Getting Excited for USGP 2013 in New Jersey!

After the inital knee-jerk reaction of WTF? New Jersey? I actually have settled into being very excited about the promise held in the new street circuit along the waterfront. Here's a recent video of Sebastien Vettel driving an Infiniti road car and commenting on the new circuit:

Also here is an older video simulating how the track will be in actuality.  The speed and elevation changes are going to be fantastic. I think it will have a great challenge for the drivers.

Getting Excited for the Ron Howard's new film!

For months now, we've been catching snippets and clips of on-set footage and information about Ron Howard's new film "Rush," based on the 1976 F1 season, and focusing on the rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda. I've been pretty excited about it for some time, and I got even more hopeful that the movie will be a success when I saw the following preview over at Motorsport Retro.

I'm particularly heartened by the fact that they seem to have staged a lot of driving shots at speed, and I am dearly hoping that they don't overly rely on CG to the detriment of the believability of the movie.  Let's hope this film is the best racing movie since Le Mans, back in 1971.  It's really about time we racing nuts had another film to embrace and share with our friends.

Video of the Week: Jackie Stewart Tests and Evaluates the Tyrrell P34 Six Wheeler

Here we see Jackie Stewart, only recently retired, coming back to the cockpit to test the wild-looking Tyrrell 6 wheeler F1 car.

The onboard footage is really remarkable. Some killer camera angles and great sound too!

McLaren F1 Design Study by Marino Binni

Given the recent spy shots of the next generation McLaren F1 floating around the internets, there is much speculation about what the car might look like. Designer and longtime McLaren fan Marino Binni offers his own concept of what he'd like the car to look like. "I didn't want to to copy the look of the F1 but rather be inspired by the compactness and 'feel' of the original," he says. You can click the image below to enlarge it.I find the wheels particularly fascinating, and I like the clean side crease, accented by a very neat and interesting side exhaust treatment. The overall proportions are close to the original car, but the most direct reference is in the shape of the door cut lines. Otherwise the car feels very Italianate to me, and very nicely done! Bravo Marino!

Poetics of Speed: The Racing Photography of Dale Kistemaker

One of the great things about having a blog is getting emails from fascinating people you never would otherwise meet.  Such is the case with Dale Kistemaker, who shared some wonderful tales with me regarding his time as a racing photographer both at F1 races as well as Le Mans in the early 1980s.  The best of them involves Dale being driven round La Sarthe by Derek Bell in the Le Mans Porsche 956 at racing speeds!Dale has been posting images from his archives at his aptly-named site: Poetics of Speed. His work is not typical motorsports photography, because a lot of it focuses on what is going on around the main attraction rather than focusing directly on the main attraction.  His focus on the details, the textures, and the atmosphere of Grand Prix racing, allied with the vivid colors and sharpness of his imagery are quite an intoxicating combination. I personally love all the intense driver portraits he got (see Keke Rosberg below, and study all the activity going on in his reflective glasses as he coolly smokes his cigarette.) as well as the garage and tool-box still lifes that really paint a picture of the time period, the technology, the people, and the tools. Below are my personal favorites from the site.All images copyright Dale Kistemaker, used with permission. Poetics of Speed