THE LAST CAR RACE

Due to a domino effect of reasons, World Endurance Championship ended up at COTA in Austin, Texas in late February for a 6h race at Circuit of the Americas. Toyota's team photographer James Moy was otherwise occupied in Barcelona with Formula 1 testing. So I happily stepped in to fill the void. As it turns out, the very dull and grey 6h would be one of the last car races to run before the world turned on it's head thanks to COVID-19.

It was good to see the team. The drivers. The mechanics. The people that make the team one of my favorites to work with. I love this car too. Sadly, it has been absolutely castrated by performance ballast and equalized to a far inferior machine. The TS050 was like a samurai sword, but now it's a sword that has been dulled into not much more than a kitchen knife. It is visibly and noticeably slower than the last time I saw it in June 2019. Oh well. Such is modern racing!

Here are a few favorites from my weekend in Austin. It was great to be back at a track I do enjoy working at. Thanks to James, Al, Seb, Jerome, Catherine, Jeff, the WEC and COTA staff and the Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers and mechanics for their hospitality.