BACK IN THE HOOD!!! Detroit Grand Prix

02 September 2007, the Detroit GP returns since 1986. The wrecked race track on Belle Isle is finally getting an over haul. For those who missed the pre-fixed Belle Isle, here are the PHOTOS before the fix.

Belle Isle is the biggest metropolitan park in the US if I am not wrong. Its landscape was designed by the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, who also designed the NYC Central Park and lots more. Other facilities on the island includes the oldest Aquarium in the US( although it's closed, the architecture is very interesting). There's the green house(can be viewed in the photo gallery) as well as a former casino designed by Albert Kahn.

As for its racing history, Belle Isle held Indy races from 1992 to 2001, then stopped due to budger issues. Prior to that, Detroit held Formula One races.

2007 sees the return of Detroit GP on Belle Isle, hosting both the American Le Mans series as well as the Indy Car League. Personally, I don't care for the Indy cars, but made an effort to check out those LeMans prototypes and the GT cars.



To my surprise, the event wasn't jam packed with people. The shuttle bus was quite comfortable, and the ticket box wasn't tagged with long line of people. The race grounds was quite easy to move around too. This is sorta disappointing because I wish it has attracted more crowds to support future races. Nonetheless, there were some good photography spots for me to explore.

Like all major events, the race started with the singing of American anthem and followed by a parade lap of non-related cars.





...... which was a bit of a waste of time. Then comes the race!

The track is a really tight one, so I was expecting lots of actions on the first lap, and there it happened right in front of me!

First Lap


Spun out


The cars are loud, but I wish they were louder, like F1 loud!

More clips on the race:





LeMans winner, the Audi R10 TDI (top) and the current leader Porsche (bottom)





and the Acuras



Some Porsche GT3s in action





Everyone's fighting for the right of way!



Race marshals





The pace car came out a few times during the race, which meant that there were some accidents happening that the officials had to control the pace of the race cars to guide them through safely. Here's a clip:



More actions!





Found a good spot, where an opening was made for the race marshals.



Beautiful part of the race track closed to spectators. It's a shame, because this is also the stretch where the cars reach their top speeds on this track.



TV crews





And of course, this won't happen if not for the crowd!





Other events in the race ground:



Audi had a display, of course, and showed their new R8 and S5

R8 Exterior and interior



S5



In the car park were lots of VIP cars, including Corvettes, Porsches, Ferraries, Vipers and more.



Of course, this is also where you catch the fabulous Ford GT "designer" Camilo Pardo showing off his car:
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Don't forget to visit the complete photo and video gallery!!!