Champ Car Spring Testing

Champ Car made a return to Laguna Seca Raceway for a testing session with the new Panoz DP01 cars. They weren't only fast, but Sebastien Bourdais set a new track record of 1:05.880 (122.295 mph)... beating the previous record set by Ricardo Zonta in the Toyota F1 machine set last year.

Wow, fantastic shots. The new DP01 Chassis looks very nice, and obviously very fast. Cant wait for more of your stuff throughout the year.

#2 is sweet....I mean really cool..great work here. Can not wait for Road America in August!

Thanks for the comments.

-Todd...

Long time admirer of your work Todd. Never seen the crop you've shot in #2 before. Extremely effective, and nice to see something that is a little different.

Cheers,

Simon.

Hi Todd

Thanks for placing your exif info. I was out there yesterday and got some decent shots; played with the settings to see what I could get. With your info, I can have a better starting point next time. Nicely done.

Just milling around all the different boards here on POTN, first time into the motorsport board and this was the first post I clicked on. WOW!!! Am I glad i did, great shots. Great job of keeping the helmet in focus and the rest of the car speed-blurred in #1

Hey Todd,

For photos like #1 with an open pit or motorcycles for instance. What do you prefer, focus on the the bodywork or the helmet. In the past I preferred helmet, mainly because I was selling directly to the pilots but as I've had more commercial interest in my photos it has me wondering otherwise. Anyway, it just pooped in my mind and thought I'd ask.

Nice pics, you planning on hitting Road America for the Champ/ALMS double header?

R Mutt wrote in post #2857370
What do you prefer, focus on the the bodywork or the helmet.

I will almost always focus on the helmet unless it's otherwise not feasible. If I was shooting for a sponsor of the car I'd still focus on the helmet, but use a slightly higher shutter speed to try and keep more of the bodywork sharp. It's like shooting a portrait... it really doesn't work well if the subject's eyes aren't sharp.

R Mutt wrote in post #2857370
you planning on hitting Road America for the Champ/ALMS double header?

You payn'

Nah, I'm only shooting Sears Point and Laguna Seca this year (need to save some $$$).

-Todd...

Great shots. I'm liking the close shot of #2. And another track record at Luguna Seca? That was a pretty big deal when Ricardo set a new record.

TCorzett wrote in post #2857928
You payn'

Nah, I'm only shooting Sears Point and Laguna Seca this year (need to save some $$$).

-Todd...

hehe, I wish I could. If I can arrange a media pass I might go.

Great stuff as always Todd.

Great photos Todd!

justincase724 wrote in post #2858838
another track record at Luguna Seca? That was a pretty big deal when Ricardo set a new record.

I was surprised to see it... I thought the F1 car would have put-up bigger numbers. I guess they need to have more time on the track (a two-day test session is a big difference from a handful of laps worked-into another race weekend). I guess F1 aren't the quickest/fastest cars out there

-Todd...

TCorzett wrote in post #2870634
I was surprised to see it... I thought the F1 car would have put-up bigger numbers. I guess they need to have more time on the track (a two-day test session is a big difference from a handful of laps worked-into another race weekend). I guess F1 aren't the quickest/fastest cars out there

-Todd...

Not at Laguna Seca at least. Wasn't Ricardo the first modern F1 car on Laguna Seca though? I'm sure if they were to bring an F1 race there, they'd break the record again. Even though Champ Car has the new DP01's, I can't imagine they'd be quicker than the F1's.