# The Official USGP Pic Thread



## GimpyMcFarlan (Aug 13, 2002)

From Thursday...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

LOL! I was just in the middle of writing a writeup. OK, I'll put it in this thread. Yep, you were very near me - I was just to your right, in front of the Alonso stall.


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## GimpyMcFarlan (Aug 13, 2002)

Part deux...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I'll see your walrus nose, and raise you...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I drove down from Chicago to Indy on Wednesday night, hoping to get a little snooze in and get to the gates early for the walkabout. The weather started nice, got thunderstorm-y quickly, and I found myself crawling for several miles at 35, wipers going as fast as possible but still showing nothing but deluge ahead. It eventually blew past, and I arrived in Indy exhausted, noted the location of the Speedway, and got a few hours' sleep.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I woke up bright and early the next day, and joined the line for the pit walk. And waited. And waited. At 7is and change, they let us into the Speedway. We trotted to the pits... and faced another wait. "Sorry, the pits don't open until 8!" I chatted with one of the scrutineers, who mentioned he would be at Portland for the ALMS race - apparently, it's common to get involved in this job via club racing, and then give up your weekends to doing it all over the country. Sounds like a nice gig. The guy next to me started yelling at anyone he saw over the fence - "Hey, you got the key?" I'm sure he would have yelled it at Michael Schumacher if he had seen him.

We didn't see him.

At 8, they let us into the pits. Where we found... closed garages. We settled down to wait longer. I was held up at the gate, so there was already a good press around the Williams/BMW pit; I found a spot at the adjacent Renault pit where I could see both teams well. As it turns out, that was probably the best move I could have made.


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

Thanks for the pics...

No Ferrari pics ?  :angel:


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Pits started to open. Nose cones started to appear. As I found out later, Ferrari was one of the last to open and one of the first to close. One of the Williams mechanics pulled some kids from the crowd to come in and have their pictures taken with the cars. The rest of us were kept behind a barricade, although, as it turned out, the Renault mechanics were the most gregarious of the bunch, and wandered over to talk with us quite a bit. They also listened to the most interesting music.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I don't know what was up with these guys, but they cracked me up. "Let's stash it over here and pick it up later. They'll never miss it." "Do you think we got away with it?" "Yep!"


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

RGal, the new cam is doing great, I see


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

A few more pics of the Williams pits. Last pic - the guy who drew the short straw.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Alex Baumann said:


> RGal, the new cam is doing great, I see


Faaaaabulous! I love it!


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Finally, the Renault pit opened. I got a good view of suspension and brakes. Also, the chassis has what David Hobbs called Zed-3 gills when they were on the Ferrari chassis. The mechanics kept emerging from the back, different guys each time, in clown-car fashion.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

A few more random pics. It was interesting seeing how the precise wing adjustments were done - with a rasp the size of my forearm.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Gill pics. Patching up the FW26. Patching up the R24.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Lindsey, the mechanic from Liverpool. This man was a sweetheart - answered questions about anything, the sponsors (Guru? It's a fashion company), what the heck happened to Trulli's car last week (a bolt in the suspension fell out that really needed to be in place); fetched water when I complained about being too squished in to leave and go get some, and amusingly, when the woman next to me was yelling, "Alonso!" to try to get an autograph when he made a brief appearance, he came trotting over and advised her - "Call him Fernando. He answers better to his name, you know."


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I couldn't figure this guy out. From the dreds, I wondered if he was a Benneton model. As it turned out, he was an artist, plastering what I eventually figured out was a stylized Mild Seven on some spare car bits. His escort, the guy who looks like Agent Smith, explained all of this in a gentle French accent.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Er, where were the drivers? Not a one, on any of the teams, had made an appearance. Once the artist was done, however, Trulli and Alonso walked out to pose with him in front of the art piece.

Two stalls down from me.

Short guys with mechanics in the way.

Drat.

Alonso snuck back around behind me. Trulli was not seen again.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

The pics above were the BMW car on its way to weigh. The Mercedes car also came through. Unlike the BMW, Honda, and Renault engineers, who were wearing short-sleeve cotton shirts, cotton shorts, and very nifty Puma sneaks, the Mercedes engineers were in vinyl jumpsuits that looked like something out of an S&M catalog. They pushed their cars past, and as one paused next to us, of course a few wags yelled, "Look out! She's going to blow!"


