I walked across the bridge to the paddock and it was like I crossed over into a sculpture garden for gearheads. Open wheel racers lined up on either side, but a Bugatti T-35B in that blue pulled me toward it like gravity. The eight wide spokes on its wheels gleamed, and the grease that lubricated its leaf springs was so clean it could have been olive oil. My eyes raked an Alfa Romeo Volpi Special and fell on the drivers' names painted on the body: "J. Fangio." Oh. Right, then.

Depression-era sprint cars squatted under tents on my right, and the hoods of two Lotus Elevens stood up to my left. Every ten steps there was another million-dollar car, and this wasn't the concours day. These were here to be driven. I thought about what it'd be like to drive Fangio's car until it made my head hurt. I rested my searing eyes on a pair of Maseratis, a '55 300S and a '60 Tipo 61, which is one of the most beautiful cars ever made, racing or not. Go to the gallery and check out the "Birdcage" frame, made of hundreds of narrow tubes.

You can't help but wonder at details like that as you walk around the paddock: How many arms were burned on chest-high exhaust pipes which sat inches drivers' bodies? How did they keep an Lotus Eleven's differential from overheating as it was sandwiched in between the two inboard disc brakes? Has there ever been a sexier shape than a Jaguar C-Type? (Answers: many, magic, and no.)

The open wheel cars took to the track in their Pre-1941 Sports and Racing Cars class (Group 1) and the ex-Fangio car won in a rout. There's something about seeing a three-wheeled Morgan running in this crowd with a rainbow colored spinner trailing off its teardrop tail that has to bring a smile to your face. This just in: old cars cure hangovers.

The drivers really went at it in Group 2, a '52 Allard K2 with a Caddy motor sounds remarkably like a stock car roaring down the front straight, being chased by a herd of XK-120s who weren't afraid to mix it up, loop it, take it into the dirt, and jump back out into the action. The organizers played it equally fast and loose with the rules - there's no way a six-plus liter Allard is in the same class as an MG TD. But it's about seeing them on the track, about showing the life that's in these antique machines. Stanguellinis, Brabhams and a Lancia-Pagrada duked it out next in a Formula car race. My money was on a BT-2, but a Cooper ended up taking the checkered flag.

It was a ton of fun watching a Fiat Abarth give hell to the Group 5 cars, but it was a Porsche 356 that crossed the line first.

My second favorite race of the day went to a battle in Group 6 between a '58 Allard GT with Chrysler Hemi power and a '59 Aston Martin DB4/GT. It was like watching an AWD car in the wet, the way that Allard pulled away from the pack once the green flag dropped. The Allard was quickly dogged by the DB4 and both were caught, lost and caught again by a '64 MG B with a hell of a driver. Three Ferrari 250s didn't even have a chance. The nimbleness of the Aston Martin was to prevail in the end, but the MG driver may have gotten the loudest applause from the crowd.

A team of two beautiful XKEs abused a field of Mustangs and Corvettes while a Se7en (much to the delight of Jalop super-commenter Al Navarro, I'm sure) diced through the V8 beasts and took home third place behind the Jags.

Now, ladies and sunburned gentlemen, it was Can-Am and IMSA GT time. I could hear them fire up from my seat on a hill across the track and I just started giggling. I'd seen the rows of Chevrons, the GT40, T-70, the two Monzas, and all the rest earlier in the day. Their owners may have been playing with grandkids in the shade, but these cars were all ready for battle - all wedges and jagged ranges of intake trumpets. God, I couldn't wait to see them thrash around the course.

The #20 '76 Dekon Monza was on the pole and leapt off the line, its enormous rear wing seemed to be waving bye bye to the rest of the final group. The sports racers were going to have something to say about that. The Chevrons and a Royale crept up over the course of the race. Spectators on the inside of the track got a show as a 914-6 lost the back end coming down the diving turn before the front straight, executed a full 360, and hammered back on the gas to continue racing. A Chevron B19 was nothing but bare, dull metal with a single, black "3" on either side. It was just a grey doorstop flying around the course and it looked like a cheap toy. It also went on to win the biggest race of the weekend. In true racer fashion, that car had nothing on it that didn't serve a purpose.

