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View Full Version : Team Juicy meets F1!


MJAmok
05-21-2005, 05:42 AM
Yesterday, I got to drive Fernando Alonso's 2002 Renault at a track in France. Holy crap, what a car!

More to come when I get home!
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[url="http://http://mail.auriemmaconsulting.com/exchange/inquiries/Inbox/PHOTO%20AGS.EML/1_multipart_xF8FF_2_IMG_7907.JPG/C58EA28C-18C0-4a97-9AF2-036E93DDAFB3/IMG_7907.JPG?attach=1"]Move over Alonso! (http://mail.auriemmaconsulting.com/exchange/inquiries/Inbox/PHOTO%20AGS.EML/1_multipart_xF8FF_2_IMG_7907.JPG/C58EA28C-18C0-4a97-9AF2-036E93DDAFB3/IMG_7907.JPG?attach=1)

MJAmok
05-21-2005, 05:47 AM
Damn... seems like the link only works when my email is open! Can't figure out how to delete the post...

cdh
05-21-2005, 06:43 AM
Here is pic, MJ Alonso emailed it to me, I scaled it down, huge orig. image size was probably the culprit, need to hear more about this, very coooool

Nest
05-21-2005, 04:45 PM
sweeeet...wats the track Mike?

kwlorentzen
05-21-2005, 05:22 PM
:bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: Michael, you continue to put the rest of us in a state of envy! What a trip that must have been! Keep doing what you're doing, and you'll never want to drive a skippy car again :p:

MJAmok
05-21-2005, 08:16 PM
Deyne Bentt and I are in Monaco with our better halves for the GP.

On Thursday, we watched Practice from Cafe Grand Prix, which literally overlooks Rascasse corner. The view and sound effects were unbelieveable. Sue got some phenomenal pix looking down into the cockpits as the cars drove past. We'll post them when we get home.

As Friday has no F1 action, we needed to find something to entertain ourselves. The woman who organized the trip was able to sign me up for an F1 driving school.

You drive an F3 in the morning, and as long as you are not a bonehead, they let you drive the F1 in the afternoon. (ok, for all the wiseguys out there, yes, they let me drive despite being a bonehead!). The shitty part is that if you spin or go 4-off in the F3, you don't get to drive the F1. Therefore, you pretty much use the time only to learn the track, and you don't push the F3 to its limits.

The company is AGS, which raced F1 in the late 80's and early 90's. During the lunch break, they brought us to their shop to show off a bit. Pretty impressive place. While there, they showed us the Jordan and Prost they planned for us to drive. After catching a glimpse of the Renault's, I suggested I would rather drive one of those! "No, No! Those just arrived from Renault. We are going to do a special program for Renault's sponsors." A little NY persuasion later, and they rolled out the
Renault's! :cool2:

The car is awesome. Even though it is detuned to 650hp... it is a beast. Paddle shifter on the wheel... no lift for up-shifts... snaps your neck in every gear! Wow!

I hit roughly 150mph on the main straight, and the car was still anxious to go. Braking is terrific. It took me 7 or 8 laps to bring my brake point for the last corner (6th gear... 150mph to 2nd gear... 30mph) to a place that I was comfortable with, (i.e. not so early that you parked the car before turn in, but not frighteningly late) and I KNOW I left a lot on the table.

Exiting slow corners takes some patience. Too much throttle and you are into the traction control... that slows you down quite a bit. Smoother and more progressive throttle works wonders. I figured that out after the first lap. It is amazing how much speed you can build up in very short sections of track. Between corners 2 and 3 on this track (Circuit du Var... 2.4km) you exit a corner, get to full power, upshift, and are quickly back on the brakes hard. It is a workout!

The car beats you up physically and mentally. After 15 laps, I was getting uncomfortable (not that I was ready to quit, mind you).

