Today would be an action-packed day, starting early morning and continuing through out the day, with ten on-track sessions scheduled. This would also be the first day that the WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge cars would be on the track. Hope you like the photos.
Left the hotel at Painted Post around 7.00 am. and grabbed some take-out breakfast on the way. After arriving at the track, went to the outside of the Inner Loop, towards the exit of this track complex, for the Mustang Challenge qualifying at 8.00 to 8.15 am. Despite, this being a very short session, wanted to go to this part of the track, since the early morning sun illuminates the side of the cars with warm light. The #8 MDK Motorsports LLC (top) and #94 KOHR MOTORSPORTS (bottom) Ford Mustang Dark Horse R’s.
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After the session finished, went back to the car, and drove to the inside of the track, back to the inside of Turn 9 for the Michelin Pilot Challenge practice 1 session at 8.30 to 9.30 am. This is also another great track location in the early morning, since the low light illuminates the front of the cars as they exit The Boot and the side of the cars as they speed through Turn 9. The spectators in the above photo had a great campsite location to see the on-track action.
Started to the right of the flaggers stand for front and 3/4 panning photos of the cars as they went through Turn 9. The #39 CarBAhn Motorsports BMW M4 GT4 (G82) (top) and #71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Evo (bottom).
Walked to my left, to a vantage point where you can get front on photos of the cars as they reached the top of the exit from The Boot. The #69 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4.
Then panned the cars as they went around Turn 9, and tried to frame the car with the curved catch fencing behind it. The #57 WINWARD RACING Mercedes-AMG GT GT4.
Next up, some side panning photos of the cars. Really liked how the blue and purple livery of the #82 van der Steur Racing with Ruckus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 (top) and #38 BGB Motorsports Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS (bottom) complemented the blue guard railings, respectively.
Then tracked the cars as they sped down the Turn 9 to 10 straight. The #92 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4 (G82).
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Last up, here’s a photo of the location where I was at for the last few photos.
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On the way back to the car, noticed that most of the campsites were full with a wide variety of campers, from tents, to caravans to RVs.
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Drove to the Infield Parking location near the Sir Jackie Stewart Stand for the Porsche Carrera Cup qualifying at 9:45 to 10:15 am.
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From the Sir Jackie Stewart Stand, you have a great view of Turns 9, 10 and 11. Although from a photographer’s point of view, it can be challenging to take photos, due to the catch fencing in the foreground.
To alleviate the catch-fencing, used two techniques. The first was to photograph over the catch fencing, and the second technique was to pan at a slow shutter speed (e.g. 1/50 sec) to make most of the catch fencing “disappear”, except for the horizontal cables that ran along it. The #88 Baby Bull Racing (top) and #8 McCann Racing (bottom) Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars.
Also, tried panning the cars as the went over the yellow and red rumble strip at the edge of the track. The yellow livery on the #16 ACI Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car matched the rumble strip color.
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Towards the end of this session left the stand, and went back to my car. As I was driving to the next location, noticed a campsite with a beautiful light blue colored Ford Mustang and pink flamingo’s.
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Continued driving through the West Tunnel and parked in an area near the pedestrian tunnel which enables you to walk under the track to inside the Heel of The Boot. Here’s a series of photos of what this track location looks like starting at Turn 8 (top) to Turn 9 (bottom).
At this time of day, the mid-morning sun backlights the cars, with a lot of contrast, as they go around Turn 9 at the top of the exit of The Boot. So started at this location for the Lamborghini Super Trofeo qualifying at 10.30 to 11.05 am. The #55 Forty7 Motorsports (top) and #30 ANSA MOTORSPORTS (bottom) Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo 2’s.
Next tried some very slow shutter speed (e.g. 1/10 sec) photos of the car going around Turn 9, with other cars approaching this turn in the foreground, which appeared as streaks of colored lights. The #41 Flying Lizard Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo 2.
Turned around, and walked towards Turn 10, for side panning photos of the cars. The #9 Precision Performance Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo 2.
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Had a little under an hour for the next session, so went back to the car and drove to the Infield Parking location near the vendor area to grab an early lunch and to check out the exhibits. Really liked the Lexus Racing stand, and the black and gold livery on the Lexus RC F GT3 parked next to it. Also saw a cool T-shirt about “save the manual”.
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For the second practice session of the Michelin Pilot Challenge at 12:05 to 1:05 pm, walked up the hill to the inside of the Chute part of The Boot near Turn 6. The top photo shows you what this vantage point looks like, with the challenge being that you need a long lens (e.g. 500mm) to photograph between the cables that support the catch fencing.
Into the Chute with the #19 van der Steur Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 (top) and #13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4 (bottom). Notice, how you can get a different perspective by moving the lens from left to right. In this case, with the blue catch fencing framing the left side of the photo (top) or not (bottom).
Walked further up the hill for photos of the cars going around Turn 6. The #5 KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR.
After the session finished, walked over to the inside of Turn 8 to 9 for the WeatherTech Championship practice 1 session at 1.25 to 2.55 pm. Started with panning photos of the cars. The #63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 (top) and #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.
Also tried some really slow shutter speeds for panning. Missed a lot, but managed to get one. The #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.
Then changed to a wider focal length to get more off the background in the frame. The #64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 (top) and #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 (bottom).
As the session continued walked over to the inside of Turn 6 for photos of the cars entering this corner. First used the 70-200mm for a wider perspective of this location. The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06.
Then changed to the 500mm lens for closer photos of the cars. Tried to gets several cars from each class. First the Grand Touring Prototypes (GTP’s): #31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V- Series.R (top), #5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 (middle) and #24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 (bottom).
Le Mans Prototypes (LMPs): #11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07.
GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO): #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 (top) and #64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 (bottom).
GT Daytona (GT): #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.
Also, tried some slow shutter speed panning photos to emphasize the red and yellow kerbing coming from behind the car. This was a hard shot, since it wasn’t a natural angle to pan, but managed to get one. The #11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07.
Before the session ended, wanted to try another photo composition I had in my mind. For this photo, walked back through the pedestrian bridge under the track to the outside of The Boot, then to the outside of the Turn 8 to 9 straight near the top of The Boot. The photo I had I my mind was of the car speeding up The Boot between the iconic blue guard rails. For this photo, needed to hold the camera viewfinder to my eye, and use my right eye to catch the car as it came into view, then panned at around 1/25 sec using a high number of high frames per second. Was really happy to get a couple of photos. The #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 (top) and #5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 (bottom).
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Should mention that the last couple of days had been very hot and humid, and today the temperature reached the mid-90’s. Was feeling a little heat stroke, so decided to leave the track and go back to the hotel to rehydrate and eat some food in the air conditioning. On the way out of the track saw a Tesla Cybertruck for the first time, with its very futuristic wedge-shaped styling. Thanks for spending your time reading this photo story.
DLY Motorsport Images 
Thank you these beautiful photographs.
Highest regards.
John(UK)
Thanks John for the kind words