January 25, 2021

Today we look back at the first racing team I worked with in Champ Car, Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing with driver Tiago Monteiro in 2003 at the Milwaukee Mile and Road America.

These photos are from the Road America Champ Car race weekend. The race itself was red flagged twice because of rain and was shortened because of darkness.

Tiago had Emerson Fittipaldi as a coach and mentor. You can't get much better than Emerson for sure to help you out!

The team only lasted one year and James Dingman didn't really help anyone by not paying them.

Tiago would go on with his career in racing with Formula 1 in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

He still is racing in Europe in touring cars and has won the Nurburgring 24 Hour the past two years in a Honda TCR.

I love Emerson Fittipaldi's motorcycle you see here. Sargento Cheese at this 2003 race weekend made a cheese head sculpture of Emerson!! Where else but in Wisconsin can you get that?

Enjoy a look back at 2003 Road America where Tiago finished 11th after two red flags because of the rain.

Thanks,

Rich ZImmermann

December 19, 2016

Winter is in the state of Wisconsin, finally! We have snow and the cold all at once it seems. It's really beautiful and the snow is very fluffy. It's easy to shovel. The snowblower is out for repair, but it worked great when I tested it a month ago! Hopefully we will get it back soon, more snow on the way.

Well, I am scanning the 2003 race at Road America lately and for a few more weeks that is what we will be looking at. The cars were so great then. They had so much horsepower and they looked really nice.

These were the days with different engine and chassis manufacturers. It was during the years when teams put blankets over the car wings, both front and rear, to hide their secrets for more speed.

Enjoy a look at Tiago Monteiro again, plus Rudolfo Lavin, Mario Haberfeld, Ryan Hunter Reay and Oriol Servia.

Time to keep working on our basement project. We finished the painting last week and I finished the floor tiles yesterday on a day off of work! Now it's time for the cove molding and then it's about done!!!!!

Have a great week. Don't shovel too much and stay warm.

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

P.S. Thanks to everyone who bought one of my Rich Zimmermann Photography rock'n roll calendars! Sold out early this year!

The CART race at Elkhart Lake's Road America in 2003. When we had REAL race cars!!

December 13, 2016

Well, it's been very busy around here lately and this is the first time I have ever missed writing my blog on time!! Sorry to my 2 followers! Hah!

We have been busy painting our basement and doing some remodeling work. We actually can see the finish line, I think!

So yesterday, 12-12-2016, was Emerson Fittipaldi's 70th birthday! I was planning on doing some Road America 2003 work here and with Emmo's birthday it works out nicely.

In 2003 I worked for Emerson's team, Fittipaldi Dingman, with driver Tiago Monteiro. Those were fun times!

Here are a few photos of Tiago and the birthday boy!

More to come soon.

Still have a couple 2017 Rich Zimmermann Photography calendars if anyone is interested. Email me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and I can get one to you for Christmas!

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann

Tiago Monteiro in 2003 at Road America.

April 16, 2012

Most of us work in an office or cubicle, but if you are lucky enough to be a race car driver your office is the cockpit. If you are lucky enough to be a musician the stage is your office.  Those jobs are very similar in many ways.  Both demand a lot of brain power and both require stamina because the work environment can change at any second.  Your reflexes need to be quick and you must have the ability to focus only on the task at hand.   Both, hopefully, are in front of a large and excited crowd interested in what you are doing.  Adrenaline pours through the body of the musician on stage or the race car driver in the cockpit.  I feel the same thing when I photograph them! It really is alot of fun for me.

In 2003, after years of photographing race car drivers I wanted to find a different angle, a different view that we don't see very often, a view to call my own.  I thought a view of the race car driver from above, in his office, would be an interesting angle.  On pit lane one day, I put the Nikon directly above Indy Car driver Tiago Monteiro, who I was photographing for Fittipaldi-Dingman Racing.  There it was!  I knew I had something good there.  This started my cockpit photograph library.  It is a difficult photograph to take because I am shooting blind with just putting the camera above the driver and firing away.  Digital photography makes that so easy,  but in 2003, those first cockpit pictures were taken with film.  I did not make the switch to digital until 2005.

My cockpit photographs have traveled around the world since then and all of a sudden it seems that the racing world is catching on.  I see other photographers doing and publishing the same thing!  It is a nice compliment and I believe that maybe I started a little something way back in 2003.  I'm not sure, maybe I didn't start it, but it is a cool view, isn't it?

Thanks,

Rich Zimmermann