On the main straight... you accelerate from 3rd to 5th before a bend in the road. You are instructed to lift before the bend, and return to throttle for turn in. I was more than happy to lift there! But, I am confident the car could have done it flat. I can't imagine what that would feel like. It must take a LOT of getting used to.

All in all, a great day... if not a bit dragged out.. highly recommended!

More pix and possibly video to come!

rhpearson
05-22-2005, 11:41 AM
Wow! Great stuff, thanks for sharing the story. Looking forward to more pics.

BTW, what's the cost of a day like that?

R

kwlorentzen
05-22-2005, 02:05 PM
:rolleyes: I think that's a situation best left to the "Don't ask, Don't tell," motto; although it is being used in a different context here

Charlie25
05-22-2005, 06:00 PM
I can imagine how this idea came about...

MJ: "Hmm, so we've flown over here for the most prestegious motor race in the world, and they're off today. We're stuck in this millionare playground, and I'm bored."

Dayne: "I know! Let's go drive a Formula 1 car!"

MJ:"Brilliant!"


:bowdown: :bowdown: I like the way you guys think. :D


by the way, what happened to the mirror?

JonMiller
05-22-2005, 06:21 PM
I think I speak for everyone when I say:

"MORE PCITURES! POST THE VIDEO!!!"

That is so cool....

MJAmok
05-22-2005, 06:57 PM
"what happened to the mirror?"

They have the good sense of only letting one driver on the track at a time in the F1's... 3 at a time in the F3's, which got pretty frustrating.

Because you know there isn't anyone behind you, and because stuff in front is happening so quickly, I don't think I even realized the mirror was down until I saw the pic!

Sounds stupid, I know... but check back after you try it! :cool2:

rhpearson
05-22-2005, 09:18 PM
"what happened to the mirror?"


You must have been going so quick that it was blown over :D

But think of a hybrid of a line from Back to the Future...

Mirrors? Where we're going we don't need mirrors!

:rotflmao:

cdh
05-23-2005, 07:40 AM
More pix and possibly video to come!

This looks like it might be a promo for the school........is this the website (http://www.agsformule1.com/en/stage_ags/stage_ags.htm)? It's definitely Circuit du Va, looks like fun whatever it is......

video (http://www.formel1-selber-fahren.de/Video-F1-selber-fahren.mpeg)


.

MJAmok
05-23-2005, 04:27 PM
That is the correct website, but the video isn't from the same track. Unfortunately, it will take about 3 weeks before I get the edited video. Can't wait to see it!

kwlorentzen
05-23-2005, 11:49 PM
What is this word "Eddit?"
Just give us the whole thing! :D

Mopar92
05-24-2005, 09:28 AM
You must have been going so quick that it was blown over :D



Mirrors? Where we're going we don't need mirrors!

:rotflmao:

No, He just wanted to feel at Home, as in a Skippy car and thats just the norm... We need California style truck mirrors I think !:r:

MJAmok
05-24-2005, 09:39 PM
Hey! Where the hell did that come from?! I should get approval rights on photos!

Well, at least it shows that I looked in the mirrors BEFORE I left the pits!

juicysue
05-24-2005, 10:51 PM
Here is a sampling of the pix from our Monaco experience. Should this not satiate your thirst, you can find many, many more on my .mac account by going to...

http://homepage.mac.com/sueauriemma/PhotoAlbum4.html

That is the album from Thursday's practice but at the top of the page you can click on Michael's F1 experience and Sunday's race to see those pix.

juicysue
05-24-2005, 11:00 PM
OK, two more...

Two definitions of CLOSE.

MJAmok
05-24-2005, 11:19 PM
I'd say "awesome pix", but that would be, well, you know!

What I will say though is "awesome seats!". The pix where the cars are heading to the right are taken from Cafe Grand Prix. We were on the 2nd floor, about 20 feet from the cars. That is also where all the driver pix are from.

