DPerceptions

Friday morning was another beautiful fall day in Georgia.  On tap was morning practice, the driver autograph session and in the afternoon, qualifying.  Personally, I’m not a collector of signatures.  I do have a few that I have kept: Jim Leyland, Ross Brawn, James Weaver, Efren Reyes.  I even have a poster from Laguna Seca signed by one David Hobbs, but I bought it for the poster, not the autograph.  At any rate, the ALMS fans seem to love the session and I think its a great opportunity for people to get close to the drivers, something most series are lacking.  The autograph session is perfect for grabbing some fan interaction shots as well as providing time for impromptu driver portraiture.  Yes, you can shoot the standard “driver sits up and smiles” shot, but that’s not what I am meaning.  If you are patient and pay attention to the light and the gaps in the lines of people, sometimes you can walk away with a keeper.

Adrian Fernandez during the Drivers autograph session at the 2009 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta

Its also a great time for team interaction as the PR people and principals are out and about. Unless the car was shunted durning morning practice or the quali setup has not been found, the mechanics are a bit more relaxed and you can often find interesting bits to photograph in the garage that you might not have contemplative access to during other times of the week.

The Audi driving suits being aired out prior to qualification for the 2009 Petit Le Mans

With the session over, we jumped into the cart and headed back to the RV for lunch and file download/culling . Many people think that since there is no film involved, photography is now a breeze. While some things have certainly become more simple, such as instant preview (I sold my 2 1/4 Polaroid back years ago), the reality is that I have never had to do more work to obtain the final product. I suppose the real problem with public perception of photography is that most never had to learn the discipline of exposure and focus. Most never processed film, printed contacts or spent untold hours in the darkroom dodging and burning a print. Today, the GWC or MWC merely looks at the viewfinder on the back of the camera, pushes (hopefully) the right button, instantly sees the results and later uploads the original jpeg to Facebook and calls it a job well done. Enough of my rant, back to the racing.

GT2 qualification was first and as it progressed, I became more and more confused. Roberston Racing’s GT40 was constantly at the top of the charts.  Don’t misunderstand me here, I am fully in support of the Robinsons and admire their tenacity and determination.  I have talked to David Robinson in the pits numerous times and he is incredibly open and down to earth.  But what was their car doing at the sharp end of the grid?  Granted, Road Atlanta is a power track and David Murry (the quali driver) was an instructor here, but the fact remained that they were outrunning the Flying Lizards, Risi, the P&M Vettes and even the similarly shod RLR BMW M3s.  An additional surprise was the Riley-Corvette of LGR running in second place.  Unless I am mistaken, that corvette had not been on track since the fire at Long Beach months ago.  The GT2 part of the race was going to look very different at the start.

The Robertson Racing GT40 with David Murry at the wheel takes the GT2 pole for the 2009 Petit Le Mans

For Prototype qualification, we went back up to turn 10, but this time I was shooting from outside 10a in the triangle by the tunnel. This isn’t the greatest spot to shoot from since you are at track level and there tends to be quite a bit of distracting bits in the background. This means you are either shooting pretty tight or really slowly; usually both. The Peugeots seemed to have the legs on the Audis for most of the session and it ended that way with P1 pole going to the 07 of Minassian/Lamy with the 08, 2 & 1 following up. The Dyson Lola Mazdas continued their positive streak with the 20 of Leitzinger/Franchitti/Devlin taking P2 pole.  The #16 Dyson was running an alternative fuel and was not eligible for points.  The Cytosport RS Spyder of Pickett/Graf/Maassen continued their impressive short season with a 2nd place on the grid.

The Team Cytosport Porsche RS Spyder crests the hill past T10 and heads under the Suzuki Bridge at Road Atlanta

With Quali over, we headed back to camp to detox, retox, eat and retox some more.  Tired of shooting, we watched the Jetta TDI cup qualification from the Hill and then went back to culling files.  I will finish this post in Partie Trois – Tres Petit Petit.  Thanks for looking and reading! My entire 2009 Petit Le Mans Powered by Mazda 6 gallery is available for viewing and your use at DPerceptions.com