Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, 1000km of Spa

Only a week after the second MaX5 Cup races of the season I found myself back behind my camera shooting hard fought battles again. This time at Spa Franchorchamps for the Inter Continental Le Mans Cup. With less than a month to go to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, this event was the last possibility for the teams and drivers to check their materials, cars and routines in race trim before the main event in La Sarthe.

It is always a pleasure to stand at the top of the famous Eau Rouge corner, the speeds these cars carry up this hill is just incredible. Also the view from here just breathes motorsport history at it’s best. There are so many good memories of races I have witnessed here in the past. This image was taken with the Go Pro camera which I use to film the action during the MaX5 events.

The all new Audi R18 made is race debut at Spa after the test days in Le Mans where it appeared in April. With the cars placing in the top three spots after qualifying, Audi looked as strong as ever. The futuristic look of these cars strongly reminded me of the Cylon’s from Battle Star Galactica. You either love them or you hate them but I think they look great.

I ran into this broken Porsche of the IMSA Performance team near the Stavelot section of the track. Hopefully it will have more luck at Le Mans.

My 100-400mm lens gives me some great new opportunities. Standing on top of the Kemmel straight I shot this image of the start/finish line. The tilt/shift effect was added later.

Due to the lay out of the circuit and the high speed of these cars, Spa is a great place to make some great panning shots. M Power all the way!!!

The all new Ferrari 458 Italia of the AF Corse team makes it’s way through the late afternoon sun at the Malmedy corner. One of the R18 Audi’s is just disappearing over the crest.

It is great to see Henry Pescarolo and his team back at Le Mans this year. Here the car is leading two Ferrari’s out of the Bus Stop Chicane.

In the end it was Team Total Peugeot who took the top honors leaving Audi with a third place finish. I have a feeling that this years Le Mans race is going to be epic!!!

Here is the trailer from Peugeot in the run up to the event.

The Art of Flight

I just ran into this awesome preview of an upcoming snowboard film. Some real beautiful landscapes feature insane snowboarding. Sit back and enjoy the ride!!!

Here is the story behind the film as I found it on Youtube:

The Art of FLIGHT follows Travis Rice, John Jackson, Mark Landvik, Scotty Lago, Jake Blauvelt, Nicolas Muller, Gigi Ruf, DCP and Pat Moore as they dream up new global adventures and progress the sport to unimaginable levels.

Brain Farm has gathered an arsenal of the most advanced and progressive film making technology to bring the masses a snowboarding adventure of epic proportions. Filmed on location in Jackson Hole, Alaska, Chile, Aspen, Patagonia, British Columbia and more, FLIGHT brings the viewer along for the perfect blend of adventure/travel drama and high-energy snowboarding action. The Art of FLIGHT releases September 2011.

More info can be found on:

RedBull USA

TheArtOfFLIGHTmovie.com

BrainFarmCinema

Go Egypt!!!

After all the horror we’ve seen on the news, these last 20 days, of what was happening in Cairo; it is great to find positive videos popping up on Youtube now as well.
I have a great deal of respect for what the Egyptian people have achieved. Go Egypt!!!

Nike 6.0 Stair Battle Kongsberg

Marcus Carlsen just put up a short film of the Nike 6.0 Stair Battle on his Vimeo page. Can’t wait to go out snowboarding again. Hopefully an upcoming road trip will bring some good snow!

May The Force Guide You

While surfing the internet today I discovered an awesome initiative by Tom Tom. They now have an option to get the voices of your favorite Star Wars characters on to your Tom Tom device. Click this link to get to the Tom Tom Star Wars page.

Enjoy!

The Sartorialist

I just found a cool short film about blogger Scott Schumann on The Coolhunter.
Scott is also known as “The Sartorialist” and shares his blog with thousands and thousands of readers each day. The way he explains his work in this film is something I can really relate to and that combined with the laid back music made me want to put it up on Provence. Scott shares his everyday vision on the people of New York and far beyond on his website

The Next Dimension

Today I received a cool link concerning projections x retail projects. Both Ralph Lauren and H&M did some amazing stuff on their buildings prior to opening the new flagship stores.
Down below you will see the fusion of art, fashion & technology taking it to the next dimension. These films are made at the Ralph Lauren women’s flagship store in NYC and the H&M flagship store in Amsterdam. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Estria Battle

Philip Velasco of Iphilms and 360 video magazine made another cool piece of film about the recent Estria Battle in the US. It features some great artwork and relaxed music. If your in to graffiti, art or you have some time to kill, check out this video.

MaX5 Racing x N24 TV

During the last race of the Total Mazda MaX5 Cup of 2010 a German TV crew dropped by to shoot the series for the N24 TV channel.
With a whole day of filming in the pocket this is what the crew came up with to broadcast.

I am already looking forward to the 2011 season as we are expecting a record of 26 cars getting ready to hit the grids.
Only a few years ago we started the cup with just 3 participating teams. It is great to see what passion, some hard work and a lot of fun can bring in only a few years.

Here are some more pics that I took during another fun day of racing.

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Okidokyo @ Autumn Drift Matsuri

http://www.vimeo.com/16922457

My friend, Remi Schouten, is currently living the good life in Japan with his girlfriend Pui-Yuk. They went there to learn Japanese and enjoy the beautiful country and culture. To let the world know about this great adventure they have started a great blog. It is called Okidokyo which tells the story of their everyday life in Japan. As Remi is as much as an Auto Otaku as I am, he is visiting some of the most well know events in motorsport while he is out there. With the famous Autumn Drift Matsuri now a week behind us, Remi created a great film about his experiences at the track. If you want to see more of their adventures please visit Okidokyo