I streamed out with the crowds, trying to replay the sound of the Allards in my head. I almost missed it when my Dad looked at me and said, "That was a good day." — James Gribbon

I've been going to races at Lime Rock Park since around 1990 and I don't think I've ever seen this many people at an event. BMW Formula cars and IMSA Lites were both on the under card before the main event. Fans alternately checked out the races and wandered through the paddock watching the ALMS crews make last minute tweaks after the morning's practice session.

After a break for lunch during which I found out Lime Rock plans to open its own members-only motorsports club, it was show time. The prototypes and GT cars fired up their engines and rolled slowly through the crowds and onto the grid on the front straight. Cars and teams got situated and then the crowd was invited onto the track to meet the cars and drivers with no velvet ropes and no barriers besides a crewmember who might punch you in the mouth if you screw up a wing's angle. Considering the Bahamian heat, and in a truly humanitarian manner, the race officials took pity on the poor flag-bearers who stood by the teams, and allowed them to wear as little clothing as they felt necessary to beat the heat. Evidence of this truly magnanimous gesture can be found in the gallery.

The Race
The number seven Penske Porsche leapt across the line at the start of the race and immediately starting prying a sizeable gap between it and the rest of the 25-car field. All four classes dove into the braking zone of turn one at the same time — engines roared, whistled and popped, while clouds of vaporized rubber from locked brakes wafted like it was the Battle of Verdun. The Audis had already gained ground and the Corvettes were running in formation by the end of the first lap. The Porsche and Acura prototypes harried each other at the front of the pack and sliced through the slower GT traffic with the usually dominant R10s and other P1 cars well behind. At Lime Rock, the R10s were mere mortals; their fuel economy advantage all but nullified by the brevity of the race.

The number two car suffered a suspension failure at the worst possible time, sending Marco Werner spinning through the extremely fast downhill turn and into the wall before the front straight. The worst place to have a shunt at Lime Rock is better than the best place at a lot of tracks, however, and the Audi would be reassembled to finish the race. Allan McNish had problems of his own in the number one car. He spun twice, once after locking up the R10's brakes and punting the Intersport Creation Judd into the runoff area outside of Big Bend. The number one car would just barely come back to place fifth overall and first in the P1 class, followed by the two Creations and the other R10.

The unopposed Corvettes had no issues despite some jostling from other cars on the narrow track, and were hardly ever separated by more than 15 feet over the course of the two-hour forty-five minute race. They would finish eighth and ninth overall, ahead of no less than six prototypes. The GT2 class was once again home to some exciting racing as the top three Ferraris wrecked, leaving the door open for the Flying Lizard team to take home Porsche's first win this season and the first ever ALMS win for a Type 997. The RLR Porsche would place second in class ahead of a third place Ferrari. The final top five went as follows: Porsche, Porsche, Acura, Porsche, Audi, with the local Highcroft Racing Acura out placing Andretti Green's car by four positions. This is a great era in which to take in a sports car race. I can only recommend you jump on the opportunity before highlights like public access to the pre-race grid are a thing of the past. – James Gribbon

Related:
Race Day Preview: The 2007 American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix [internal]

The 1.53-mile Lime Rock course is by far the shortest on the ALMS calendar, and only has two left turns, including a IMSA-mandated chicane after a tricky uphill, but drivers can carry tremendous speeds through most of them. Corners are closer together than at other parks, and the prototype cars, with their massive downforce, must negotiate the less lamprey-like GT cars almost continually. Audi R10 driver Allan McNish recently called the track one of the more difficult circuits in America.

Behind Penske in the qualifying order is another RS Spyder, that of Dyson Racing, with local boys Highcroft Racing and Andretti Green Racing's Brian Herta following in their Acura ARX prototypes. A Radical P2 car from van der Steur Racing in Maryland will make its ALMS debut at Lime Rock, following a preseason crash and subsequent engine issues that sidelined it for the first five rounds. The independents will be looking to get in a few punches versus the Porsche, Acura and Lola-bodied cars. Corvette will once again play beat-the-clock at Lime Rock, running unopposed in the GT1 class.

We like GT2, since that's where all the ALMS action seems to be these days. The Peterson/White Lightning Ferrari F430 GT piloted by Thomas Enge is currently tops in class, with the ever-present Risi Ferrari and sports car veteran Bill Auberlen in his Panoz Esperante GTLM second and third in class, leading a swarm of Porsches.

