Darwin Day 5

I came to Darwin to watch the V8 Supercars. What I got was so much more motorsport than I bargained for. This is one of the Touring Car Masters cars, a well souped up Ford Falcon Sprint. The category allows the competitors to make modification to these cars to make the category more interesting for spectators and of couse to make the cars faster. Like disc brakes and power steering, etc. Then the cars and drivers are seeded because some are always going to be faster than others. I believe that cars are also forced to carry extra weight if they are too competitive. There are Fords, Porches, Holdens, and several other brands involved.

It all makes for a really exciting series. In the later stages of a race the cars start to slide around as their brakes and tyres overheat.

This is the Jim Richards driven Ford Falcon Sprint. It looks fairly tame from the outside but this car really motors. Anyone who knows me will know that I am a Holden (General Motors) supporter. Fords don't normally figure in my motorsport interests. I am making an exception in this case. This Falcon, driven by 7 time Bathurst winner Jim Richards is one cool car.

I actually managed to get Jim Richards autograph this weekend, among others. In the main game, the V8 Supercars, the drivers have autograph session times. I got Jim's autograph when he wandered up from the back of his tent pit garage to sign a kids hat. He even carries his autograph pen in his race suit pocket. Respect!

Now just to set the record straight. I did come to Darwin to watch the V8's. I also came for a holiday with my wonderful, wife. It was touch and go tonight when it came to choosing my Blip image. We spent another magical evening watching the sun go down over the ocean, this time from the Fannie Bay Trailer Boat Club. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I only get to choose one image per day on Blipfoto.