Monterey Sports Car Championships this weekend at Laguna

Went last year and it was real fun, never been to a race like that before. I'll be at the Auto Affair Show on the 21st so I wont be going, but be sure to walk around and find this little island. Ferrari of Silicon Valley rented it out last year and there were about 100 F-Cars, including an Enzo and 599. Post some pics after the event too

Here is a very poor quality vid I took, one of my first when I was young and unexperienced in filming, and plus had a horrible cam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkmKvqsIZM8



Have Fun,
Brian (aka BrianZuk)

 

Send me a PM. The site wouldn't let me send you one.

 

I also have FREE Sunday Passes to see all the other racing action - SPEED WC, Star Mazda, Imsa Lights, etc...

If you want to pick them up, stop by LeMans Karting in Fremont:

45957 Hotchkiss St.
Fremont, CA 94539

We have a bunch of them!

 

Some pics from last year, cam didnt capture the cars driving very well, kind of blurred.

Have Fun!
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I unfortunatley won't be able to attend since I'll be at a training camp. I was able to see the mini Le Mans in downtown San Jose yesterday during lunch hour which was a great experience to get up and close. I'll maybe get pics of that up later.


Photo Tip:
Instead of keeping the camera stationary and trying to capture the car once it comes into view, pan the camera. What I do is first focus either manually or automatically on the spot where you want to take a picture of the car. When the car is comming down the stretch, move the camera with the car and snap the shot when it comes into the spot you focused on. This gives the effect of the car being focused and the rest of the scenery blurred in motion. A friend gave me this tip and I am by no means photographer. I just had the chance to borrow my dad's Nikon D100 for the SJ Grand Prix instead of a point and shoot I usually use.


Unphotochoped picture, this is exactly how it came out which suprised me. I got maybe one good one for every 10 shots because it does take getting used to.
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I am planning on going. Taking the 430 and hate the general parking, how can I get parking in the Ferrari lot? I am a member of the FoA Club, is that all I need?

 

The Ferrari Island is hosted by FOSV. You should contact the FOSV dealer and talk to either Jason, Paris or Charlie and ask them to see if you can park on the island. There are 50 of us with VIP / RSVP tix from FOSV and will caravan down to the race on Sat morning staging at the dealer that morning. Good luck and hope to see you at the race.

 

I guess you need to have bought your car from FOSV rather than just pay lots of money for service to get a ticket or get notified by them... O well, it would have been fun to drive the 355 to the race but since I couldn't depend on parking, there was no way I'd park the car out in the lower 40 fields with large gopher holes. Though, I'll try to contact FOSV and at least ask. If not, I'll be driving the FX45. Got VIP tickets from Michelin this year - investing in a tire store sometimes pays off, so we'll probably be parking at the Michelin hospitality suite at the Hyatt and taking their bus over. Wish I'd known earlier...

None the less, hope to see some of you at the race. My son and I will definitely come by the FOSV Island parking area. I'll have my yellow Ferrari Owners Site hat on.

Randy

 

Jeez, what's the big deal with a few gophers? I drove my GTO down, purchased a ticket, parked in free parking with the Gophers in the Purple section and car was just fine afterward.

Steve

 

Anybody take any pictures?

 

I have parked there in the past, it was fine with 4 inches of ground clearance. Myy biggest concern was that it rained all day friday, possibly making that area big mud hole.

 

I was there (thanks FoSV!) and took a bunch of pictures. Here are a few of the J Melo/M Salo GT2 championship winning F430 sponsored by FoSV. They diced it up with the #45 Porsche much of the day. Great racing!
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very nice pics Jim!

 

Great shots, did FOSV and all there clients park all there F-Cars on that little island again? What showed up

 

Thanks! Yes, FoSV customers were again hosted on the island and were able to do a parade lap before the race. There were a couple 308s; however, most of the cars were late models: 360s, 430s, 612s, 599s. We had a great time!!!

 

I got there thanks to Michelin and did park in the purple lot (with my FX45) Definitely not enough ground clearence for the 355. Tried to stop by the FOSV island and got turned away by a sheriff - O well. So went and hung out with some of the Ferrari teams. Tried to call FOSV and didn't even get a phone call back. Guess it made up my mind on who to use for future service.

But, all in all fantastic race!!!! Loved the match up between the Ferraris and them Porsches. What racing is all about.
Can't wait till next year. I'll definitely plan ahead and get a parking pass so I can bring the Ferrari down.

 

I'm new to the ALMS and this was my FIRST live race I've ever witnessed (I've led a sheltered car enthusiast life.) I have a Cobra but I've never had to wear ear plugs until I went to Seca. My god, it felt like my ears were going to bleed while watching them beteween turns 4 and 5!

I enjoyed the Saturday "practice" lap? Where ALL classes were on the track? Sorry for being a noobie but I've only seen LeMan's on TV and I thought that was insane to have sub-200mph cars running at the same time with 200+mph cars. But it was the cool to hear the different engines running; if you closed your eyes, you could tell what was what but what blew me away was how QUIET the RS10's from Audi's team were. And to to win with an FSI-TDI motor is impressive in my opinion. I'm guessing it's almost boring to see Audi win over and over again but at Seca, the Porsche Spyders where all over the leader which made me root for them a bit; the 2nd spyder that started off around 3rd place would NOT leave his teamate. He was very agressive to keep his line and his position throughout most of the race.

I saw the Ferrari corral but figured it was exclusive so I didn't even try but if you strolled the pits, you got to see what some of these companies live for. But the most fun was the Land Rover course near the Audi and Cadillac corral at turn 5/6. That was great fun to drive the Range Rover over the obstacle course.