beautiful race cars ever!