Clipsal 500 - The Race is on

[edgar_raphael]

Clipsal 500 The Race is on - UPDATED!!! -Stalls 56k users

Today marked the offical start of the Clipsal 500 Adelaide. To find out more about Clipsal 500, click HERE. Basically, it's the V8 Supercars race. They do championships round Australia, New Zealand and China (yes in China) and the opening of this year's season is in Clipsal 500 Adelaide (though maybe called different names in other states and other countries). It is a huge event, it is big and is one of the best motorsport racing in the country.

The race is not starting until tomorrow 23 March 2006, and today is the Clipsal500 Parade and autographs signing sessions. Lots of people turned up for the parade even more turned up for the photographs and autographs signging sessions. Here is something I managed to share with you guys and hope you enjoy it.


Big Bikies stirring up the parade before the real balls V8 Supercars turned out.

Here is the video of the bikies. They don't get the most attention from the crowd though, just to heat things up with their big exhaust notes.

Click here to see Video

 

[edgar_raphael]

At 12.15 sharp after the bikies round up, comes the bigggggg ballsssssss. Big, real big, the crowds went crazy (you probably can't hear it because the roaring of the V8 engines are so loud and sounds fantastic as well!

Probably not all showed up just a few but still it is good enough to shake the earth! You can listen to the V8 growls from a kilometre away way before you can even see the cars. They looked phat, loud, big, fast and fierce, nothing feels like this in any other motorsports racing, it really is one of a kind.

Hint: Did you know that even the race drivers can talk to the commentators even when they are racing in their cars? This is the only motorsports racing that allows driver to actually talk on air with the commentators and everyone from over the world can listen to them through the live tv coverage.

Alright, I'll stop talking and let the photos and videos impress you!

The new Chrysler, huge, V8, pimped safety car for the Clipsal 500. One of a kind!


If you think they are big balls, check this out!

Yes, the Clipsal 500 race cars, big balls.

Here are the videos. Listen to the sound, man nothing sounds so special than any other racing cars. When it drive pass you, you can feel the pressure on your chest!

Click here to see Video

Click here to see Video

Can't wait till Saturday for the big event, well it will start tomorrow 23 March 2006, but those are different classes, the Clipsal 500 (big balls) qualifying is on Friday, but the real race 1 starts Saturday and race 2 on Sunday (last day)

 

[edgar_raphael]

Here is the autograph session which started an hour later after the parade, but people had already been lining up even before the parade started and after the parade.

There's the drivers and the grid girls :regular_smile:

Big boobs dont you reckon? all of them! sorry, i mean grid girls :shocked:

There's the cute one over there :retarded:

This is the other row.

Another row of big boobies. i mean grid girls :shocked:

This is one of the Clipsal 500's team driver

And this

And this

And this

I hope she is not one of the race drivers, otherwise I am going to quit thinking about cars for the rest of my life. Well, she's too pretty to drive anyway :_:

Another one

I don't know who he is, but I think he is the organiser? He looks popular

Michael Schumacher (is that right?) was here! Kidding, he just looked like him. :X-:

And this

Ahhh the girls :shades_smile: Isn't she cute?

No way is she a V8 Race car driver, I just wont believe it.

And the patient crowds/fans waiting for hours, just to get photographs and autographs.

 

[|| jim ||]

the old guy that u sed u didnt noe who he was is murray walker.. the f1 commentator who has retired already.. famous for saying stupid things like "if theres no one in front of him he'll be leading the race" or sumthing like that

 

[edgar_raphael]

LOL haha

 

[evo3]

Ed very CHIKO..... took photo of the driver but focus of the grid girls boobies only....

 

[edgar_raphael]

they just came up, I can't help it :D

 

[evo3]

true or not..... hehehehe

 

[Interfooler]

ahh.. now i know why there were so many ppl lining up in rundle mall the other day. neverthought there would be boobies to see else i'll stay longer. :P

 

[edgar_raphael]

sorry for the late updates guys, it has been more than a week since the Clipsal 500 and I've only managed to get the time to post the pictures up, hope you will enjoy them :)

 

[edgar_raphael]

The Real Race

The Clipsal 500 Adelaide was again awarded "Australia’s Best Major Festival & Event" at the Australian Tourism Awards gala presentation on the Gold Coast in front of 950 tourism industry leaders.

