'Going to Sebring and I'm gonna bring... (AKA 'The Ant Thread'....)

[HJJ]

Originally Posted by monaro_gto

well I will be watching from the couch this year.

Couch is a place, too.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Motominded

I also live near Road Atlanta woot woot!

I'm coming to Sebring with a BIG AUDI flag.

I'm very bitter about the Frenchie pugs denying them entry.

Audi has 2 ACO compliant R15's sitting in a truck somewhere near Sebring and support vehicles already at the track . So, really its their call as to why their not racing . Nothing to do with Pug now , is it ?

Pug rightly questioned the compliance of the R15 , at Le Mans last year . So , really the question is why the R15 wasnt compliant for Sebring this year . If the R15 was legal , then Audi wouldnt have had to do anything to it , but they did , so that means that there was an issue in the first place .

Im disgusted that Audi wont be at Sebring , but its really their fault now !!!

I just hope that this doesnt effect their performance come June . After all , there is no substitute for racing .

[Dead-Eye]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Pug rightly questioned the compliance of the R15 , at Le Mans last year . So , really the question is why the R15 wasnt compliant for Sebring this year . If the R15 was legal , then Audi wouldnt have had to do anything to it , but they did , so that means that there was an issue in the first place .

The rules were changed. Everyone had to do something to their cars unless they asked for a waiver.

[merlot brougham]

I'm gonna chime in as well and say that the anger at Peugeot is severely misguided. Nothing more to add. Go Pugs!

[Slowsley]

What if Audi pulls a shocker and just rolls out into the starting formation on Sat? Just sayin...

[Slowsley]

What's the schedule for today/tonight (Thurs)?

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by Slowsley

What's the schedule for today/tonight (Thurs)?

Is Our Man in Sebring there?

See Sebring specific thread at top, link to schedule. Looks like protos start running aroung at 2PM, followed by other classes.

Hang in there, sun should be breaking soon, and you have some delightful warmth coming soon.

I have not yet found the bikini contest listings

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by Slowsley

What's the schedule for today/tonight (Thurs)?

There is a race thread pinned to the top of the forum. The first post in that thread contains links to all such info.






L.P.

[Slowsley]

Oh he's here. Love the track. Not enough time to sleep really though.

[skycafe]

Don't sleep, you need to be over in Turn 10, oh, and don't forget the front straight get together. Did you get bikini contest schedule? Send photos!

[Slowsley]

Well, made it safely roundtrip. I got home around 1 am. I'll report tomorrow; I have a ton to say. In case I forget about it tomorrow, I had to remember to mention getting stung by fire ants! Of course, like I said before, they don't bother me anymore, but I thought that it was extremely ironic and funny. Oh, and it was during the bikini contest Sky.

[JHamilton]

Well, I don't know were you guys are camping but I didn't see any fire ants. And I was looking.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Slowsley

Well, made it safely roundtrip. I got home around 1 am. I'll report tomorrow; I have a ton to say. In case I forget about it tomorrow, I had to remember to mention getting stung by fire ants! Of course, like I said before, they don't bother me anymore, but I thought that it was extremely ironic and funny. Oh, and it was during the bikini contest Sky.

Glad you had a great trip ..... bet the ladys in the bikinis had a few words to say about dem der fire ants !!!

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Glad you had a great trip ..... bet the ladys in the bikinis had a few words to say about dem der fire ants !!!

I think people plant nests there to get the bikini contestants dancing!

Glad to hear our Man in Sebring was able to survive the pilgrimage and begin to plan for return next year.
Motorhome
Palm tree(s)
Refrigerator
Sofa
Large screen tv
Portable Hot Tub
Beater car with roof chopped off for errands
Aquarium with live fish (did you make it over to Turn Ten area?)


I am frankly surprised I have never seen anyone walking a pet alligator on a leash, and keeping it in kiddie pool during the hot part of the day, but then I am somewhat afraid to go far deep into Green Park.

roberto

[The Badger]

Is there such a thing , a pet alligator !!!

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Is there such a thing , a pet alligator !!!

you only pet them after they have eaten of course, and only when they are in a good mood and not snappish.

[Slowsley]

Ok, here goes my attempt at a recap of the trip. I wouldn't expect everyone to care, but since y'all helped with some planning, I feel like I owe it to you to share how awesome my trip was. If anyone there saw a white Integra with red Sparco seats, that was me...Patron/Acura shirt and red Acura hat on race day, that was me...stopped by undercover cops investigating my Full-Throttle drink, that was me. Anyhow...

