sneaking around Le Mans

In 2007 when I turned up at circuit de la Sarthe for the first time I was struck at the number of people decked out in full camo. Pants, jackets, the works. My first impression was "what the hell is going on here?" "why are all these French rednecks wearing camo to this race?". Later that day someone told me that the camouflage was for evading les Gendarmes while sneaking onto the restricted areas of the circuit like the Mulsanne straight. Here are some videos taken by these brazen fans at this year's race. Really impressive, surreal stuff.








this one is really crazy. Some kind of distortion in the audio makes for a pseudo video art experience.




reminds me of this video I took at Sebring this year. as well as racesounds.com

instagram @LeMans

Everyone has their opinion about instagram. I thought it was silly myself, but it is a pretty fun photo sharing tool that shows its value (1billion?) the more you use it. Here is a short list of must follows for this weekend. I'm sure there are more and I would love to hear about them in the comments if you have them. These instagram feeds are really fascinating and give you a pretty interesting up close view of things this week at Le Mans.

@tommymilner (Corvette)

@andrelotterer (Audi)


@tomkristensen_com (Audi)


@benoittreluyer (Audi)


@marcel_fassler (Audi) 

@fabgerard (photographer)

@deathspray (UK based artist)

and me @xanderwalker & @strassenversion ;)

Dome s102

The Dome s102, like many Le Mans prototypes, from the past decade was overshadowed by the dominance of Audi and Peugoet in the diesel era. Running in 2008, the Dome set the fastest the qualifying time for a petrol car and managed to complete the 24 hour race despite having a few incidents that saw it in the pits for extensive repairs. 
It was my favorite LMP car that year and struck me as being the most space age looking car ever to run at Le Mans. One of the most sexualized prototypes, the Dome's front is a mix between a space shuttle and some kind of Gundam codpiece. 
A revised Dome prototype returns to Le Mans under the direction of Henri Pescarolo in 2012.

spray paint, stencil, graffiti mop, marker, on canvas. 30x30 inches


http://strassenversion.net/items/dome.html

12 Hours of Sebring 2012

The 60th edition of the Sebring 12 hours was never going to be the most exciting race with an uncontested P1 category, but the chance to see R18's in competition and the always exciting GT battles were convincing enough to make the trip to the airfield in the orange groves.
I brought some new gadgets this year including a Nimslo 3D which I had never used before this weekend. I only bought it a few weeks ago and one test roll I shot at home did not produce any images. The images I shot at Sebring were the first I had ever taken and they are a bit sloppier than I had hoped as a result.

some Porsches in Preen Park

Audi's of the recent past

 
lady course Marshal


Delta Wing did a few parade laps. Mostly open minded reactions to this car with a general sense of "let's see what this thing can do"

 

the vantage point

Thursday Night Practice


light painting


Friday


is that an extra side mirror?


Nick Heidfeld


last minute fixes on Friday night




Race day. Saw marshals from France, Netherlands, UK.


#2 Audi pulling out an early lead


all three Audis eating T9 to T10. note the heat trails

 


~$5 worth of beer

 
spectating


shadows getting longer



I took some video and a few hours of high quality audio that I am still editing.

Filling Orders

Sauber C11, Nurburgring

photographer: MARTIN VINCENT
seen: http://www.flickr.com/photos/29514508@N05/sets/72157620897848538/
from: http://www.cm-arte.com/

see also: http://prototyp.org/car/c11/index.html