Spa 6 Hours 2014 - Page 5

Mike Bell · 25 Sep 2014, 18:13 (Ref:3457621)

Quote:

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Access to that area makes the 6 hour pure magic amongst a few other things...

The grid girls! We were in our garage and my co-driver was talking to the Mirage guys. Iain was impressed that they were hanging on his every word, only to realise they were looking straight past him, as the girls had draped themselves over a car in the next garage.....

E Type #62, also in our garage, was a bit late to the party, only joining in after most of us had been going an hour. Apparently an electronic glitch in the ignition system. Hope the owner saw the funny side when I told him that my points and condenser didn't suffer such problems!

Here's a pic of box 41- 3 F1s, T70, E Type and Gilbert. Sorry about the local, he didn't want to move...

Mike Bell · 25 Sep 2014, 18:22 (Ref:3457622)

Tenther Albert Mensinga, 'dinkel' on here, was around and took some pics. He sent me this shot taken at La Source before my co-driver got the car dirty and bent the spotlamp....

terence · 25 Sep 2014, 18:32 (Ref:3457624)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

The grid girls! We were in our garage and my co-driver was talking to the Mirage guys. Iain was impressed that they were hanging on his every word, only to realise they were looking straight past him, as the girls had draped themselves over a car in the next garage.....

E Type #62, also in our garage, was a bit late to the party, only joining in after most of us had been going an hour. Apparently an electronic glitch in the ignition system. Hope the owner saw the funny side when I told him that my points and condenser didn't suffer such problems!

Here's a pic of box 41- 3 F1s, T70, E Type and Gilbert. Sorry about the local, he didn't want to move...

Didnt see Gilbert in the end garage at around seven thursday evening Mike, did you arrive a bit later?

Mike Bell · 25 Sep 2014, 19:37 (Ref:3457643)

Quote:

Originally Posted by terence

Didnt see Gilbert in the end garage at around seven thursday evening Mike, did you arrive a bit later?

I was there Tuesday evening! Car possibly hiding in the back when you were there, Terence. Or still at truck. As usual with garage full of cars in 3 different races a lot of time was spent juggling......

911thillclimber · 25 Sep 2014, 22:02 (Ref:3457670)

Indeed, as an observer the garages seemed very randomly stacked; must be irritating esp if the car is in pieces as several certainly were...

Mike Bell · 26 Sep 2014, 05:05 (Ref:3457734)

Quote:

Originally Posted by 911thillclimber

Indeed, as an observer the garages seemed very randomly stacked; must be irritating esp if the car is in pieces as several certainly were...

Yes, some were in pieces more than once! F1s are very labour intensive, and we had grandstand seats for a DFV engine change after qualifying. The car then went out and got 2nd and a win- but is now engineless back home as the spare went sick as well....

It was a big and brilliant surprise to see that Joe Ward had bought Baby Bertha to Spa. Joe asked Julian Bronson to co-drive, and the latter went out on slicks (his first time on untreaded tyres) in damp conditions, and put BB on pole! Joe was delighted, not only with the time, but also because he had to tighten the belts when taking over from another driver...

911thillclimber · 26 Sep 2014, 06:55 (Ref:3457746)

Last sentence made me smile!

F1 action was good esp as there were so few of them on such a long track; they stayed together well.

Brilliant to see the quality of design and execution in metal and preparation.
I like the garage walks far more than the racing tbh and the standards are very high.
BB was a treat to see, what a nice car that is.

terence · 26 Sep 2014, 08:29 (Ref:3457761)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Yes, some were in pieces more than once! F1s are very labour intensive, and we had grandstand seats for a DFV engine change after qualifying. The car then went out and got 2nd and a win- but is now engineless back home as the spare went sick as well....

.

There were a stack of body/mechanical bits outside on the two occaisions we drove past Thursday eve when the circuit was closed(Tour for some VIP Visitors from the UAE).
Would have liked to have said hello but the schedule was too tight, get back to Liege-jump into Mclaren and get it back asap to Nurburg.
Then bed to be ready for Friday morn/weekend etc
Would have loved to see BB out on what I think would have been its first visit to Spa.I did see Joe roll up in his motorhome but not to speak to.

gary396 · 26 Sep 2014, 16:02 (Ref:3457861)

Quote:

Originally Posted by terence

......Would have loved to see BB out on what I think would have been its first visit to Spa.I did see Joe roll up in his motorhome but not to speak to.

I didn't realise it was going to be there - it did look impressive (well it always did I suppose):

terence · 26 Sep 2014, 18:06 (Ref:3457902)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Yes, some were in pieces more than once! F1s are very labour intensive, and we had grandstand seats for a DFV engine change after qualifying. The car then went out and got 2nd and a win- but is now engineless back home as the spare went sick as well....

It was a big and brilliant surprise to see that Joe Ward had bought Baby Bertha to Spa. Joe asked Julian Bronson to co-drive, and the latter went out on slicks (his first time on untreaded tyres) in damp conditions, and put BB on pole! Joe was delighted, not only with the time, but also because he had to tighten the belts when taking over from another driver...

Thankyou Gary, one of the most iconic saloons ever built! So nice to think of the hours I have spent on it in the past.Does it still "pop back"on the overrun? Brought down from the storage unit on one occasion-having to dd down to second gear-young girl on the pavement nearly jumped out of her skin.

