habu2 Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Formula 1 came to Dallas TX in 1984, thirty years ago next month. Excessive heat and deteriorating track conditions made it a one time event, as the drivers were unhappy and wanted to cancel the race. I was a corner worker at the infamous chicane where the pavement was torn up by the combination of heat and tires. My job was to keep the many photographers in check and out of harm's way. Of course that didn't stop me from taking my own photos. I also had unrestricted access to the pits and the garage areas. I recently found my photos but, sadly, not my negatives. These are scans of 30 year old 4x6 prints from a one-hour photo hut so they aren't the best quality. I was shooting with a Canon AT-1 and a couple of cheap Vivitar lenses. edit: all images rehosted on imgur - no more blurred watermarked fauxtobucket crapola and some more photos appended to the thread. 👍 Enjoy. ABC sportscaster Chris Economaki describing alternate nosecones for the Brabham-BMWs Patrick Tambay in his Renault. Note the camera rig mounted on the rollbar. Eddie Cheever's Benneton-Alfa Romeo Andrea de Cesaris' Ligier-Renault in the pits RAM-BMW engine/transaxle in the garage Rear wing of Rene Arnoux's Ferrari Niki Lauda walking thru the pit area before the race Edited October 24, 2019 by habu2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Nelson Piquet, Brabham-BMW Corrado Fabi, Brabham-BMW no pics of Martin Brundle or his Tyrrell-Ford, he DNQ'd... 😞 Stefan Bellof, Tyrrell-Ford Jacques Laffite, Williams-Honda Race winner Keke Rosberg, Williams-Honda Alain Prost, McLaren-TAG Niki Lauda, McLaren-TAG Edited September 14, 2019 by habu2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) no pics of Philippe Alliot or his RAM-Hart, he was DNS for the race 😞 Jonathan Palmer, RAM-Hart Elio de Angelis, Lotus-Renault Nigel Mansell, Lotus-Renault Manfred Winkelhock, ATS-BMW Patrick Tambay, Renault Derek Warwick, Renault no pics of Marc Surer or his Arrows-BMW... 😞 Thierry Boutsen, Arrows-BMW Edited September 14, 2019 by habu2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Ayrton Senna, Toleman-Hart (in his first season in F1) Johnny Cecotto, Toleman-Hart no pics of Huub Rothengatter or his Spirit-Hart... 😞 Riccardo Patrese, Benneton-Alfa Romeo Eddie Cheever, Benneton-Alfa Romeo no pics of Piercarlo Ghinzani, Osella-Alfa Romeo or Francois Hesnault, Ligier-Renault... 😞 Andrea de Cesaris, Ligier-Renault Michele Alboreto, Ferrari Rene Arnoux, Ferrari Edited September 14, 2019 by habu2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted June 9, 2014 Author Share Posted June 9, 2014 (edited) Up the hill after the chicane . . The appalling track conditions at the chicane . Get off the line and you're in the marbles and into the wall... ...like this . Alain Prost and Niki Lauda catch a ride on Jacques Laffite's Williams-Honda after the race, Derek Warwick's Renault went into the tires at the chicane on lap 10 and the car sat there the rest of the race !!! As you can see, I was right down there in the thick of things, such access would be impossible today. I still have a piece of Tambay's Renault after he hit the wall, just a piece of brake duct but hey, it's quite the momento. It was certainly a weekend to remember. Edited September 14, 2019 by habu2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Holeshot Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Very cool! Thanks for sharing! Those John Player Specials are still about the best looking F1 cars ever. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
2qwik4u Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Yes, thank you so much for sharing. Love these pictures. The cars then look so much cooler than the cars of today. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted July 6, 2014 Author Share Posted July 6, 2014 bump - 30 years ago this weekend Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Check Six Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Alain Prost and Niki Lauda catch a ride on Jacques Laffite's Williams-Honda after the race, Derek Warwick's Renault went into the tires at the chicane on lap 10 and the car sat there the rest of the race !!! As you can see, I was right down there in the thick of things, such access would be impossible today. I still have a piece of Tambay's Renault after he hit the wall, just a piece of brake duct but hey, it's quite the momento. It was certainly a weekend to remember. Wow; Niki Lauda's signature haircut! Your pics brings back some serious memories of the day. Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted July 7, 2019 Author Share Posted July 7, 2019 bump - 35 years ago this weekend Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Whiskey Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 Awesome stuff! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 I have to agree about the JPS livery. Just saw a video of one of them snarling up the Goodwood hill climb course from last month. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted September 14, 2019 Author Share Posted September 14, 2019 (edited) Well I guess it’s not enough for BlottoBucket to obscure my photos with their watermarks, now they have to blur them too. I will try to rehost the pics on a better site in the near future. Edited September 14, 2019 by habu2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted September 14, 2019 Author Share Posted September 14, 2019 (edited) Okay, images rehosted on imgur. And here are some additional pics I found: Course map de Dion rear suspension on Arnoux's Ferrari Front brake & suspension of Arrows BMW Composite brake rotor - in 1984 !!! Rosberg's Williams Honda Rosberg's Williams Honda Arnoux's Ferrari Palmer's RAM-Hart Prost's McLaren-TAG Official patch Edited November 24, 2019 by habu2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast Posted September 20, 2019 Share Posted September 20, 2019 Very nice indeed! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted October 26, 2019 Author Share Posted October 26, 2019 This link has some interesting commentary and short videos of the race. Pretty sure I am in the background on a couple of these video clips. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/features/2015/10/9-reasons-why-the-84-dallas-grand-prix-was-one-of-the-wildest-ra.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Whoa how did I miss this thread for the last five years?? Honestly! Thanks to habu2 for sending me the link via PM. Awesome photos and a true trip down memory lane. This is gold stuff. As a fan of F1 it never ceases to amaze me just how small those 80's cars were compared to todays. The colors and paint schemes back then were pretty eye catching too (love the Marlboro and black/gold John Players Special cars). And I completely forgot about the Skoal Bandit car in F1 (I always think of NASCAR and Harry Gant when I think of Skoal). Speaking of F1 cars, not sure if anyone here has seen them yet or even follows F1, but this is what the 2021 F1 cars are supposed to look like: Compare that ^^^ with habu2's photos above. Wow! Oh... and as a fan... Congrats on SIX CHAMPIONSHIPS for Lewis Hamilton!!! Good stuff thanks habu2! Happy modeling all! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
