rubber side down!

[SmartWombat]

Martin Plowman learns who you can trust during an overtake - the hard way.

I know it's not sharp, but from the end of the pitlane, across all that hot tarmac, with a 70-200 and 2x extender, I am surprised I got anything remotely usable.
Security limited the length of the lens, so I couldn't bring the 300mm f/2.8 in.
Nor could I bring in any food, and only one bottle of water.
I could buy water at $3 per bottle once inside

[Photo-John]

Is this Indy, Paul? They limited what you could bring in because you weren't official media?

Sometimes you get photos that aren't perfect but the subject matter is so compelling you just have to use them anyway. That can be a tough call sometimes. I usually choose quality control over the subject matter. But that can be a really tough choice. This one looks pretty dark to me, as well as soft. Are you still on the road? Maybe it's the laptop monitor.

I went to Indy once. It wasn't for a race. I was in Indianapolis for a home theater tradeshow and we visited a Ford tuner by the track, just for fun. They took us over to the track and drove us in. That place is HUGE! I've never seen anything else like it. I suppose Daytona is pretty big, too. But Indy just totally amazed me. It's so big you can only see a little tiny bit. I can't imagine actually trying to watch a race there. I think it would be better on TV. And then there's that whole oval track racing thing. I like right turns and left turns

[SmartWombat]

This is St Pete, the IRL/IMSA season opener.
Yeah, I was in as Martin's guest, so a normal GA ticket with pit pass.
I'm back home, and on the profiled monitor I agree it looks dark.
It's sooc with no adjustment and I think the meter was fooled by the white wall and trucks.

[brmill26]

Technical niggles aside, great timing Paul. Evidence shows he clearly had more than 50% in, so he got chopped. Unfortunately, that's the way it goes in the young guys' feeder series. Hopefully he has better luck later in the season.

[SmartWombat]

He was chopped, it was the move where your opponent lets the brakes off in the corner and squeezes you in once past. As long as you can keep it wheel to wheel you usually get out of it OK (rubbing is racing in NASCAR, not Indy!) but once the wheels interlock one of you is going for a rough ride.

[KmH]

Technical niggles aside, great timing Paul. Evidence shows he clearly had more than 50% in, so he got chopped. Unfortunately, that's the way it goes in the young guys' feeder series. Hopefully he has better luck later in the season.

Nice image considering the constraints.
Looks more like Martin tried to force it to me. It has to be more than 50% at turn in, not half way to the apex. 50% is a rough guideline, some drivers you need 70%, some 50.1% will do.

Expecting the driver in front to be looking is his mirrors anywhere from turn in to apex is wishful thinking and catches out a lot of young drivers. The car in front owns the line to the apex. It's always the overtaking drivers responsibility to avoid contact.