(Picture taken from Clipsal 500 Image Galery)

How could we miss such major festival and event even when we are living in Adelaide? No way should you not visit this race event during your stay in Adelaide, even if it is not your "type" of event. It is not only about the race all the way. Children, girls, boys, guys, ladies, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, businessmen, businesswomen, CEOs, directors, families, you name it, people of all generations and kinds are there to experience the excitement of the Clipsal 500 as well as enjoying the V8 climax race itself.

So there we were, having paid AUD$62 pre-purchased ticket from BASS (AUD$69 purchased at gate), we were so excited to be part of the Clipsal 500 event and the race as well. Paying AUD$62 is the cheapest tickets you can get for the Clipsal 500, and you have the plenty of choices, either, squeeze with the crowds under the hot sun or, squeeze with the other crowds again under the hot sun. Yeah, paying $62 for shit viewing and locations, if you want to sit down peacefully and watch the race, fork out AUD$200+ per ticket!

We arrived at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide Circuit at noon time by using the RAA sponsored free shuttle bus after some early lunch in Chinatown. Of all gates, we chose to enter Gate 9 of the circuit.

Little did we know (since this is the first time) that we were stepping into the ground of "HOLDEN HEAVEN"

What is that suppose to mean? You may ask. Well, let me tell you, there are different sections all over the circuit, and this particular ground is named the "Holden Heaven", when all you can see here is Holden No.1 Fans and Supporters but nobody else. Ford's fans don't step to this ground. Even the merchandise that is sold are for Holden's categories, hence you have no choice, but to act like you support Holden even if you do not support the team (I am though!)!

Gate 9 brings you to the last corner of the circuit. It is one of the fastest section in the circuit before the race cars comes to a near complete stop to get into the last sharp turn before completing the circuit. This is also the section of the pit lane entry and is brutal, it is hard to turn into the pit lane which is so close to the last turn and going at such a great speed, missed it, you have to try the next lap.

At the time of entering, there was no race going on, so we had nothing to do so we went checking out the nice Jack Daniels truck.

There were some air show as well, including parachuters and jet planes.

 

[edgar_raphael]

Soon afterthat, the race for the Aussie Racing Cars class begins. It was loud and from far (Jack Daniel's truck) we thought the V8 Supercars race has begin, as we can see the tall spoilers at the back of the car, so we ran over to the fence feeling very excited. But guess what? We were all laughing like mad cow when we saw the race cars. It was because of the looks of the Aussie Racing Cars. They are small, very small and is the exact miniature of the V8 Holden and Ford Supercars, and I mean the exact look but a miniature. There is only one seat in the car and can only fit only one anyway.

Check out the videos!

Click here to see Video


Click here to see Video

 

[edgar_raphael]

That race just got everything heated up, everyone starts to gather behind the fence, squeezing to get the best position, standing up from the seats and there is only one thing that would attract such attention, the Clipsal 500 climax, the V8 Supercars and the sound of them is enough to draw everyone's attention.

By 1.45pm, the V8 Supercars are out from the pits taking a one full lap of warm up before taking their positions on the grid.

The two cars on the pole position is from Holden Racing Team, their famous Red-White with the big Holden flagship logo theme makes them stand out from the rest of the race cars. They qualified the 2 fastest time, so they took the 1st and 2nd position in the starting grid






Watch the videos!

V8 Supercars Warm Up Lap



After the warm up lap, they got back to the starting grid and getting ready for the once in a life time launch. What a great feeling, roaring sounds of the engines revving hitting the limiter and not long afterthat, they have reached the last corner where we stood.







Here's some videos

V8 Supercars First Lap

Holden Racing Team still leading the race for the first few laps

Ford is still battling with the Holden Racing Team


By the first quater of the 78laps / 250km race, one of the leading cars, the Holden Racing Team crashed one of their cars into the barrier. It was bad, awful, painful and everyone in Holden Heaven were dissapointed, so were we, because we were so confident in Holden Racing Team at that time. So the race was halted and the safety car is out. Many drivers took the opportunity to get into the pit.


Holden Racing Team car crashed - Safety car is out


Race resume - Ford Betta Electrical Falcon BA leading and Holden Racing Team second


The Holden Racing Team by then was not leading the race anymore. Ford was in the first place all the way then. Right in the last few laps someone (driver) passed out (or something like that) in the cockpit due to over-heat where it was around 44-46 degrees in the cockpit as they claimed. So again, safety car is out.