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Decal Man! And, once the crowd thinned, the art piece. A few other garages. Minardi had a fair number of women engineers, unlike most of the other teams. Kudos to them.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Voluntary standarad bearers.

The Renault guys fired up the engine, and if anyone wants a .mov of the dang thing revving, email me.


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## WILLIA///M (Apr 15, 2002)

No Connie?


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

No Connie, no Juan. (No Juan at all, actually!  ) The mechanics seemed to be really into it. The drivers didn't seem to give a hoot.

Even that older guy who works for Michelin whose name I keep forgetting put in a better appearance than any of the drivers.

At least Flavio didn't show up, either.


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## WILLIA///M (Apr 15, 2002)

The Roadstergal said:


> No Connie, no Juan. (No Juan at all, actually!  ) .


There's still tomorrow and Saturday. Who's Jaun? :angel:


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

The Roadstergal said:


> Even that older guy who works for Michelin whose name I keep forgetting put in a better appearance than any of the drivers.


Pierre Dupasquier?

Nice write up and pics, Rdstrgal!


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

That's him!

He hung around the pits for a good while.


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## PhilH (Jun 7, 2002)

Great pics Roadstergal. :thumbup:

I actually spotted Senna in the back of a garage on a pit walk through in Montreal in the early '90s. I either have one or two pics of him (at a distance).


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I didn't spot Senna. 

I slept in some, and got up a little before the Formula BMW practice was to start. On my way to the viewing mounds, someone called across the lot - it was the scruitineer I chatted with yesterday. He wanted to know how the pit walk had gone, and I told him what I wrote yesterday - that the mechanics were great, but the drivers didn't seem to give a swut. He agreed, and said he had also heard complaints that the Ferrari mechanics were arrogant - didn't bring cars out, discouraged people from taking pictures inside of the garage, and of course no driver appearance. He did say that I missed an appearance by Montoya, but that most people missed it along with me - he had come up behind the crowd wearing nothing BMW or F1 related, or anything distinguishing at all, meandered through the crowd and left. D'oh.

I couldn't help noticing that the Foster's stand was open and doing good business. At 8am.

The safety car may be Mercedes, but this is the Midwest, and the tow vehicles will be domestic, durnit.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I crossed under the tracks and made the long walk to the most distal viewing mound. At which point I remembered that I left the sunblock (I made it a point to get some after yesterday) at the car. I prepared to run back and see if I could make it before practice began... but I decided it was worth a shot to ask the corner workers if they had a little to spare. One, whose patterns of speech reminded me eerily of Jim Millet (local club members know who I mean), whipped a huge tube of SPF 50 out of his bag. "Just like staying at home." I thanked him, and we chatted a bit before the practice began. He also drives some of the track tours, and enjoys the F1 race - he actually gets to turn in different directions for _this_ round of track tours.

The Formula BMW racers had their practice session. These are kids - maybe 15 years old? Yikes. They drove very well.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

A few more pictures of the Formula BMW guys. This is definitely the place I'm going to stake out for the race - no fence in the way! It quickly became choked with guys with cameras. Note to self - arrive early on Sunday.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I thought they sounded and looked pretty good. I hadn't seen nuttin' yet, as it turned out.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

"Can't we all just get along?"


Also, it's not just the mechanics with interesting fashion choices (Yes, that is a genuine Utili-Kilt).


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Now, the first F1 practice. The cars came around the corner... and oh, man, there is nothing in the world that sounds like that. The difference between how they sound on TV and how they sound in person is like the difference between masturbation and sex - you get the idea of what it's about, but it's a poor substitute for the real thing. They are loud - not in the sense that your neighbor's music as loud and you wish they would turn it down, but in a way that just saturates your ability to hear, and it would be cruel to turn it down. Just magnificent.

And heck, that was just the Minardi.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

More. Yummy.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Just a few more...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Last ones of Practice 1, I promise...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

OK, I lied.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Not a good place to park. The course workers ran out to push, but it seemed to be stuck in gear. Violators had to be towed... the other cars really didn't look to be giving a heck of a lot of room. Yikes!


