(...whether you like it or not!)

I am NEVER going to a race in July again!

Fantastic to finally see the R10's live. They were almost concidered underdogs so it was great to see them win. They made it look effortless; partly because they could pull the P2's so easily; and partly because they are sooo mysteriously quiet. They always talk about that on TV but I still never had a sense of how wonderful and strange it is.


Finally saw a wet race; the Indy Lites. It was both exciting and boring.


The Indy cars looked like pretty fast race cars to me. Maybe they DO need a new chassis and a turbo but these will do for now.


I am NEVER going to a race in July again!


I haven't heard about attendance. We were in Grand Stand 1 and it wasn't FULL, full, either on Saturday or Sunday, just "pretty full" but the hill across the way inside turn 7 was packed.


How was the camping in the heat? we stayed in Columbus. The drive and the track traffic wasn't bad. Even getting back to I-71 on Sunday wasn't bad! Plus, when the hotel (a Hilton)had to switch us from the large suite to the regular suite thay gave it to us for two nights FREE!


I am NEVER going to a race in July again!


(It was hot.)


Paddock access and ALMS grid walk were frantic, mad fun. Walking back to the back-marker GT2 paddocks and the World Challange paddocks is insightful.


I know for some of you this is old hat. I've been watching this stuff for years but to finally walk up to and touch these cars, hear and smell them, especially the Make (if not the actual car) that has won LeMans so often was a thrill.

The whole week-end, even sitting in the stands in the rain, was great.


Oh! By the way, don't quote me on that whole "race in July" thing!

Camped fri-sun. It wasn't that bad. Had a great weekend. Can't wait till next year.

Just back from a 1000 mie round trip to Mid-Ohio. Great weekend, yeah hot but not too bad...but we didn't camp. Was there for all 3 days, stayed at a decent hotel about 30 minutes away and thanks to a top secret route had virtually no traffic getting into the circuit in the mornings.
Highlight for me was the Audi's beating the Penske Porsche's The Audi's really did seem the fastest cars all weekend at the end of the straight, I would be surprised if the Indy cars were as quick.
I had thought the AGR Acura was due for a great race but Matos learned you cannot win a race on lap 3 but you can lose one. Still, that GT2 Aston Martin was beyond slow, it & the GT-40's were a moving chicane all day.
Prayers go out to the DeFerran crew member that was burned, saw a replay on Wind Tunnel & it looked very bad indeed.

When I first posted this I had not yet heard that a crew member was badly hurt in the pit fire. My prayers, too, are with him.

I had a great weekend also and look forward to 09. Great race for Audi and enjoyed the Speed GT series also.
I got a few photos but the catch fencing lining the whole track really spoil things. The crowd for the ALMS race seemed up this year.

The heat wasn't too bad in the campground. But I will confess to retreating back to Thunder Valley during the ALMS race. The crowd was a lot thinner back there, and there was plenty of shade. The rain on Sunday sucked, but after that, it was considerably cooler.

First time at Mid-Ohio in many, many years.

Never been to a track that is nearly as fan-friendly. Chose not to go with grandstand tickets, just caught the numerous and frequent shuttles from spot to spot all weekend.

The ALMS race was great. Brabham's pass to take 2nd was brilliant, too bad about the pit accident for deFerran's team. I'll take broken bones over burns any day (I've tried both, didn't really care much for either).

I can't believe that the Corvette drivers only got a 5 min penalty for that truly imbecilic display in the pit lane. Even if the stewards didn't have the nerve to pull them out of the race, Feehan should have put the other drivers back in the cars and told those two that they'd be sitting out Road America. (I'm sure Fellows and Pilgrim would get back in the cars for one run). It's not like Corvette is in any danger of losing the GT-1 championship, is it?

The Indycar race was fun to watch but I can't get too excited over a real expensive spec-racer class.

Indy Lights drivers need some practice in the rain, don'cha think?

What ever happenned to local yellows? these guys are (supposedly--ref the Corvette comment above) the top professionals running in this country. They should be able to handle playing nice in one corner (maybe under penalty of the black flag, not just a stop & go) so those of us who are paying actually get to watch a race.