Thursday, December 30, 2010

Graveyard !

We just stopped by at the Cadillac Graveyard ! Its a popular turist attraction here in Texas and of some reason there's 10 cadillacs stocked into the ground !? But it's fun to have been there !

On the road again !

Today we've mainly driving the whole day across Texas ! Drove for awhile on Route 66 so now I can check that from my bucket list as well !! Most of the view has been desert and every town looks like a old cowboy movie ! I even saw this buffalo that you could buy for $ 19.999 !!!

Best,
Marten

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Never the same !

We have now checked in at the hotel in New Mexico ! We've been driving the whole day started with sunshine to snowstorm and then driving in the desert !! And we will continue tomorrow morning again !

Contrast

When we left the hotel this morning its all warm and sunny ! Then we started to drive north up to Grand Canyon and right now we're stocked in a snow storm ! Its not too bad and I think we will drive back !

Best,
Marten

It gets crazier!

So after working out at the gym,climbed a mountain we decided to skydive !! Its super cool, the free falling was kind of crazy but then it became very peaceful ! And our instructor was a hold other story ! Let say; he didn't tell us anything about what will happen, the safety or the landing ! Until 5 seconds before its time to do it -crazy !

But now I can check skydiving from my bucket list !

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Full Speed !

Last night we ate some dinner and relaxed infront of the fireplace and just catched up with everything ! Then after midnight we went to the gym and worked out ! Went to bed 2am then 6am we started climb a 2.6 miles/4.2km high mountain !!! -And more will come !

Best,
Marten

Monday, December 27, 2010

Road Trip # 3 !

I just arrived in Phoenix ! It's nice here 70F / 20C warm and the flight went great ! I got this cool picture of Lake Tahoe !! And I believe tomorrow officially starts Road Trip # 3 !!

Best,
Marten

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Happy Holidays !

The holidays has been great ! I celebrate christmas with a lot of food both on christmas eve and christmas day ! And I'm very proud of my own christmas stocking with my name on it ! A friend gave me this nice engraved christmas tree saying God Jul = Merry Christmas !! Today I worked out and then used this super hi tech massage chair = Heaven ! Then went to the theater to watch True Grift, a great movie !! Right now I'm packing for my trip tomorrow to Phoenix !

Happy Holidays !
Marten

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Merry Christmas !

First of all; Merry Christmas everyone and here's my gift to all of you ! A cool video of the 25hrs of Thunderhill I raced for Team Copa December 3th-5th ! Christmas and New Year's Eve is all about spending time with great people and appreciate all the good from the past year and look forward to the next one ! And this race was a perfect example of all that !!


Merry Christmas everyone !
Marten

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Race for a Cause !

Here's a video from the Race for a Cause event I attended to last Sunday ! They even managed to capture me in a picture in the end !


Best,
Marten

...back then !

I got this video clip forwarded to me:

I love watching old racing videos and I've so much respect for the drivers back then. "There are brave heroes, there are old heroes but there are no old brave heroes" Unfortunately that how it's when the safety = zero !

Best,
Marten

Monday, December 20, 2010

Charity !

Last night my friend Tony Hunt hosted a go-cart charity event ! It's a great event; raced some go-carts, met some people and of course help out for a great cause !!



















































Tony became 6 times USAC Sprint Car Champ this year ! Very impressive !! I've been fortune to test and race with Tony and with his team Tony Hunt Motorsport, great people and a great team !
















Foto: Clevland Digital Imaging

Best,
Marten

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Contrast !

















I got this great picture from my parents from a very snowy Sweden ! Saying "Happy Birthday Marten" :) I hope it will be another great year and I'm excited about 2011 ! It still feels weird to not have any snow here for Christmas and the other day I saw this:





















A Christmas tree surrounded by palm trees !!

Best,
Marten

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Nice Trip !

Today I went with a friend to Napa Valley ! It's a perfect day, 70 F/ 20 C warm and just enjoy great foods, drinks and the beautiful view !!

Best,
Marten

Monday, December 13, 2010

The last couple of days have been really good ! Been cruising throw the days but still been productive ! We still get a lot of good feedback from the 25 hrs race and it’s such a great experience ! It’s still weird for me to see all the Christmas decorations and have no snow ! And last Saturday it even get weirder because I got invited to a Caribbean theme Christmas party ! Dressed up with surfer clothes and funny sunglasses in the middle of December ! We even got super lucky with the weather that day 68 F/ 20 C !!!! Pretty cool to have the Golden Gate Bridge behind you !
















Best,
Marten

Monday, December 6, 2010

Really good until...














































Dave Smith started the race and did a great job the first couple of laps with cold tiers and a green track and then he picked up a fast pace around the track ! Right before I jumped in the car 6pm Jared Thompson had been fighting with the car with no power steering and drove in rain with slicks on !

It took me 10 laps to get use to the dark and get a feeling for the heavy rain and try to control the 700+ hp ! We did double stints which means we were out the for little more than 2hrs each. But during my session it started to get crazy out there, cars were flipping, oil on the track etc. Which made me drive for 4 ½ hrs !!!

Drive in the rain is one of my strongest side and was able to take us from 8th overall to leading the race with 12 laps !! It’s a great feeling to be the fastest guy and lead the race in an amazing Ford GT against a Grand-Am Porsche team with factory drivers, who actually won the race last year ! Then at midnight we got hit by a Mazda Miata and broke the right rear suspension, and our race were over :( That’s racing sometimes and it’s hard to swallow because we were leading the race and had a great chance to win the race, in our class and the overall title !!

Overall it’s a great weekend I couldn’t ask for more, we were just unlucky with the result !

Here’s some pictures from the race weekend !


Best,
Marten

Friday, December 3, 2010

Yeah !!
































Right before qualify Dave went out with soft tiers and did couple of super fast lap times ! And when it was time for qualify it started to rain and with a lot of traffic we still pulled off a good lap time and got 3rd overall !!! We have been 2 seconds faster than the pole position time but we just got stocked behind traffic ! We are all happy and confident for the race tomorrow at 11am !

All Good !
































Yesterday of practice went very well, we've big advantage with our 700 hp wich really helps with all the passes ! Today, friday we will just fine tune the set up and it seems it will rain during qualify :S

It's very hard to get any service here at the track, but I'll try to update as much as I can !


Best,
Marten

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Now it starts !!

The race weekend have officially start ! No rain so far and the team is preparing the car for the first test ! We even have a big time celebrity here, Paul Walker from Fast & the Furious is pitted next to us and will drive a Mazda !!

Best,
Marten