You didn't think I'd conclude without a pic of Trulli, did you? That would be like Alex not making mention of Spoonface.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Oh, and there were some cars in the lot. People seemed to be interested in them, for some reason.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

WILLIA///M said:


> No Connie?


I'm thinkin' she's around somewhere...


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## WILLIA///M (Apr 15, 2002)

The Roadstergal said:


> I'm thinkin' she's around somewhere...


:lmao: Keep looking.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I hooked up with the Hooiser BMW Corral. These people are very nice, and quite hospitable; I'd advise signing up for their corral if you go to the race next year. That did, however, make me late for Practice II, and I walked into the main gate as they were starting. Instead of walking all of the way around to the mounds, I hopped onto the nearest grandstand. I was right at the entrance to the pits. Here, they were at full throttle, gearing up to carry max speed through the curve and onto the straight. As a result, although they sounded awesome, it took less time for them to flash from the left side of my view to the right than it does to take a measured breath, and there was a big thick fence in the way.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I found a grandstand overlooking the chicane from another angle. The sound was delightfully earsplitting, the view perfect. I got too many pictures. I'll try to divide them by team.

BMW/Williams


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

More BMW/Williams.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

BMW/Williams...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

BMW/Williams again...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Yet again...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Last BMW...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro blah blah blah


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

More Spoonface and Spoonfaceshadow.

I'll put up the rest of the teams when I find a better connection.


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## GimpyMcFarlan (Aug 13, 2002)

Not as good as RGal's, but here they are. These are from the first practice, I was in the new grandstand in the infield at turn 6...


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## GimpyMcFarlan (Aug 13, 2002)

Last on from turn 6, then a few I took while walking to the end of the short straight.


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## GimpyMcFarlan (Aug 13, 2002)

From the new grandstand at turn 10...


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## GimpyMcFarlan (Aug 13, 2002)

Final few from turn 10, then a surprise we found in the parking lot. :yikes: That's it for now. Working from a crappy 24Kpbs connection in a hotel sucks! Been a very long day and tomorrow will be longer. F1 pratice begins bright and early tomorrow at 8am. Goodnight everyone!


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## Clarke (Oct 21, 2002)

A big Thank You to our correspondents! please keep the great work coming:thumbup: :thumbup:


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## WILLIA///M (Apr 15, 2002)

Clarke said:


> A big Thank You to our correspondents! please keep the great work coming:thumbup: :thumbup:


:stupid: :thumbup:


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## KU Ned (Apr 23, 2003)

You two are KILLING ME!!! I have been to the past three USGP's and could not go this year. I love Friday and Saturday even more than race day. Keep the pics coming!!!


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

It's fun, picking and choosing the seats.  I was sitting just at the beginning of the front straight for qualifying, and the sounds! :yikes: I won't hear for a week.

The rest of the pics. Renault Mild Seven Driversblewmeoff.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

More Renault.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Lucky Strike BAR Honda Kamikaze


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Bar


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Jaguar F1 Optimistic

Webber doing a little yardwork.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Jag.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

West McLaren Mercedes Headgasket.

A little more yardwork.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Really expensive rototiller.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Panasonic Toyota Eforeffort.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Toyota


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Jordan Ford Cooldecals.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Lonely Ford.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Sauber Petronas Notquiteferrari.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Minardi Cosworth Backmarker


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Group shots.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

More group shots.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Last of the Practice II shots.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Previous chassis at the BMW Motorsport tent.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Another one of those cars on the lot that everyone seemed interested in.

Pic for Alex.


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## Alex Baumann (Dec 19, 2001)

:fruit:


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## GimpyMcFarlan (Aug 13, 2002)

Spent the morning / early afternoon in the grandstands between turns 1-6. The cars were to far away during pratice / qualifying so I will not bother to post the pics I took of them them. RGal's are much better, however, here are some you might find interesting...

Webber in the kitty litter.
P-Car being taken out of the kitty litter.
P-Car missed turn 1 and wandered into the runoff area.
Merc Medical Car visited the rescue crew between sessions.


