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U.S. Grand Prix Qualifying
Saturday June 16th 2007
It was a hot sunny day in Indianapolis.  E.T. and I parked in the 3rd turn infield.

We walked over to the viewing mound and had a look around.
Turn 6
Turn 1
I took my new Nikon D80 camera to the track
for the first time.  

It has a 18-135mm zoom lens, which is
normally pretty nice.

But the NW Vista is so far away from the road
course, I really needed a more powerful lens.
After Qualifying, we watched a Porsche race.

But first there was this intermission show.
The Start!
The
Porsches had a lot of trouble at turn 1.
I wish I had this on film, but I'll describe it and outline his journey on the next 3 photos.

A.  
One of the Porsches overshot the 1st turn.  
B.  
He flew by the secondary entrance for this circumstance, and takes the Indy 500 pit lane
C.  
the next thing he knew, he's about to have a head-on collision with some red support trucks
D.
 He swerved onto the oval track and floors it, still going the wrong direction!
    
Up ahead in the north short chute are track vehicles blocking the track.

E.  So h
e slammed on his brakes and did a 180.  
F.  
Then he comes back the opposite way on the track and misses the secondary entrance again
G.  He keeps going right into
Turn 1 as cars approach from the opposite direction!
     He turns left and gets back on track without hitting anyone.  Amazing.
The final event of the day was an Indy Pro Series race - The Freedom 100.
Alex Lloyd led all 40 laps to win it.
One of the Indy Pro drivers also had a problem at turn 1.
Dan's 2007 Race Journals
DAN'S PHOTO JOURNALS
I couldn't believe it!  This guy just had about 3 head-on collisions within 13 seconds!
In all of the excitement, I dropped my new beer, and
from my other hand, my hamburger flew
out of my bun!  It made me sad, but it got a big laugh from the people around me.

The Porsches had numerous troubles down in Turn 1, which I did get on film.
We reached the NW Vista and
climbed to the top and found a seat
in the 2nd row from the top
(Section 2, Row QQ.)  

As you can see, E.T. has
a bit of
shade thanks to the deck above.

There was a strong breeze most

of the time, which was welcome.

Note: Don't take your shoes off in
a crowd man!  Geez.
We planned to watch from the NW Vista, so we exited through the tunnel at the north end of the track.

As we walked along, I saw an open entrance onto the track with no one guarding it.
F0RMULA 1 QUALIFYING
Mark Webber - Red Bull Racing
Lewis Hamilton - McLaren Mercedes
This rookie won the pole!
Rubens Barrichello - Honda Racing
Jenson Button - Honda Racing
Felipe Massa - Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari
Nico Rosberg - Williams
Nick Heidfeld - Sauber
Jarno Trulli - Toyota
Felipe Massa - Renault
Heikki Kovalainen - Renault