We'll be on scene for the main event, starting at 3:00 PM EDT. But those unable to make the sports-car pilgrimage to northern Connecticut can catch the action on tape delay, starting at 1 p.m. Sunday on CBS. – Games Gribbon

Related:
You Are There: The American Le Mans Series New England Grand Prix, July 1, 2006 [internal]

The Race

History got a nod at historic Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn. on the first of July. The all-conquering Audi R8 raced in the spotlight — and won — one final time before being sent to pasture in favor of the new, Le Mans winning R10. Roger Penske's Porsche RS Spyders either lead or bit at the heels of the mighty R8 the entire race, coming up just short, but proving Team Penske is as dangerous as a Playmate with herpes in any race series in which they choose to compete — despite being in a lower, less powerful class than the Audis.

In The American Le Mans Series, four classes howl around the track at the same time in any race on the calendar: two prototype classes and two production-based Grand Touring classes. That means spectators watch four races happen simultaneously. At Lime Rock this year, paying crowds saw a heavyweight fight reminiscent of Ali/Frasier's Thriller in Manila, between the Corvette C6-Rs and the Aston Martin DBR9s. The two cars traded places throughout the race — the 'Vette's seven-liter V8 roaring deeply in counterpoint to the skull-shredding wail of the Astons' V12 — as they streaked down the front straight. In the end, the race was decided by 0.033 seconds — the closest finish ever in the history of the series.

One of the 'Vettes had been rudely shoved off the track by a prototype at the end of Lime Rock's esses, and now a lone C-6R was all that stood in the way of an Aston Martin 1-2 sweep in the final four minutes of a two-hour and forty-five-minute race — and it was well over a half mile behind the V12 banshees. During the next three minutes, the Corvette carved the competition on the narrow track like Billy Madison in a game of dodgeball. The crowd was screaming for America's sports car, and each time it passed it ate huge chunks of the Aston Martin lead. The cars were almost two wide as they launched into the dangerous downhill sweeper that lead to the front straight and the win. The Corvette had a run on and slid past the Aston Martin just after the finish line. The Aston had won it by a bumper after nearly three hours of action. The crowd kept cheering out of appreciation for a great race, no matter where their loyalties lay.

The Lot Scene and the Paddock

One of the most beautiful things about Lime Rock is that race fans get a show as soon as they pull into the parking lot. The cars spectators drive to watch the race are absolutely arresting. Parked two spots over from me was a British racer from another era, and probably a million-dollar car, in this Bentley.

Close by, on the other side, sat a red Lotus Europa.

Walking through the grass parking lots inside and outside the track I saw, within feet of one another two Ferrari 512TR Testarossas and a pair of sparkling new V10 BMW M5s.

Must be nice, right? One the other end of the sports car spectrum, but a short walk away, was this Lotus Elise — practically a matchbox car next to a Cadillac and an F-250.

Included in the price of your ticket is the privilege to enter the racers' paddock and get drool-on-the-tires close to the cars. You may also drool on the Pirelli girls, but the cars don't slap your face and call you a creep.

The nose section of the R8 was on display, showing off a special decal highlighting its eight overall series wins and its five wins in six years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Here is your Penske Porsche Spyder RS team, about to storm to second and third place in class and overall.

The Corvette team was putting the finishing touches on their cars as I walked by, too bad this number three car was wadded into the wall after all that hard work.

The eventual race-winning 009 Aston Martin DBR9 showing a clean and organized engine bay. Not pictured is its teammate and eventual third place 007 car. Yes, like that 007.

This Dyson Lola's 3.6liter twin turbo V-8 is a little more complicated. Its driver, Butch Leitzinger, was on home turf at Lime Rock as a Connecticut native.

The winners in GT2 were Petersen Motorsports and their Porsche 911GT3 RSR. This was a brand new car, since their old RSR was annihilated in the eleventh hour at Le Mans two weeks earlier.

The drivers of the second place RSR of Team Flying Lizard, (and most other drivers in the series) wear shirts that pump cold water over their bodies to combat in-car heat that can top 150 degrees throughout the course of an hours-long stint behind the wheel. If that air were water, it would be hot enough to boil you alive.

BMW is back in ALMS racing this year with a strong showing out of a pair of E46 M3s. The duo finished third and fourth in class, and ninth and tenth overall, behind the RSRs.

The Risi Competizione Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta is a beautiful thing. Or was. This one didn't finish the race after sliding off track at about 110mph on the downhill and hitting a prototype car which had wrecked in the same spot seconds earlier. The pictures came out great, though.

[by James Gribbon]