"Matt Kirsch" (makirsch)
06/02/2015 at 12:15 • Filed to: None
28
59|
"Matt Kirsch" (makirsch)
06/02/2015 at 12:15 • Filed to: None | 28
| 59 |
For most Michiganders, Belle Isle is just an island in the Detroit River, home to an aquarium, conservatory, and nature zoo. For Detroit-area Jalops, it is more than that. It is home to the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
Detroit grand prix racing officially started in 1982. The streets of Detroit welcomed Formula One and then the Championship Auto Racing Team (CART). But in 1992, CART races moved from the streets of Detroit to the largest city-owned park in the United States - Belle Isle - where they continued until 2001. After a brief hiatus, Belle Isle racing began again in 2007. The American Le Mans Series, the GRAND-AM Series, the IndyCar Series, and the TUDOR Championship have raced there on and off since 2007.
The tradition carried on this past weekend. The Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix took place after a much-needed 6-month-long track reconditioning. While road conditions were ideal, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Nonetheless, racing carried on as captured in the images below.
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Photo Credit: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! first picked up a DSLR in 2012 at the age of eighteen. In three short years, he has shot for Jalopnik and Dupont Registry at the North American International Auto Show, the Michigan Gumball Rally, and won numerous contests. Remember the name, Alex Tillman. Better yet, go like him on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
*All images used with permission
Santiago of Escuderia Boricua
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 12:09 |
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The weather was pretty miserable.
I’m sad that I missed Saturday. On Sunday they canceled the PWC race so I only got to see SST and Indy
RaceVet
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 16:12 |
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I was there all weekend! The weather was awful most of Sat and Sun, but at one point during the TUDOR race, half the track was under sun and blue skies and the other half was being rained on...pretty cool to watch.
PotbellyJoe and 42 others
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 16:15 |
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I did the Tour de Troit bike ride last year and it included riding around Belle Isle. As a kid who grew up in MI, but is now on the East Coast, it was pretty fun to apex a turn on you bike right against the kerbing.
It gave me a new perspective on how tight that course actually is.
I have ridden a bike around Lime Rock park as well. I swear I had more space (although that could just be perception considering the available run-off) on LRP than Belle Isle.
450X_FTW
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 16:16 |
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Was watching the race on TV, glad I didn’t buy tickets because of how bad the weather was. Is the road as rough and bumpy on the Indy cars as it showed on TV? I feel bad for the drivers spine.
Johnnyma45
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 16:21 |
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Real life or Gran Turismo? I CANT TELL
mcseanerson
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 16:24 |
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How do you get these shots where the background is dark while the car is lit? Is this captured in camera or do you do this in the edit?
CALUSA
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 16:24 |
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These pictures are amazing!
Laserijk
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 16:31 |
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I went on Saturday, and was planning to get there in time for the World Challenge and TUDOR sessions. I brought my four-year-old daughter (earplugs FTW), and so we didn’t get out of the house as early as I’d hoped. We never do...
At any rate, I rode the ferry from Port Detroit (in the shadows of the RenCen) to the island, which was pretty cool. The World Challenge race had just wrapped up, so the spawn and I grabbed some fair food and tramped down to Turn 3 where I thought the action would be.
When the cars came thundering down to the corner for the first time, I recognized the look of excitement and fear in my daughter’s eyes. My mind wandered back to attending my first racing event (coincidentally, an early eighties IMSA race) at Watkins Glen, and I’m sure I had the same look in my eyes at that age.
Predictably, after about five laps, my daughter had enough and wanted to go play on the playground. Luckily they are dotted all over the park/racecourse. So, Dad watched the race on various video boards while the princess did her thing. We picked up some swag, got her face painted (for free!) and generally had as much fun as possible considering I wanted to see the race and she wanted to do pretty much anything else.
