Recently, I purchased a new 2003 BMW M5 sedan. This car rocks: 400 hp, comfort, style and of course, hauls ass. Having the car has "tickled" an interest that I did not know that I had -- racing. Recently, one of our Altar Desert mog partners that lives in the Indianapolis area emailed me and stated that he had tickets to the Formula 1 race and asked if we wanted to go. After nearly 5 microseconds of thought, I replied "Hell, Yes!". The photos below are from this trip to Indianapolis. It was a great trip, the weather was good and the flight was not too onerous.
Dan Johnson, Kathleen and Kai at the entrance with Foster's beer in hand.
Before the Porsche club race.
Start of the Porsche race.
The first lap.
Coming out of turn 3.
Some of the local scenery: a loyal Ferrari fan. Note the dyed red hair.
More of the local scenery: the half-time show after the Porsche race.
The crew chowing down on a local favorite the ever-popular "elephant ear". This is fried bread dough.
We went to the infield during half-time. This is a view of the actual track.
Some of the cars on display.
Kai, Kathleen and Dan ham it up for the camera.
We got a fly-by with jets in the missing-man formation right after the National Anthem before the main event.
Notice all the Ferrari red hats; they were everywhere. Also note the main stands and control tower.
There were a "few" folks present for the race. About 200K of your closest friends.
Coming into turn 4 .
He crashed right at turn 1 (where we were) and then steered into turn 2. The car was a loss. Note the debris on the track. Also note the car in the background, also a loss.
Removing the wrecked car from turn 2.
Coming into turn 4.
Turn 5.
Driver of damaged car leaves the track. Plenty of red hats (at $40 each).
The video board of Shumacher's brother in his wrecked car. He was injured and taken to the hospital.
Getting photos of these cars proved to be exceedingly difficult. Note the corner worker on the left.
The Williams BMW car -- they got their ass kicked with mechanical problems were finished when Juan Pablo Montoya got black flagged for going too fast in the pits.
Michael Schumacher on the last lap as the clear winner. Note the Ferrari symbol on the side of the car.
Schumacher on his victory lap and the fans in red love him. He dominated the race.
More Ferrari fans celebrate. Note the face paint. I am sure that the beer helped.
This was a great race and a great trip. Our host Dr. Dan Johnson showed us great hospitality (as well as getting us tickets to the race). Thanks Dan!.
Personal contact info: bcaid "at" san "dot" rr "dot" com Read the email address and form it yourself. Link not included due to spam email address harvesters.
All photos and narrative text Copyright (c) Bill Caid 1977 to 2004
All rights reserved.