Tuesday, October 23, 2012

2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore

This post is LONG overdue, but I finally got around to finishing all of my favorite photos from this event.  Not sure what it is, but only the American LeMans Series cars, and more specifically the GT class, seem to really be of interest to me from this event.  Don't get me wrong; it is definitely great to see all of the other classes of high performance machines out, running a-muck on the streets of Baltimore.  But I think it's the fact that the ALMS cars really bring home that these things resemble real production cars, and to see them pushing 200MPH down Pratt Street is insane.


For the past two years that this event has taken place, it seems like Team Falken Tire always has the most positive fan reaction, and I can definitely say that they've gained my heart.  I think it's just something about the sea foam green/turquoise colorway of their awesome livery that sucks you in.  They also seem to be one of the most interactive teams in terms of actually responding to their fans via Twitter and other social media pathways.


In fact, Falken Tire's Porsche 911 GT3RSR has taken the win two years in a row here at Grand Prix of Baltimore, for the ALMS GT Class.  It's really great to see such a hard-working, dedicated, and relatively young race team doing so well, especially with their incident at Road America just two weeks prior to this race.


Another really cool thing to see at this year's event was the SRT Motorsports Dodge Viper GTS-R's.  Unfortunately, during qualifying on the Friday prior to the actual race one of the cars took a smash that was unrepairable for Saturday's competition.



Another funny thing to mention is the rivalry between the two Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsches and the Team Falken Porsche.  Both teams are running the new 2012 Porsche 911 GT3RSR platform for this year, and it just looks absolutely incredible.  The lines and stance of the body simply make the car look mean and aggressive while it's just sitting static.


While speaking to some of the Falken crew at the VIR 240 just two weeks after GPofB, one of the team members mentioned previously being a part of the Flying Lizard team.  So it seems that these motorsports teams probably swap a little more information than they might think, even though they are racing almost identical cars.


There's been some chatter about a second car to be joining the Falken Tire team, which I think would be absolutely incredible, and just great not only for more rivalry, but for more possible wins!


Anyways, I won't chat too much more about the race; Especially since at this point the series ended this past weekend with Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta.  So enjoy the remaining photos!  Bushido.