Hot Lap

[Runmonty]

Each year at this time the V8 supercars take over the streets of Adelaide for the Clipsal 500. You may recall Mad Aussie shared some photos & wrote about the V8 Supercars at Bathurst here http://www.photography.ca/Forums/architecture-man-made-cities-buildings-roads-objects-abstracts/19444-great-race.html

This year I was fortunate enough to be offered a "Hot Lap" (actullay 2 laps) with one of the most competitive drivers Will Davison. These laps are quite extraordinary and the sense of acceleration, braking and cornering is amazing.

The circuit is a narrow street circuit, so we were travelling only inches away from the concrete barriers. After being kitted up in a racing suit and given the manatory safety briefing, I was able to take my son into the pits with me. He managed to capture this photo of me ready to go. I didnt realise at the time the paparazzi behind me (I am sure they were there for the driver - not me:D). The light was pretty tough with lots of mixed lighting from outside and the pits.

I wore my GPS sports watch on the the ride, and I uploaded it here Clipsal Hot Lap by runmonty at Garmin Connect - Player (http://connect.garmin.com/player/278857697). It shows the maximum speed we reached was 267kmh. It was a terrific experience and thought I would share it with my photography.ca friends.

The second photo shows what my son was doing while I was preparing for the ride.

16876

16877

[Hillbillygirl]

Wow, what an experience that would be, and thanks for sharing this with us RM.

[Runmonty]

Thanks HBG.

I must correct my earlier post re the speed. Although I was told beforehand that the laps can get up to 280kmh, after seeing the race and the speeds achieved I feel the speed I did cant be that high. It is more likely to be 230ish at a guess. I think my GPS watch that is designed for running had trouble keeping up, and that the sampling time was too long to get it accurate. It was still pretty quick though

[asnow]

I'm not sure which adventure was more exciting and dangerous, yours or your son's. Thanks for telling us your story.

[Matt K.]

cool, real cool ... but ya know what? Go to Germany, and you can go that speed on the autobahn. I did that once, topped out at just under 260kmh. Scared the hell out of me. So I went back to a comfortable 180. So what model Fords are these you son is hanging out with????

[Runmonty]

Thanks Matt. I do recall the autobahns. Although I wasn't going 260kmh, I recall doing 160ish and have cars zip past me like I was standing still.


So what model Fords are these you son is hanging out with????

Not sure what the model is, but I am led to believe they are pretty hard to get hold of, and are pretty high maintenance.

[Marko]

Thx for sharing the experience Rm!

[Lorey]

Must have been a great experience I'm sure you and your son will remember. Thanks for sharing the nice pics of it.

[Randitola]

Great experience RM....looks like your son is happy for you too! :)

[edG]

nice captures, good back story

[Mad Aussie]

Fantastic opportunity RM! Will Davidson certainly is a top driver in this sport and the cars are world class, driven by top European drivers in the enduro's when they get the chance.