The skies started to look quite alarming around 1:00 PM, but a quick check of Weather Underground showed the storms skirting just north of the island. A bit of rain fell, but since we were in the face painting tent, no worries. By the time my daughter had been transformed into a princess (essentially, lots of pink curlicues on her cheeks and around her eyes), it was dry again.
After some more playground time/video board watching, I happened to look downriver and saw the advancing curtain of gray. We had raincoats, but my mini-me had already asked me twenty-seven times about when we would be going to Nana’s house (in the west ‘burbs). So, telling myself that discretion is the better part of valor, I pulled up the live timing app and headed back to the ferry dock. Just as I lost sight of the track, there was a screeching of tires and several crunching noises. I now know how that ended.
All in all, the race organizers did a nice job accommodating families at this event. Will definitely be back; hopefully with some support so that I get to see some more of the racing next time!
UncleWalty
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 16:47 |
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While Belle Isle (thanks to Roger Penske) has improved since the fiasco a couple of years back, the course is still very rough around the edges. It was tough to watch the racing...and although I can barely stand to lay eyes on those awful IndyCar crapwagon chassis’, I did tune in. Awkward corners, incredibly bumpy sections of track, just overall not Tier 1 caliber. I commend Detroit for continuing to try, but they have a long way to go before this is going to be the event people want it to be.
BTW, what happened to Aaron Foley?
RightFootDown
> mcseanerson
06/02/2015 at 17:07 |
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It’s probably a combination of spot metering and a little post-editing. Basically you expose for a small area vs the entire image.
NunchuckWoolery
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 17:08 |
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Great shots, had planned on going down until I saw the weather reports, on tv it looked miserable.
StingrayJake
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 17:18 |
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This guy...
GTillman
> mcseanerson
06/02/2015 at 17:26 |
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I underexpose the image in Adobe Lightroom and then just bring up the luminance of the colors I want to stand out. So for this image, I just brought up the blues, yellows, and oranges. The Ferrari one was just the reds and yellows pretty much. It’s a style thing. I haven’t decided yet whether I like it yet or not. It’s experimental.
fluxlinkages
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 17:33 |
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Excellent shots!
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mcseanerson
> GTillman
06/02/2015 at 17:34 |
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Hey thanks. I’m the same guy who just asked you on Facebook. If you ever want to exchange tips I do video. Also I’m sure the guys over at the photography sub-blog would love to hear from you about these shots.
Seth Adams
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 17:44 |
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Great colors and focus! Ahh the old days ...
BecauseRacecar
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 17:50 |
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These are amazing!
WonkUnit
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 17:57 |
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This was my first year attending this event, it was amazing! The cars, the noise, the racing! Thanks for the pictures!
Maverick128
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 18:24 |
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Yay! I watched part of the race since the company I work for is one of the sponsors for the TRG Aston Martin 007 and 005. Don’t think the 005 was at Belle Isle, though. At least I didn’t see it.
StoneColdSteveErkel
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 18:45 |
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As a Detroit native and F1 fan, I used to drive around Belle Isle in the 80’s kinda fantasizing what the island would look like if it hosted the F1 race. In my vision the circuit would use up most of the island making the circuit rather long at just over 4 miles. But there would have been stretches where the cars could get up a serious head of steam. This was back when the F1 race was held downtown and everybody kinda bitched about it. There was a rumor that the F1 race would move to Belle Isle so I thought I was a bit clairvoyant at the time. But nothing came of it. I was happy to see Indycar move to the island and my first Indy race i got to see my boy ol’ Nigel Mansell do his thing. He had just made the move to Indycar from F1.
I still long for the Formula One days in Detroit. The street circuit left something to be desired but we (Detroit) had the world championship in our backyard for quite awhile and I was proud of that. Now that Indycar has made a home on Belle Isle I hope to see it flourish for many years to come. Having big time motorsports in the heart of the city just cements Detroit as one of if not the best sports city in America. I just need to become a bigger fan of the current Indycar scene to latch on.
Jalopinator
> UncleWalty
06/02/2015 at 18:51 |
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Wouldn’t that make it all the better and challenging?
