Photos: Trackday in France

[c0wb0y007]

Hello everyone,

I went to a trackday in France, it was just over the Belgian border. I was invited by a friend of mine, who went to the event himself to take his car (Lotus Elise) for a spin 8)
It was great fun, there where no restrictions on moving around the circuit as photographer :o :lol: Moehahaha, that sounded like music to ears :D They had hired a pro photographer for that day, but she was in the wrong places as far as I was concerned. She was constantly shooting against the light and was shooting in the "no-drift" bends, so sad for her ... .
The circuit is called "Circuit des Croix" and it was used as F1 test circuit back in the days.

There were lots of Lotus Elises, a few caterhams, a bunch of formule cars and last but not least an Ultima GTR.

Hope you enjoy the pictures.

http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photography/B.Cars/Track%20Day%2027-08-2005/Bart%20Lotus%20Elise%201.jpg

http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photography/B.Cars/Track%20Day%2027-08-2005/Donkervoort%202.jpg

http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photography/B.Cars/Track%20Day%2027-08-2005/Drifting%20Bart%20(wallpaper).jpg

http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photography/B.Cars/Track%20Day%2027-08-2005/Drifting%20Porsche%201.jpg

http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photography/B.Cars/Track%20Day%2027-08-2005/Lotus%20Elise%202.jpg

http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photography/B.Cars/Track%20Day%2027-08-2005/Lotus%20Elise%203.jpg

http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photography/B.Cars/Track%20Day%2027-08-2005/Lotus%20Elise%201.jpg

http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photography/B.Cars/Track%20Day%2027-08-2005/Ultima%201.jpg

http://users.pandora.be/jokke1/Photography/B.Cars/Track%20Day%2027-08-2005/Ultima%202.jpg

It was a perfect day and event to test my new lens out, the VR-system works perfect, this lens is just stunning and worth every penny.

Cheers

[Stikz]

Awesome pics, wish they were a little bigger, but i'm not really complaining. Thanks. :D

[TT]

Awesome picture quality. No matter what you shoot, when the quality is so good, the result is always stunning!

[psykonesz83]

i thought u guys said that the elise goes around the track horribly with the top off.... how did ur buddy do, cowboy007?

[Speedracer38]

those are some awesome shots!! what lens and camera do you use?

[c0wb0y007]

@ all,

Thanks for your kind words about the pictures. :wink:

I had to lower the resolution of them due to the limited webspace (50mb) I have on the server, but as far as I'm concerned I think that the size of those is fine :) If could I would go for the big plates, trust me. I also lowered the resolution because I had to send them to a few guys who wanted to buy some photos of mine. Those same shots on their original resolution still have an awsome amount of detail; They stay very very sharp, nice colours and no grain. I prefer to stick with my webserver.

@ psykonesz83

i thought u guys said that the elise goes around the track horribly with the top off.... how did ur buddy do, cowboy007?

My mate did just fine, his Elise is quite stocky. He fine-tuned it a little bit, but no big changes in the engine compartment :) One of the things he has is a much better diffuser (hope this is the correct spelling), he has some nice shark fins mounted underneath its bottom. But on the whole, I think an Elise is made to go around a track very fast even topless. The thing is that it probably comes into play when you are driving the car on the edge. But when you are driving an Elise and it doesn't rain, you are just bound to drive topless, topless is always nicer :D

@ Speedracer38

those are some awesome shots!! what lens and camera do you use?

I use a Nikon D70, I'm a big Nikon fan. The lens is even more important than the shooter, I'm a lucky bugger been able to use the Nikkor 70-200mm G VR lens

It is a dream team. When it comes to the camera, the D70 is just a humble camera compared to the rest of the Nikon range, but I'm glad I didn't went beserk and bought a D2h or a D2hs. The D70 suits me perfect and didn't set me back more than twice the price and ending up with 4mega pixels which is just not enough anymore nowadays. I expect an update of these cameras quite soon now that Canon launched their D5 (12mega pixel sensor in the body of the 10 & 20D, nice move Canon)

Cheers

[Wutputt]

Awesome actionshots. They look terrific. Especially the drifting shots :D

btw, you friend's Elise, is it the silver grey one with the red arrow next to the Lotus badge? I believe I've seen him a month ago at the Nordschleife.

[c0wb0y007]

Awesome actionshots. They look terrific. Especially the drifting shots :D

btw, you friend's Elise, is it the silver grey one with the red arrow next to the Lotus badge? I believe I've seen him a month ago at the Nordschleife.

That's him indeed, we already know each other since primary school. I have made lots of nordschleife passenger laps in that Elise 8) He is not an animal behind the wheel, he is a very passionated driver.
He visited the Nordschleife a while ago, just like you mention, he was on summer holiday back then.

Cheers

[Xploded]

Very nice photo's there, and the lens and camera package sounds great .... been looking at the D70 for a lil bit and it seems very nice. I wouldnt mind stepping into the digital world but im still farly happy with the old film, maybe next year ill make the move.

[budagboy2]

i love how u capture the lotus and porsche oversteering, nice shots :)

[Wutputt]

btw, you friend's Elise, is it the silver grey one with the red arrow next to the Lotus badge? I believe I've seen him a month ago at the Nordschleife.

That's him indeed, we already know each other since primary school. I have made lots of nordschleife passenger laps in that Elise 8) He is not an animal behind the wheel, he is a very passionated driver.
He visited the Nordschleife a while ago, just like you mention, he was on summer holiday back then.

Cheers

What a small (car) world it is :D
But it actually is true. Every time I go to some major car event or a track like the Nürburgting or Spa, I always see people (or their cars) I've seen before :D