Road America Trip

My wife’s family has been involved in auto racing for many years, but we have not been at the track for the last few years. She wanted to go up to Road America to watch the IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship races, so we went up for the festivities Saturday, August 9th. Most of the day was practice and qualifying for the main events Sunday.

One of the most interesting cars there was the Deltawing car, one of the prototype division cars. The front wheels are quite close together, and very narrow.

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The Deltawing Prototype in practice
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The Deltawing team working on the car in the paddock.

The tires on the left are for the front wheels, the right for the rear wheels. I am a little surprised it performs as well as it does, with such narrow wheels, and it’s almost tricycle layout.

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The Deltawing’s tires, showing the difference between the front and rear tires.

Yes, I am an Aston Martin fan. They are (in my opinion) the most beautiful cars in production today. And James Bond drives them.

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Nose of the Mantella Autosport Grand Sport division Aston Martin V8 Vantage.
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The TRG-AMR Grand Sport Aston Martin V8 Vantage
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For more power, the TRG-AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage

And who doesn’t like a Ferrari?

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Ferrari F458 Italia engine
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Cleaning the nose of the Ferrari

And what is racing without a few crashes? Not something you want to see happen to a driver, but it is part of racing.

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Spin
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I Fought the Wall, and the Wall Won
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One of the great things about open cockpit cars, at least from the perspective of the wrecker drivers.