Indy rained out

[SmartWombat]

I've never been at a race before where the fans have been evacuated !

Starts out with light rain at the start; a few fans in the pits unsure what this stuff is falling from the sky, a few spots on the visor and on the car, but starting on slick tyres.
Within a few laps the rain intensifies and the race is red flagged to change onto wets.
And the fans don their ponchos for the duration.

After the red flag, someone, somewhere out there on the restart may have a missing wheel nut retainer.
But the race goes on...

[SmartWombat]

Unfortunately the rain doesn't stop.
I'm still shooting with the 1DSmkII/24-70/580EX and 1DmkIIN/70-200&1.4x/580EXII despite the rain.
All equipment working just fine, though shooting through the rain to the racetrack is not going well ...
They they tell us to "take precautions" well, I've got my poncho on, so I'm all right.
Plowey (#27) on the other hand is fighting through the spray on his way up the field after being balked by an incident in front of him.
Meanwhile his team mate is under pressure on the main straight down towards turn 1.

[SmartWombat]

Finally, with less than 10 minutes to go on the race, the lightning starts.
And the crowds are evacuated to safety!
So we end up not knowing where Martin finished in the race, crammed into the parking garage with hundreds of other fans, safely away from the storm.

We did run into him, fortunately, on our way out and said our goodbyes, with congratulations on placing 6th in atrocious conditions and avoiding the accidents that put many of his challengers for the championship out of the running.
A real survivor's race this one, and finishing with all 4 wheels on the car and getting points is the kind of thing that will make a difference come the end of the season in Miami.

[ciddog91]

As always, great shots... I like #3 in the first set most. The driver getting ready is a fav shot of mine every time.

Phil

[Photo-John]

The photo of Angie in her poncho and wheelchair is my favorite

[SmartWombat]

Well I'm biased
The team were fantastic, came over with a poncho in a case like a wheel (we kept the wheel) for her as it started ... I dug out my emergency cape and carried on shooting
Didn't stop me getting thoroughly wet though.

Little tip, when shooting in torrential rain, put the camera strap under the poncho to keep it dry, otherwise the grippy non-slip surface gets un-grippy, slips, and the cameras fall off your shoulders - not something you want when standing on the pit wall !

[LightBright]

I like the whole series, very journalistic in terms of content. I really like the 3rd shot in the first series.

[Singletracklovr]

Love the wife and pit shots, but those concrete barriers sure block the view of the race.

[SmartWombat]

They do, but we're there to support Martin.
The view of the race from pit lane isn't great, I agree, but it has compensations ;)