Boy, did I underestimate the drive...12 hours there, 11 back. However, I should say that I smoke cigarrettes, but not in the car, so that made for frequent stops. Didn't matter though, I love driving. Super 8 motel in Lake Wales was just fine by me, although it took 45 mins to get to the track. I'll make staying there a tradition. Thursday was my first trip to the track to get acquianted and to see night practice. I have to say that being there was incredibly sureal. I've been racing Sebring on Forza 1-3 for xbox for a couple of years now, and being there in person was like having this really amazing dream and then waking up and it being your reality. It was almost hard to adjust to.

I'm still sort of new to this whole world even though I've been to Petit 6 times, so I wasn't prepared for there to be so much going on at the track every day. Mostly I didn't know about things so I didn't see any of the smaller races on Fri (I think it was Fri). We did go over again on Fri night just to see what was going on party-wise. I saw a great classic rock band under a tent serving beer and some liquor all for donations. I saw some boobs, a midget, tons of neon lights, people that thought it was halloween, 50 year old women grinding on poles that looked pretty decent after a few brews...and just basically people gettin' down southern style, which confused me a little since I thought Road Atl would be way more hickville than Florida. Either way, it was nice. With nothing going on on the track, they open it up for you to cross at night and I thought that having my tires on that race track with all that history was so cool.

The vette staying next door to us left around 5 am on race morning, about the time I went to bed. I always tried to time it so that he could vibrate me to sleep each night/morning. Naturally I missed the green flag, but not too much else. Like I said, I got bit by fire ants during the bikini contest. We saw the race from about every single part of the track. We even went up above the pits for a while and ate lunch and made lots of video...we later realized that we weren't allowed up there, hehe. P1/2 was a little boring (if racing can be that), but man, the sound of that Aston V12, yeah....It is hard to follow the action as close as you can on tv obviously, so I wondered forever why Corvette wasn't a factor; now I know and all I can say is wow. I looked all day and finally saw a sign about 9:30 that said what radio frequency it was on, bummer. I eat up this series like its crack and so I almost felt like crying when it was over. I don't think 24 hours would satisfy me, but I soaked in every bit of it there was. I may never go to another Ga/Fl football game in Jacksonville now because Sebring is my new tradition. 40 years from now it will be like a second home...I had IHOP/Denny's 5 nights in a row for crying out loud!

I have to say that one of, if not my favorite part about this whole sportscar racing/Sebring/Petit world is the people and the atmosphere. When groups of people drink, the mood can go one of two ways. I have always found nothing but incredibly friendly folks who just want to have a good time and help you out if they can. It doesn't matter what country you're from, what you're driving, who you're pulling for, anything. I'm a tennis pro and by nature I guess I love things or events that bring nations together like this. I think we put on a pretty darn good showing of what southern hospitality and gettin' down is like. I hope my parking pass stays on until I get a new one next year (just because its cool). I almost forgot, after the podium stuff was over we were trying to think of the best way to get back to the car. We decided that walking the track would be the best bet and we enjoyed it so much that we walked almost the whole thing. That felt awesome.

Some thoughts that stand out:
--pit road looks freakin awesome lit up at night
--I'll never complain again about the shape of Georgia's roads; if they can race on Sebring, I can drive on any surface no matter how rough it is
--Party Lane or "the strip" as we called it was tons of fun to drive
--can someone explain all the pirate flags?
--I won our "Xbox Sebring Hot Lap bet" with a 1:45.908 in prototype (ARX-01C) and a 1:58.113 in GT (DBR9)
--saw a "house" around turn 10 I think that appeared to be made of duct tape with like 5 rooms sitting on a flat bed truck or something
--saw someone's scoring tent with a dry erase board with everything written on it about the race so far except for maybe which drivers were getting laid that night; it looked like a WWII tent or something
--the track is soooooo much easier to navigate than Road Atl; I think the lack of elavation changes have a lot to do with that
--a general love of that track and venue
--$25 lets you come and go as much as you want for the whole 4 days! I've paid as much to park for 3 hours.
--that Florida sunshine was very refreshing

I'll finish with two things I remember saying to my friend throughout the week.
--"You couldn't wipe the smile off my face with a piece of ****!"
--"If I had nothing else to live for, I think this would be enough."

