Le Mans 24 Hour Race 2011

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Will not mention how many pixels died over the race, my buddy challenged me to get down to only the 10 best photos ... will have to let you select which ones of the following would make the cut ... will keep comments short ... but we start with the _"best"_ of the lot, the entrance ticket in hand and on the track, the rest, well, you really had to be there ...

...obligatoire ...the Dunlop curve is perhaps the most photographed section of the race ...

Gravel on the track, an amazing amount of punctures, whether it was from these, the excessive hitting of the rumble strips, or the tires, speaking of tires, is that daylight under the corvette's right front? The GT (Grand Touring) class is made up of the cars that resemble real road cars, here Corvette, Porsche and Ferrari line up as they battle it out, these are the _ "slow"_ cars ...

Heavy clouds at the start, feels like rain, but nothing hits until next day ...the Lumps (LMP = LeMans Protoypes) are the space-age, carbon fibered custom built to run as long and efficiently as they can ...

Lotsa tires getting used and packed and moved about ...here into the Ferrari challenge trucks as they head out to the Nurburgring in two weeks ...

...and not gear

The best seat in the whole race ...

Lines? we don't need no stinkin' lines!!! As an LMP uses half the track a Ferrari decides to forgo it altogether and a lotus on full brake lock is trying to avoid the gravel trap ...

In case you were wondering, the lettering on the ground explains matters, you might have to turn your monitor around though ...weather is perfect, a little cool and dancing puffy clouds, but the promised rain never appears until near the very end of the second day but join for a listen and look as we go around

As for marketing, Audi was the largest, but Ferrari could not be beat for style ...how much do you suppose they sell the Ferrari logoed and red painted satellite dish in the Ferrari shops?

As the sun sets on the bleachers in front of the finish line ...

...the lone fan huddles. It is cold, according to some ... the sun is setting and the warmth is fleeing swiftly

The playground at sunset

Rock n Roll with a heavy backdrop of rolling thunder behind as the races streaks by in the night ...

The boys are having fun ...

haze is caused by the dust from the crowd being kicked up as the audience is streaking in to watch the night running and join the party, they estimate 249,500 people attended the race this year, it was hopping!

Early morning light and there is no letup ...

Safety car bunches up the grid for a nice lineup

Jacky Ickx's Daughter, Vanina Ickx welcomes the morning in a fast Lotus Bodied and Aston Martin engined car from Belgium, one of two female pilots this race ...and part of an all Belgian entry that "finished 7th overall" (and second in the petrol powered cars in a race dominated by diesels in recent years). In a race with so many retirements, to run strong, fast and smooth is the goal, and they ran it proud:

A 'plus one' ...car 22 ...early morning 2011

Go team Belgique ...we may not have a government (a full year as of this week) but we can breed some damn fast drivers ...as wiki tells us: "Vanina Ickx" (born on 16 February 1975, in Brussels is a Belgian racecar driver. She is the daughter of Belgian Formula One driver Jacky

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