Alan Morgan · 26 Sep 2014, 19:19 (Ref:3457916)

That picture on the right would make a great poster.

gary396 · 26 Sep 2014, 20:01 (Ref:3457928)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Morgan

That picture on the right would make a great poster.

Cheers Alan - I got lucky with that one.

For the 'anoraks' amongst us, I had my back to the cars coming into the pits and just noticed it coming in so picked up a spare camera, flipped the screen out (it's one of the new mirrorless systems that I was trying out as a backup) so I could in effect lean over and look down at it. Didn't even have time to check the settings but it seemed to work okay so tried it on a few others - couple more below together with some track action from that session (Masters Touring Cars).

Mike Bell · 27 Sep 2014, 05:33 (Ref:3458015)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gary396

For the 'anoraks' amongst us, I had my back to the cars coming into the pits and just noticed it coming in so picked up a spare camera, flipped the screen out (it's one of the new mirrorless systems that I was trying out as a backup) so I could in effect lean over and look down at it.

Gary, you can get a very atmospheric shot there if it is foggy- the background appears all 'white'. Someone took a good one of the Gilbern there a few years ago, just a car emerging from nothing....

BTW I didn't acknowledge Mr Bronson's qualifying drive in Baby Bertha enough- it was his first time in the car as well as first time on slicks....

gary396 · 1 Oct 2014, 14:21 (Ref:3459181)

I forgot to include some photos of the Masters Historic F1 race, so here they are. It was during this race that I remembered I'd brought some ear-plugs - but had left them in my hotel room!

Dinkel · 16 Oct 2014, 21:09 (Ref:3465735)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Tenther Albert Mensinga, 'dinkel' on here, was around and took some pics. He sent me this shot taken at La Source before my co-driver got the car dirty and bent the spotlamp....

Hi Mike, good to meet up.

Only a handfull snaps from The Wall: the rain washed me away

Dinkel · 16 Oct 2014, 21:11 (Ref:3465737)

Quote:

Originally Posted by gary396

Struggling to see (late alone process) many photos at the moment - working on a small, ancient netbook, but managed to get a few of Mike and Iain in the Gilburn. Will try a few more later but loads to sort through and might have to wait until home tomorrow.

These are only small files, look okay on this machine so hopefully reasonable on something decent:

Cool!

Az · 30 Oct 2014, 20:20 (Ref:3470052)

Hey chaps, bit of an old thread now but I visited Spa for the first time ever at this event. Just as a punter but had a great time, despite the weather (expected)! Still took the camera though, you can see some shots here - http://www.ae-photography.co.uk/albu...-hours-photos/

Here's a couple I quite like, what a circuit!!!

cheers
Az :-)

dwh43scale · 24 Mar 2015, 15:31 (Ref:3519041)

Looking at spectating at Spa Six Hours this year, having previously been to the 1968 GP as a young lad.

Any hints and tips please ? Looks like we can get local self catering accommodation at a reasonable price.

What's it like for photos from the spectator side of the (F1) fences ? Are there places you can get clear shots of the cars ? Using 40-150 zoom lens.

Thanks !

David

PS, I know it is likely to include rain, hail, snow, fog and maybe sunshine

**Tim Falce** · 24 Mar 2015, 17:19 (Ref:3519085)

A 150 lens may be a bit short for Spa although you can get reasonably close if you walk around the back of the track to places like Rivage, Les Fagnes and maybe Stavelot. I use a 70-300mm zoom and get reasonable results but one thing you will find is that anywhere there is the high catch fencing someone will have ripped a hole in it at convenient spots to poke a lens through. I'm not sure how they stand on photographing from the pit wall now but it wasn't a problem last time I was there a few years ago and at least you can walk unhindered around the F1 pits.

delta · 24 Mar 2015, 18:16 (Ref:3519110)

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwh43scale

Looking at spectating at Spa Six Hours this year, having previously been to the 1968 GP as a young lad.

Any hints and tips please ? Looks like we can get local self catering accommodation at a reasonable price.

What's it like for photos from the spectator side of the (F1) fences ? Are there places you can get clear shots of the cars ? Using 40-150 zoom lens.

Thanks !

David

PS, I know it is likely to include rain, hail, snow, fog and maybe sunshine

Keep in touch David, I will have spare tickets if you want them,.

GORDON STREETER · 24 Mar 2015, 19:15 (Ref:3519123)

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwh43scale

What's it like for photos from the spectator side of the (F1) fences ? Are there places you can get clear shots of the cars ? Using 40-150 zoom lens.

The one thing with Spa is as it is a long undulating circuit there are many places to get good shots, also there aren't too many spectators in the way at this meeting usually.

terence · 25 Mar 2015, 18:37 (Ref:3519458)

As Gordon said but adding that there are many "lense slots" in the fencing.Lots of other places that would suit a 150mm lens.

dwh43scale · 25 Mar 2015, 20:16 (Ref:3519490)

delta, much obliged; will keep in touch.

Az · 3 Apr 2015, 23:19 (Ref:3523579)

Just seen your post and wanted to say I visited Spa for first time last year for the 6 hours. Great event... despite the BIBLICAL rain/storm on the Saturday evening! I was behind the fences but had a little more more focal length. Great circuit for pics though I would say. Here's my efforts if you're interested to see - http://www.ae-photography.co.uk/albu...-hours-photos/

gary396 · 4 Apr 2015, 07:14 (Ref:3523653)

Some nice work / positions there given you were behind fences.

I love the one of the guy with the Media tabard using a compact-style camera!

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