Sebring is famous for its bumps.
I Like it, my local track in the Motor City.
Namdre
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 18:53 |
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I was wet, cold and sober all weekend. Still, I miss it already. This was my fourth BIGP and I have more fun every year.
ethanheisler
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 19:07 |
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Wau. O.0
jonnybimmer
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 19:11 |
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Really great pics!
Danger
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 19:30 |
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Great shots. I got to see it from the Chalets so the rain wasn’t too bad. The paddock was incredible. I'm hooked on watching racing in person haha.
Eljefe6394
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 19:37 |
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First race I ever went to was the Detroit Grand Prix ( formula 1) . My father took me as a young boy and convinced me that the best looking cars were often the fastest. I believed him then and part of me still believes him now.
Becks118
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 20:25 |
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Are the Bently and McLaren running in TUSC now? Haven’t seen those before.
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UncleWalty
> Jalopinator
06/02/2015 at 21:08 |
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Sebring is a legendary track and event. Belle Isle is most certainly not.
I think your last line says it all...you’re rooting for your hometown. I get it. Went to Michigan State and have many friends in the D. I want to see you guys succeed. This is a good event, but from a motorsport standpoint it is not top tier (this is largely due to the fact that it is an IndyCar event, which these days is pretty much the bottom of the motorsport barrel).
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UncleWalty
> Laserijk
06/02/2015 at 21:10 |
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I took my son to his first race, an ALMS event at Mid-Ohio, when he was 2 1/2. I can relate to everything you said, man. Don’t give up! My son is a huge motorsport fan now at age 5 and I think we’re going to head up to the 6 Hours at the Glen later this month! He’s cool with wearing his cans now, so no noise issues! Forge on, Dad!
etotherescue
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 21:14 |
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I wonder what that does?
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Matt Kirsch
> etotherescue
06/02/2015 at 21:25 |
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I believe that the mirror is hollow to channel cold air into the cabin through the CF tube.
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Matt Kirsch
> 450X_FTW
06/02/2015 at 21:27 |
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Unfortunately, I think it is. They spent millions fixing the track recently, but from what I’ve heard, it could still use some work.
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Matt Kirsch
> Santiago of Escuderia Boricua
06/02/2015 at 21:30 |
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Did you by chance see Magnus Walker? He was in town for a Detroit screening of Urban Outlaw. He was walking the pits at the GP, but I’m not sure if it was on Sat or Sun.
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Matt Kirsch
> Johnnyma45
06/02/2015 at 21:31 |
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Now you see why I had to use it for the cover photo…
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GTillman
> etotherescue
06/02/2015 at 21:34 |
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It’s cooling for the driver. It blows on their legs and torso. The air is funnelled in, through the mirror stalks and into the cockpit.
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GTillman
> Matt Kirsch
06/02/2015 at 22:49 |
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Great guy.
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Matt Kirsch
> PotbellyJoe and 42 others
06/02/2015 at 23:09 |
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Wow, that’s really cool! I’ve done some Detroit biking, but never Belle Isle. I’ll have to change that. How did you bike Lime Rock? Is that something they periodically allow? Biking a track seems like a great option to go along with discovery laps.
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Eljefe6394
> UncleWalty
06/02/2015 at 23:26 |
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How is Indy bottom of the barrel? What is your preferred racing form?
F1 has been shit the last couple of years.
Wheelerguy
> Matt Kirsch
06/03/2015 at 01:12 |
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007 reporting for duty.
Fred von Halem
> Matt Kirsch
06/03/2015 at 03:41 |
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Niiiiiiiiiiice!!!
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PotbellyJoe and 42 others
> Matt Kirsch
06/03/2015 at 07:42 |
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When they did the ALMS weekend you could buy a weekend pass for camping and part of that was there were hours where the track was open to people with the weekend passes. I biked it one time.
They also did tech sessions in the pits for people with weekend passes. Best track experience I have ever had. LRP is a gem.