janman Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Had missed this too but I'm so happy that you happened to bring it up, Don! Great stuff here! I still remember this race, not from TV (it wasn't necessarily broadcast here at the time) but I remember the magazine article covering this race on our local motor sport magazine that my father was subscribing for decades. Keke was a national hero at that time (having won the championship in -82) and I still remember every Williams and McLaren he drove. It is big shame there are no injection models of these cars, not even from the championship year. Those were the golden years. Cars were made of metal, the drivers were real men in their moustache and who smoked in the pits. And still they could handle these beasts with no power steering, no electronic aids, just raw power. Thanks for posting, habu2! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 4 hours ago, janman said: ...It is big shame there are no injection models of these cars, not even from the championship year. Those were the golden years. Cars were made of metal, the drivers were real men in their moustache and who smoked in the pits. And still they could handle these beasts with no power steering, no electronic aids, just raw power... Couldn't agree more on the models. I've built some of the older F1 kits out there but they are hard to find, quite expensive, and not up to todays standard. I'd love some new kits. My son collects 1/43 scale diecast F1 cars and they are really difficult to obtain (here in North America at least) and can be very pricey. I loved the sound of those 80's and 90's F1 cars! Like you wrote, no electronics (no paddle shifters... oh the horror LOL) it was man taming machine or machine biting man. Good stuff fellas. Happy modeling and have a great weekend all! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EKO Sim-Racing Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 MY GOODNESS!!! YOU'RE THE ONE THAT TOOK ALL THESE NICE PICTURES !!! This is soooo COOL !! All these images are awesome !! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EKO Sim-Racing Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 Just so you know: I'm trying to make this track for a simulator called Assetto Corsa, I made a test portion of it for rFactor, but with updated graphics will do it for Assetto Corsa (I'm also doing Phoenix 1989-1991), any additional help from somebody that was actually in Dallas Fair Park that weekend back then is welcome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EKO Sim-Racing Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EKO Sim-Racing Posted November 21, 2019 Share Posted November 21, 2019 @habu2 Quick question: on what street(s) names exactly was the chicane you were at located ? It's really hard to find an accurate layout of the track at that time, especially the preceding corners to the chicane where you worked. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted November 21, 2019 Author Share Posted November 21, 2019 (edited) This is a google map screen grab with a markup of the course, to the best of my memory. The Start/Finish line was actually across a parking lot, not an existing street. Immediately after the S/F was Pit Lane, which was on Coliseum Drive. The curved track spanning Pit Lane was not on an existing road. The course then followed Admiral Nimitz Rd to a sharp left onto Grand Ave. The runoff was added, Nimitz Rd did not extend past Grand. Note Grand is a boulevard, I don't recall which side of the boulevard/median the track actually ran. Continuing on Grand, directly towards Big Tex (red circle) with a sharp right onto a left sweeper, a road that was either added or no longer exists. A sharp right at the end of the sweeper to a left hand hairpin that connects to S 2nd Ave. A long straight on 2nd Ave had a jog (at intersection w Grand) onto an adjacent parking lot, then a sharp chicane back onto 2nd. (runoff was in the adjacent parking lot) Then a sharp left onto a new road adjacent to (not on) Pennsylvania Ave, this is where the roller coaster was. A slight jog into another sharp chicane, this is where I was stationed during the race (red star) and where the pavement issues were. Then up the hill on a road through parking lots and a short left sweeper onto Washington St. A left hairpin from Washington onto McKenzie St, then a sharp right at Coliseum although the course then crosses a parking lot which is the Start/Finish line. Note some street names are covered by my blue line markup. If you look on google maps (search Dallas Fair Park) you can see the street names. Also, not all of my pics were taken at the chicane during the race, I worked other locations during practice sessions. Hope this helps. . Edited November 21, 2019 by habu2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted November 21, 2019 Author Share Posted November 21, 2019 On 11/20/2019 at 2:41 AM, EKO Sim-Racing said: Just so you know: I'm trying to make this track for a simulator called Assetto Corsa, I made a test portion of it for rFactor, but with updated graphics will do it for Assetto Corsa (I'm also doing Phoenix 1989-1991), any additional help from somebody that was actually in Dallas Fair Park that weekend back then is welcome! Very impressive. Interestingly, at the time of the race I worked as a CGI modeler on military flight sims so I appreciate the work and skill that goes into building a track model such as yours. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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