Driver over-heated - Safety car out again



The race is coming to it's end, everything was in real heat and we can feel it. The battle just got better and the mood had just got to its peak!


Battle mood, last 2 laps



Alright, the last lap, the full battle mood, the only lap that you have to stay and hold in your position for the entire lap till the end, or if you could, only if you possibly should, overtake the cars in front of you. But everyone just stayed in the position for the entire lap until the checkered flag because they don't want to put any risk because anything can happen in a race.


Last Lap


Winners are:

1st: Team Betta Electrical with their Ford Falcon BA
2nd: TOLL HSV Dealer with their Holden Commodore V2
3rd: Team Betta Electrical with their Ford Falcon BA



Favourite car in the race?

As you can see from the picture, he did not have a very good luck and ended up in 6th place instead. Better luck next time Holden Racing Team!

 

[edgar_raphael]

Shortly after the peak event, is the Carrera Cup by Porsche. They sounds fast and looks like they are going at an even greater speed than the V8 Supercars, but we were told that they were still 1-3 seconds slower than the V8 Supercars. I dont know about that, all I know is they are fast, maybe because of their size and the lower stance compared to the bigger sized V8 Holdens Commodores and Ford Falcons.

Their brakes are huge, really huge and I am not kidding.

This looks like an average upgraded disc brake size to you.

Look carefully. Compare the size of that thing with the coilovers!!! I told you they were big, much bigger than a basketball for sure. 18" race wheels have provided just merely enough clearance for this big thing.

This is the allignment stance. This race-prepared Porsche Carrera may look cool, but it has problems with its suspension. The engineer told me the clearance between the front left and right wheels were 5mm difference and he said it is big trouble and they have to get it sorted out soon with only half and hour before the race. So I don't bother them further and let them continue with their tuning.













Porsche Carrera Cup Final Race



Here are the race tyres that were being used in the Carrera Race. Full Slick and tons of them.

They bloody use Full Slick tyres in almost everything, even for the mini trailer wheels!!! You can even read the profile of the slick tyres!!!! Instant speechless!

 

[edgar_raphael]

The next race was the last race for the Utes Cup. Still between Ford and Holden and Australia is probably the only country in the whole world that house the V8 Utes races. You will never find any of this kind of race elsewhere in the world.

Half way through the race, we heard tyre screeching sounds of hard braking and then "BANG!" , everyone was running to where the sound was coming from and we heard the commentator said something about one of the Utes flipping over and landed upsidedown. So we all ran over as well.....

Here's a few photos of the aftermath. They claimed it was due to brake defects, but anyway, it caused a lot of trouble because the water tank broke and spilled the coolant on the track, which could be dangerous and the marshalls had to clean up the mess before the race continues.






Click here to see video for the Utes race

 

[edgar_raphael]

BEHOLD THE ALMIGHTY ARMYGEDDON

Yes, you saw it right. ARMY built! It is built by the a bunch of armies on their truck and they chunk in a supercharged V8 block and a set of 6, 24" blings blings!

It was designed to do burnout acrross the Clipsal Adelaide Circuit!

Yes baby, 24" bling bling.


Check out some of the videos.


Reversing


Missed the clutch and stalled!! HAHAHA Someone shouted "Get an automatic!!" LOL

 

[edgar_raphael]

C.A.P.A SHOWOFF!

This is the 2 demo cars from C.A.P.A. one of the leading manufacturer of the supercharger kits for the Holden and Ford supercars. Either your car is a V8/V6 Holden HSV Commodores/Utes/SS Clubsports/Monaro or a Ford V6/V8 Falcon/Ute/Boss , they can provide the kits for you for just less than AUD$10,000.

"If you see me at the lights, run away"

A blown V6 makes good power too!

 

[edgar_raphael]

Miscellaneous Pictures!

The Last of the Last. Here is the last model of the Holden Monaro, the CV8Z.


Let's see some of the big bad ass trucks. When I mean big, they are really big and long and wide, not the average Malaysian pick-up trucks size, it is nothing compared to these buggers, these are V8 powered and is fast and loud and powerful enough to even trail a big trailer.

The Jack Daniel's Racing Team has quite a number of fans, and their team perform really well as well!

This is the straight section of the race circuit.

And this car here is definitely looking for trouble in the Clipsal 500. Why would someone bring a Nissan Skyline and show it off in the Clipsal? I just don't get it, nobody even care as if it was none existant, poor thing.