The sun is hot, the crowds are thick and the breeze tempers the heat at Sonoma for the GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma. The IZOD IndyCar Series is running its third to last race of the 2012 season. Warm-up is done, no engine changes, and the teams are making their final race preparations. The fans are everywhere, and the garage area is packed with those who sport a Garage Pass. What did we do before smart phones, tablets and digital cameras. People are posing every place you can imagine, and then some. The IndyCar paddock has been deemed one of the more fan-friendly.
Sunday mid-morning is a great time for people watching.
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Six cars will sport three in-car cameras each – HELIO CASTRONEVES/No.3 Team Penske Chevrolet; JR HILDEBRAND/No.4 Panther Racing Chevrolet; WILL POWER/No.12 Team Penske Chevrolet; RYAN HUNTER-REAY/Andretti Autosport Chevrolet; SIMON PAGENAUD/No.77 Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports Honda; and CHARLIE KIMBALL/No.83 Novo Disk Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
All race cars carry a dummy camera atop their roll hoop. The in-car cameras this weekend are positioned on top, on a rear-view mirror, and on a wing.
The Drivers Start Your Engine will be in triplicate – Sacramento Mayor KEVIN JOHNSON, flanked by Olympic Gold Medalists ERIN CAFARO and DANA VOLLMER. They all hail from UC Berkeley, as does STEVE PAGE, President of Sonoma. In tribute to the Cal Bears, the kerbs are painted blue and gold.
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WILL BUXTON came back with bugs in his teeth – ear to ear grin – from his IndyCar two-seater ride with MARIO ANDRETTI. He said it was “Awesome!” Buxton said in comparison, the IndyCar ride was so much better than anything else, including the F1 two-seater. It had to do with perspective and vision. In the F1 Minardi, the passenger basically looks at the back of the driver’s seat. In the IndyCar, Buxton said he could look through the roll hoop and see the silver helmet with the red stripe, and all that the driver sees. There was nothing else like it. Buxton is a convert.
Buxton said this has been one of the best weekends of his life!