Two weekends ago I attended the
Zippo US Vintage Grand Prix at my 'home town' track of Watkins Glen (ok, it's an hour away, but it's still close enough to call home, seeing as I started going in late high-school). Well, I've been going to this event with my dad every year for about 5 years now, and after playing GT Legends, I must say that this year's trip was even more exciting.
The Zippo GP is part of the
SVRA (Sportscar Vintage Racing Association) series, and is the largest vintage racing event in the US. This year there were very nearly 500 vintage race cars entered for competition. It brings together original race cars from as early as the 1920's (the oldest I personally saw), on up to the mid-1980's. They usually have groups of mixed classes based on time period and performance, as well as feature events. This year's memorable ones for me were a historic 60's Trans-Am group (Trans-America race, not Trans-Am, the car), and the 40th Anniversary Can-Am reunion. Some of the notable sprint series races included Formula 1 cars from the 60's, and another from the 70's and 80's; a race with MG Midgets and Mini Coopers, and then an enormous field of American muscle... Shelby Cobras, Shelby Mustangs, Corvettes, and more! Forty+ on the track at one time. Dayum, but that's loud (oh, what a sweet sorta loud that is, too
). All in all there were about 16 races over the course of the day. Not bad for $30!
Anyway, I shot a ton of
pics and snagged some
video clips. The video (and audio, for that matter) is surprisngly decent for being shot on the still camera (watch the volume, it's pretty strong).
The pics start the Friday evening when the
Grand Prix Festival is held in the town of Watkins Glen. The main street is closed to traffic, and 100+ of the race cars drive the
original 6.6mi road course surrounding the town (open road racing ended in 1952 and moved to the
permanant track still run today). It's really a 'speedy parade', as cars are limited to following a pace car and obeying speed limits. However, standing where I usually do at the 2nd corner of the course which is the base of a long uphill straight, you get to see everything just feet away. Though never going very fast, most drivers gun it to climb the hill, giving the fans a thrill nonetheless.
The pics continue on Sunday when the actual races are held. I didn't get there til about 11am, and they'd already been running 1/2-hr sprints since 8. I have a mix of race photos, and a ton of paddock photos. Yes... access is unrestricted. As you'll see, fans can get right into the garage and walk around the cars and talk with the crews. It's simply outstanding how open this race series is to the public, not to mention inexpensive compared to, say the NASCAR or INDY races here.
Anyway, yes, this has turned into a rather indulgent post. But I thought I'd share it in light of the growing enthusiasm for GT Legends here, and racing sims in general. It really was incredible to see so many cars that I've 'driven' in the game tearing it up for real. Having even a sim experience brings what has been just a spectator event into new light.
Well... enough blah blah. I hope you enjoy it all, and I hope it gets some folks even more excited for the League.
BTW - there is a downloadable map of the Watkins Glen track, and yes, it is quite excellent in GT Legends. However, it's the short version (
without the Boot) and I'd really rather see if I can mod the track model/files to enable the Boot. It's really an amazing course to run in full length.