The TdT is a lot of fun and not too expensive. They close the roads so you get to “concentrate” on riding your bike and being touristy.
http://www.tour-de-troit.org/tourdetroitrid…
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450X_FTW
> Matt Kirsch
06/03/2015 at 08:05 |
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It’s like they fixed every other 50 ft of the road. Makes for a nice sin wave of driving if that’s your thing.
blu240
> Matt Kirsch
06/03/2015 at 08:26 |
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What is this?
Fuelish
> UncleWalty
06/03/2015 at 08:27 |
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What about the car is so bad?
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Matt Kirsch
> blu240
06/03/2015 at 08:38 |
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The mirror is hollow to channel cold air into the cabin through the CF tube. It aids in driver cooling.
Displayname50
> Matt Kirsch
06/03/2015 at 09:34 |
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What is this arrow for?
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UncleWalty
> Fuelish
06/03/2015 at 09:42 |
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Other than the 78 aero fins/wings/spoilers and the embarrassing rear wheel pods?
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Matt Kirsch
> Displayname50
06/03/2015 at 10:48 |
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Good question. Unless there’s a tow point, maybe a quick fender or bumper release? Let me see if I can find out.
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OzarkTroutBum
> Matt Kirsch
06/03/2015 at 10:48 |
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Good job Alex!
I watched in on the tube but circuits like this aren’t my favorite. The way they have to wall in the track means that they cant get the long shots that you’d see on other dedicated tracks like Road America or Atlanta. The camera angles are just too tight.
Watching races from the Europe or spoils you as those tracks grounds are manicured like Augusta National and they seem to do a better job of capturing the proper angles that catch the maneuvers that determine the outcomes.
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Matt Kirsch
> Becks118
06/03/2015 at 10:50 |
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I didn’t think so. Let me see if I can find out for sure.
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Matt Kirsch
> jonnybimmer
06/03/2015 at 10:57 |
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It’s hard to pick a favorite pic, but I think that one is it.
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Matt Kirsch
> ethanheisler
06/03/2015 at 10:58 |
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There’s just something about that shot. I love that yellow too.
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Matt Kirsch
> PotbellyJoe and 42 others
06/03/2015 at 11:02 |
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Very cool! Thanks for the info! I have family that is into biking too, so I’ll try to get a group together for the TdT.
JaqcuesCampbell
> Matt Kirsch
06/03/2015 at 11:06 |
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oops made nasty martini livery related pantsmess
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Cam_Cam
> Matt Kirsch
06/03/2015 at 11:27 |
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A lot of people complaining about the weather, sheesh. I was there from gates open until the end of the Indy race on Saturday and it really only rained during the Indy race. It was beautiful for the rest of the day. This was the first time I had gone since the hiatus, and I was really impressed. The whole event was really well organized and I had a TON of fun.
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Matt Kirsch
> Maverick128
06/03/2015 at 15:24 |
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Awesome! The 007 looked like a wicked car.
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Matt Kirsch
> StoneColdSteveErkel
06/03/2015 at 15:36 |
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Sounds like you were ahead of the time! I wish I could have seen the GP when it was in Detroit. No doubt there are improvements to be made with it on Belle Isle, but this year seems to have gone really well overall. I’m excited to see what the future holds for it!
Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
> Matt Kirsch
06/03/2015 at 16:44 |
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Air goes this way
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Fuelish
> UncleWalty
06/04/2015 at 13:52 |
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Do you have issues with downforce? Unfortunately wingless roadsters went out in the 60’s, but something that critics may have forgotten is that the famous race cars in history were never designed for beauty. The race cars we celebrate were the ones built for function and were trying new aero technology, and that’s why they are beautiful to us. Poking holes in the series has become a bad habit, some people will complain no matter what. The cars are massively better than last year, where the side pods were atrocious. But I agree the rear pods are a necessary evil. Other open wheel series would have the same if they pushed the limits on ovals too.