The other shots are from race day... we were at Ermanno Terrace. When the cars are pointed left, we are looking straight down on them as they head into the first turn... Ste Sevote. We were on the 5th floor. From our balcony, you could see the 2nd 1/2 of the front straight, up to Ste Devote, around that corner, and all the way up the hill to the Casino. Then you could see them come down the hill into the Chicane... and all the way to Piscine. All in all, about 1/2 the track... AMAZING!

cdh
05-24-2005, 11:32 PM
I'd say fabulous pics......really nice Sue

mja - you are right, sue's pic of you in F1 car was not mine to post :rolleyes: mea culpa

.

rhpearson
05-24-2005, 11:48 PM
Ah, the mirror trick is great :D I need chuckles like that most days.

And the race pics are fantastic. Thanks for posting them here and there (the .mac site).

dalyduo
05-25-2005, 12:33 AM
Michael,

How were you guys set up with that super Monaco location and what camera were you using to stop the action? Great shots and either one of your experiences (Monaco or F1 driving) would have been worthy life experiences by themselves. Having both together assures you will be hated by all of us for eternity. :-) If living well is the best revenge, the rest of us better get busy! Thanks for setting the bar so high. (We will keep checking your grammar and spelling for errors however).

Locks of Love is a very cool charity and great thing for those not follicly challenged to participate in.

So if you just happened to find that F1 driving opportunity for your day off, how is it that you had your helmet with you? (How far in advance did you book it?)

Good stuff! Everyone looks happy.

MJAmok
05-25-2005, 07:12 AM
Hey Doug.. missed the MJAmok the first time around... how cool would it be to really have your name on one of those beasts?!

Pat... I use a concierge service called... oh wait, not sure I want to post that :rolleyes: ... if you are interested, let me know!

I said earlier, that we needed to find something to keep us busy on Friday, but you are right, it wasn't planned last minute. The whole process started in December! Long story, but ultimately it worked!

As for the camera, I'll let JuicySue give you the details (not sure how I turned the ital on!?)

juicysue
05-25-2005, 08:36 AM
How were you guys set up with that super Monaco location and what camera were you using to stop the action?

Locks of Love is a very cool charity and great thing for those not follicly challenged to participate in.


Pat,

Thank you for the photo compliments! I was using my Nikon D100 with a 70-300 lens most of the time. Actually, when I was shooting from Cafe Gran Prix down into the cars, I had to back off and use my 50 mm lens because we were so close. Big problems, eh?

All I can say is Thank God for Digital. Lots of trial and error to get the speeds right. There were times I was shooting straight down into the cars going at speed and I had to be at 1/1200th of a second. And even with that they could be sharper. It was a blast to have the opportunity to take pix like this.

And Locks of Love...well I figured I better do it before these three kids make me go all grey!! All three of us are very happy to have done it.

Sue

rhpearson
05-25-2005, 10:34 AM
Yeah, digital rules. I love the freedom to shoot and shoot and shoot (would have used 50 rolls of film at LR alone!). The sharpness could be the 70-300 lens, zooms can lose some, especially when you consider it is more than 4x zoom. Nothing, IMHO, beats fixed focal length for things like this. Although, I was impressed with what my 18-70 zoom did at LR when I used it.

R

dalyduo
05-25-2005, 11:00 AM
Michael,

I'll call you about the trip set up. They certainly did right by you.

So, when can we expect to see your new F1 Renault avatar?
All of a sudden that cup car looks like a tonka toy.
How are you ever going to step into a Skippy car after sniffing genuine F1 exhaust from the cockpit?! :-)
You should be gettiing sponsorship for your Skippy racing soon from TARGET because the bullseye's really on your back now, Buster! :D

Are you at the Glen this weekend?

Sue,
I did wonder about the shutter speed needed to catch those bad boys. Really nice job. As you say nice problem to have, having to use the 50mm lens because your were too close to the action!

My daughter Julia and a few of her school friends have been growing their hair out for Locks of Love. They still have a few months to go. I'm sure we'll create some sort of photo evidence when they do!

Pat