[porsche91722]

Originally Posted by Slowsley

--"You couldn't wipe the smile off my face with a piece of ****!"

Sounds like you had a good time. This has been a very entertaining thread. It is first up trips to iconic events like Sebring, Le Mans, Bathurst etc that you remember forever. By the way, I think you should use that quote above as your sig.

[Slowsley]

Good suggestion...let's see if it worked...

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by Slowsley

cops investigating my Full-Throttle drink, that was me.
50 year old women grinding on poles that looked pretty decent after a few brews...
...I had IHOP/Denny's 5 nights in a row for crying out loud!

"

What is this Full Throttle drink you speak of? And, you were watching middle aged women, ummm?

And Dude, your dietary habits!

Get thee to a nunnery, while there is still time!

Happy to hear you not only made it there, but were also able to make it a round trip, and not at all surprised you have become a convert.

I was watching some of the video on the Highcroft site last night, and Brads being interviewed about what it is like to be at Sebring, and he mentioned that it was special to drive on some of the same terrain his father did fifty years ago. It is a cranky old place, odd and anarchronistic in many, many ways, but it, like LeMans and Spa and Monza, is hallowed ground.

I really most of the time do not understand what the F1 people are thinking, because they keep going to souless places. It takes years to create 'events,' and you should nurture those events because they are the fabric of the sport. I am second generation Sebring, and would be Daytona also, but it is sadly lost. It is special to go to those places and experience it all, especially when the sound of internal combustion engines ripping across the terra is involved. To be at the tower turn at Sebring at dusk, to see the the disks light up and glow as the driver applies the brakes and the cars squirms, to hear the barking of downshifts, the car arking into the apex and picking up the soft glow of the setting sun, the car struggling on the bumps to get maxium adhesion as the driver gives it full-throttle, and then to just flash off up the back portion...to quickly be repeated by another few cars following.....there is something magic there. Something transfixing. It is both etherial and very real at the same time.

There is something magic there. Go for a club event, or testing, and nobody there, just the teams and the cars, and it is still just magic.

robert

[racerkeke]

I agree with Skycafe. My dad went to Sebring in 1958 with the works Morgan team, all the way from Canada. In 2008 I had my photo taken on pit lane under the "1958" sign. Framed it and gave it to my dad for Christmas, which made him tear up. I think he's secretly happy at least one of his children has kept the magic alive.
keke

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by racerkeke

My dad went to Sebring in 1958 with the works Morgan team, all the way from Canada. In 2008 I had my photo taken on pit lane under the "1958" sign. Framed it and gave it to my dad for Christmas, which made him tear up. I think he's secretly happy at least one of his children has kept the magic alive.
keke

You are a big hearted person!

[The Badger]

I would have had to frame a U-boat the get that effect !!!

[brightline]

Originally Posted by skycafe

What is this Full Throttle drink you speak of? And, you were watching middle aged women, ummm?

And Dude, your dietary habits!

Get thee to a nunnery, while there is still time!

Happy to hear you not only made it there, but were also able to make it a round trip, and not at all surprised you have become a convert.

I was watching some of the video on the Highcroft site last night, and Brads being interviewed about what it is like to be at Sebring, and he mentioned that it was special to drive on some of the same terrain his father did fifty years ago. It is a cranky old place, odd and anarchronistic in many, many ways, but it, like LeMans and Spa and Monza, is hallowed ground.

I really most of the time do not understand what the F1 people are thinking, because they keep going to souless places. It takes years to create 'events,' and you should nurture those events because they are the fabric of the sport. I am second generation Sebring, and would be Daytona also, but it is sadly lost. It is special to go to those places and experience it all, especially when the sound of internal combustion engines ripping across the terra is involved. To be at the tower turn at Sebring at dusk, to see the the disks light up and glow as the driver applies the brakes and the cars squirms, to hear the barking of downshifts, the car arking into the apex and picking up the soft glow of the setting sun, the car struggling on the bumps to get maxium adhesion as the driver gives it full-throttle, and then to just flash off up the back portion...to quickly be repeated by another few cars following.....there is something magic there. Something transfixing. It is both etherial and very real at the same time.

There is something magic there. Go for a club event, or testing, and nobody there, just the teams and the cars, and it is still just magic.

robert

Amen my friend. Amen.

[The Badger]

Hey slowsly , you sound like one happy camper ..... glad to hear you had a great time , and your story was a laugh .

A fifty year old midget grinding her boobs sounds a bit odd though !!!