Bathurst 12 hours-pit and paddock

I have always enjoyed going into the paddock at motor races.In some ways I find the paddock more interesting than the racing. I used to love going into the paddock at the British Grand Prix at Brands Hatch and Silverstone but sadly those days are long gone and anyway there is nothing to see in the paddock at F1 nowadays. Everything is hidden away in massive transporters and "facilities".
Fortunately the Bathurst 12 hours is not yet like that. Last weekend I could see right into nearly all the pits although Bentley were playing precious with blocking screens.
One striking aspect of modern motor racing is how much gear and personnel the teams bring to the track. Much of the gear is electronic gear-banks of monitors,telemetry and communication equipment. When I put my head into their cavern Bentley seem to have more monitors and technicians than a full sized TV studio.
I do wonder whether all the personnel in the pits are really necessary. Many of them seem to be standing around most of the time. The cost of bringing them must be astronomical for the European teams. And again I find myself asking why do many of them have faces like they are permanently sucking on lemons? You are supposed to be enjoying it folks. There are people who would give their right arm for your jobs.
Anyway a selection of my pit and paddock photos.All Leica X Vario photos.

Godzilla on the Mountain

The Nissan GT-R-Godzilla- has never really appealed to me.Fast,very fast yes,but stylish no.I guess that it is an age and cultural thing.In Japan the GT-R is an icon.It may not appeal to me but I take my hat off to the team who bought the GT-R home in first place at the Bathurst 12 hour race.They were on the pace for the whole race and when it really counted in the last two laps they had the straight line speed.Maybe it was the supply of cup noodles which gave them the edge.
Two of the drivers were basically rookies who came to be in the car because of their gaming skills.It is a remarkable story see NISSAN GT-R