Assisting the Williams and Renault F1 teams out with some last minute repairs and paintwork prior to the US Grand Prix
| F1
week at Classic Jaguar Assisting the Williams and Renault F1 teams out with some last minute repairs and paintwork prior to the US Grand Prix |
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What an incredible time we had yesterday at COTA as guests of the Williams F1 team! We spent the day in the Williams garage watching the team practicing and qualifying for the US Grand Prix. It is always fun to join the team for pit stop practice, which is traditionally followed by a fantastic 'full English' breakfast prepared by the team chef! Huge thanks to James Boughton, Mark Pattinson and the entire Williams team for making it a truly special day for us. We even made a brief appearance on the world TV feed while standing next to far more interesting people in the Williams garage!
We were also privileged to be given tours of the Renault, Red Bull and Haas garages, so many thanks to those organizations for their time and generosity on what is obviously an extremely busy day for the teams.
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| My mother back in the UK spotted us on on
the world TV feed from the Williams garage - fame at last! |
Click on the image above to see a short
video of a 1.8 seconds pit stop during practice |
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| James Boughton tucking Chris Scarborough
into the F1 Experiences dual seat race car |
Gerardo Lopez seemed extra happy to climb behind the wheel! |
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| I shared the car with a world champion
back street driver |
Touring the Red Bull garage |
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| Visiting the Renault garage |
Great to see the cars we painted in
action! |
It is always an honor and privilege to be asked to help out the F1 teams in the week prior to the US Grand Prix. This year we are once again assisting the Renault and Williams teams with some minor body repairs and a fresh coat of paint.
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| Ian Gleadell (Williams), Gerardo Lopez
(CJ), Mark Pattinson (Williams) and Chris Scarborough (CJ) |
The team worked late into the night Sunday |
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| Both Renaults repaired and repainted |
Gerardo and Chris looking justifiably
pleased with the result of their efforts! |
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| Both Williams cars now pristine and ready
to race! |
Huge thanks to James Boughton, Mark Pattinson and the entire Williams F1 team who treated myself and fellow Team CJ members Gerardo Lopez, Chris Scarborough and Andy McCreadie like royalty all day yesterday at the Circuit of the Americas. The entire Williams organization is total class from top to bottom. Good luck on Sunday, Felipe and Valtteri!
Thanks also to Geoff Simmonds of Renault Sport Racing for showing us around the Renault garage and introducing us to team driver Kevin Magnussen, whose fire damaged chassis we repaired just couple of days ago. It was a real privilege for us to spend time with both these teams!
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| Gerardo, Dan, Andy and Chris in the
Williams garage |
Cars are largely torn down between practice sessions |
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| Thrilling to be present for pit stop
practice |
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| Great to see Kevin Magnussen's car back in
action less than 2 days after it was painted at CJ |
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| Kevin signed and presented us with one of
his driving shoes as a 'thank you' for repairing his car! |
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| Feverish activity in the CJ Coachworks on Sunday afternoon |
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| Time to mask off prior to painting, late
Sunday night |
Chassis unmasked at 6am Monday morning |
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| Looking pristine and ready for collection
Monday morning |
After some long hours and a lot of hard
work, the boys look justifiably proud of their work! |
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| A pit lane fire in Sepang led to this car
needing some repairs prior to the US Grand Prix |
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| Repairs underway in the CJ workshop in
Austin, Monday afternoon |
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| CJ crew worked late into the night on Monday | |
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| Back to work at the crack of dawn on Tuesday | Comparing a test spray-out to a side pod freshly painted back at the factory |
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| 12 noon Tuesday |
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| Chris, Guillermo and Gerardo at 2.30pm,
after wrapping up the painting (paint still wet) |
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| 3.30pm Tuesday, the car is now ready for the mechanics |