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## GimpyMcFarlan (Aug 13, 2002)

Speaking of the rescue crews...
View of the grandstand to the right & left of me. It was a beautiful day, mostly sunny in the mid/low 70's, but it was very windy at the very top of the grandstand. Almost wished I had brought a jacket with me when the sun went behind the clouds.
View down the mile long front stretch.
Example of the wind speed. (We were surrounded by Ferrari fans.  )


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## GimpyMcFarlan (Aug 13, 2002)

Last pics from me... P-Cars during their race this afternoon.

Don't have any pics, but JPM's younger brother was in the Formula BMW race. Just 15 years old! :yikes: He lead a few laps in the middle of the race but was passed with a few laps to go. He made a run at the leader and tried to pass on turn seven just before the back straight but spun out. Typical Montoya...  He ended up 7th.


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## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

The Roadstergal said:


> More. Yummy.


Nice pics, R-gal. Especially of JPM. :thumbup:


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Ja, today was beautiful! Less hot and humid than yesterday. Hmm, I must have been very close to you again! I was at the far left of that stand for the last practice before qualifying, at the top. I have a pic somewhere of Webber's car being hauled, too.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Alex Baumann said:


> :fruit:


You know, if it weren't for you, I would have taken fewer Ferrari than Minardi pics.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I finally remembered to bring sunscreen to the track. I hoped to even up the many tan/burn lines I had acquired by wearing a tank top.

I went to the other break in the fence I had seen on the viewing-mound side. It was an interesting little break just before the back straight, and it felt like buying a gumball; you could hear the car coming, but didn't know which it was until it appeared - briefly.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I rapidly tired of this vantage point.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

I went to the J stands for the last practice before qualifying. I know people here say you should sit in H, but J was excellent! A great view of the straight, and of all of the turns before the back straight. And a good view of the screen. Here is an idea of how much of the turns you can see...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Zoom in.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

More.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

More...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

This is about when Da Matta did his schmokin' lap.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Lockup! And Webber takes a long walk back.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

As the pracice session wound down, the drivers all came out to get a few more laps in. It got pretty crowded, and the exits from the pit lane were interesting to watch. Kimi had to dive off of the track when he exited a little too close to the driver coming down the straight.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Traffic!


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Where I sat for qualifying. A seat that maximizes aural pleasure.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

And I thought the guy who changed the bulb drew the short straw! This guy climbed up to the camera that runs over the front straight many times throughout the qualifying to change the tape.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

People rushing around busily. BMW techs testing how difficult it is to jump the wall. A course worker hard at work.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Car pics. They go by soooo fast... and most twitched just a little as they came close to the wall at the beginning of the straight. Yeesh.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

JPM fans refuse to be outdone. Qualifying. Trulli needed a push before he came in after one lap. Not a happy car.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Amusingly, the really pricey viewing decks gave us a view of the distal side of the car.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Work really slows down picture posting...

OK, next round. I got up to reserve my spot... at 6am, when the gates opened. The race didn't start until noon. Grass under sun is good for napping, though. The guy running the winch figured this out before I did.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

The Porsche Cup support race provided a welcome diversion. It was odd to see the GT3s race after watching the F1 cars practice - I know they're fast cars, but compared to the F1 cars, they seemed to go so slowly! The leader won by a wide margin, and deserved to - he was visibly pushing much harder than anyone behind him.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

It was a short race, but had a lot of passing. Fun to watch.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Just a few more Porsche pics...


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Last round.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

F1 Drivers' Parade. Each team was driven around the track in a classic car taken from the Speedway Auto Museum. The drivers were going at as good a clip as the cars could manage - it looked like the suspensions were leaned to the max. All drivers had their shirts on. 

Maximum visibility from the rumble seat.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Cute cars.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Even if they did clash with the team colors. They were led by the safety car and trailed by the med car.


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## berford (Sep 10, 2002)

The Roadstergal said:


> Even if they did clash with the team colors. They were led by the safety car and trailed by the med car.


Thanks for sharing...nice pics.


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## The Roadstergal (Sep 7, 2002)

Maybe tomorrow I'll get the final pics (race pics) up.


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