Thanks! I was still experiencing issues with my camera so I had to shoot at a high shutter speeds. So I wasn't able to get many good panning shots. :-( Thankfully as a photographer and unfortunately as a driver they put the fastest part of the track right over a jump.
Since my car is relatively big and heavy I couldn't exit the corner with enough speed to get air born but it was close! The guy with all 4 off bent an axle.
Aussie buit car.
Here we call the 2 door's the Monaro.
Are they sold as a Chev or Pontiac over there?
I'm guessing yours is the 5.7L?
Mate of mine has the has the 6L Holden Special Vehicles Version ( Factory Hotted up like a Shelby or something) that is turned up very nicely. Faster than stink.
Week before last we went about 2,5 hours in the thing to the hallowed racing circuit of Oz called bathurst. You may have seen teh race on TV last weekend as it was suppose to go to the states live.
Fantastic car and so damn fast!
We also got to go for a hot lap around the circuit in one of the race cars with one of the drivers.
You do not know what fast is till you go round the mountain in one of those things.
I have had fast cars and faster bikes but that was a whole new level of speed with a dose of terror thrown in!
The acceleration was impressive but the way the thing stuck in the corners was incredible and in some of them the guy was only allowed to take us 60 mph UNDER the speed he would go in a race!! Still was butt clenching.
Only got to go 120 mph down the main straight, they hit about 190 in the race and 120 seemed a dawdle in such a capeable car. I think because we were going so much slower than usual the guy turned it in through the Chase a bit early and hit the ripple strip pretty high which put us on 2 wheels through the apex. That was fun and surprisingly gentle actually.
Yeah it's basically a repackaged Morano. I'm pretty familiar with holden cars and the v8 supercars. I absolutely love them! I have people telling me all the time that my car is aussie but thats all they know :-P The 2004 GTO is the most like a Morano. It has the 5.7 and the body is very similar. The 2005-2006 years have a different hood and tail panel so they look a little different. Best thing is they have the Ls2 which is the 6.0L. Mine is a 2006, 400 horse 400 ftlbs backed by a six speed manual transmission. Its a very fun car! Since owning it I looked into holden more than before and started watching the v8 supercars and the vintage touring cars. The pontiac g8 is actually a Commadore, but since pontiac got killed of by gm they haven't used them so much. Until not they released the "all new" chevy caprice is just a repacked Commadore. You are very lucky to get a ride on Bathurst!!! Thats one of my favorite tracks. You might have heard of Watkins Glen International. Thats where I go a lot. Did you get video of you on bathurst? I'd love to see it!
Unfortunately when going throught he process of signing the waivers for the ride they told us very clearly no less than about 4 times that we were NOT permitted to record the ride either in audio or vision and when I got in the car, the guy Driving, James Courtney , the current V8 supercar Champ told me again and an assistant seemed to be making a check that I had noting either and told me I wasn't allowed to record it on a phone or a camera.
There were pretty strickt on that for whatever butt covering reasons. I'd rung up the HSV people who were doing the rides through the week about attaching a Go-pro to my helmet and they were very clear that would not be permitted. Didn't even get to have a shot with the car as we had to leave all our bags and personal items behind and could not bring anything with us or into the pit area so didn't have a camera despite the pile of stuff we took to the track with us.
Bit of a bummer but the ride is something you never forget anyway.
You are right, I was extremely fortunate to get the ride. There were a few of the teams doing them that day but still it's a rarity and even better to have it at the best track of all. I have said to a few people, the teams could fund their entire race season just by hitring the track for a day and selling rides. i'm as tight as a fishes bum but I'd pay $500 a lap for that no probs and I'd be signing up for more than one lap as well. They could run 4 cars for a week and still not get through everyone!
That sucks but I'm sure that the memory will last forever. I'm sure people all over the world would pay to get to go on a ride like you! I'm so jealous.
Comments
Nice stuff.
Ouch! That's got to be tough on equipment
heres me:
Aussie buit car.
Here we call the 2 door's the Monaro.
Are they sold as a Chev or Pontiac over there?
I'm guessing yours is the 5.7L?
Mate of mine has the has the 6L Holden Special Vehicles Version ( Factory Hotted up like a Shelby or something) that is turned up very nicely. Faster than stink.
Week before last we went about 2,5 hours in the thing to the hallowed racing circuit of Oz called bathurst. You may have seen teh race on TV last weekend as it was suppose to go to the states live.
Fantastic car and so damn fast!
We also got to go for a hot lap around the circuit in one of the race cars with one of the drivers.
You do not know what fast is till you go round the mountain in one of those things.
I have had fast cars and faster bikes but that was a whole new level of speed with a dose of terror thrown in!
The acceleration was impressive but the way the thing stuck in the corners was incredible and in some of them the guy was only allowed to take us 60 mph UNDER the speed he would go in a race!! Still was butt clenching.
Only got to go 120 mph down the main straight, they hit about 190 in the race and 120 seemed a dawdle in such a capeable car. I think because we were going so much slower than usual the guy turned it in through the Chase a bit early and hit the ripple strip pretty high which put us on 2 wheels through the apex. That was fun and surprisingly gentle actually.
Good luck with your racing and your shooting.
There were pretty strickt on that for whatever butt covering reasons. I'd rung up the HSV people who were doing the rides through the week about attaching a Go-pro to my helmet and they were very clear that would not be permitted. Didn't even get to have a shot with the car as we had to leave all our bags and personal items behind and could not bring anything with us or into the pit area so didn't have a camera despite the pile of stuff we took to the track with us.
Bit of a bummer but the ride is something you never forget anyway.
You are right, I was extremely fortunate to get the ride. There were a few of the teams doing them that day but still it's a rarity and even better to have it at the best track of all. I have said to a few people, the teams could fund their entire race season just by hitring the track for a day and selling rides. i'm as tight as a fishes bum but I'd pay $500 a lap for that no probs and I'd be signing up for more than one lap as well. They could run 4 cars for a week and still not get through everyone!
Years Racing Budget.... Covered!