May
08

British GT – Rockingham, Round 2

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The most striking thing about Rockingham this weekend wasn’t the rare May heat and sunshine, or even the great racing – it was the echo of the engines bouncing off the grandstands as the GT machinery tore around the circuit.

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See, Rockingham is the only oval speedway circuit in the UK; one of only two in Europe. It’s special. From the main grandstand, you can see across the entire circuit. I can’t think of any other track in the UK that gives you such a good view of the racing.

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Which was, as usual for the British GT, fantastic.

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This was my first time at Rockingham, and I came to the event expecting the infield to be relatively unchallenging for the GT machinery. Boy, was I wrong. The mixture of low speed, technical corners, often had the cars sliding on the exits. It really separated the men from the boys.

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The high kerbs on the final chicane had the cars skipping around on the track.

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The infield also had a lot more elevation change than I was expecting, with a few crests here and there.

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Also, luckily, the fire came out of the right holes this time!

Watch out for Part 2, where I bring details from the pits and paddock.

Here are a few more images from the event:

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If you’re interested in purchasing any of these images, or viewing other images from the event, please contact me here. The images shown here are copyright, and may not be used without consent.

Apr
02

British GT – Oulton Park, Round 1

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Motorbase Performance Porsche

As someone who has spent the past four years as accredited media at the vast majority of the events I’ve photographed, it’s very easy to forget how spoiled for choice we are at circuits. The growing base of enthusiasts have it much harder. I got to spend the day in their shoes this weekend, at the opening round of the British GT Championship at Oulton Park. Having the restrictions was a huge challenge, but I think that it made for some fantastic images.

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M-Sport Audi R8

Photographing the drivers and cars in the paddock was a huge challenge. With the teams often closing the fronts of their awnings, and this year shielding the back of their pit garages, I could often only get a fleeting glimpse of the paddock activity.

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Used Tyres

It’s the little things.

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FF Corse Ferrari 458GT3

Out on track, the Armco made getting the full car in frame a challenge. Improvisation is a good skill to have in these situations.

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United Autosports McLaren MP4-12C GT3

There were, however, one or two spots where you could see the cars in their full glory.

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MTECH Ferrari 458GT3

One of the great things about Oulton Park is the back end of the circuit, where the circuit runs through some quintessentially British woodland. It certainly made for some interesting compositions.

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JRM Performance Nissan GT-R GT3

Especially with some of the springtime greenery. Though the temperature was more like mid-winter!

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888Optimum BMW Z4GT3

The sun peeked through once or twice luckily.

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IDL-CWS Ginetta G55 GT3

And then the fire of the Ginette helped warm us up a little more! Luckily, the driver got away in time from the blaze.

If you’re interested in purchasing any of these images, or viewing other images from the event, please contact me here. The images shown here are copyright, and may not be used without consent.

 

 

Sep
16

Wales Rally GB

Yesterday I had the pleasure of going to Wales Rally GB. My first time ever at a rally event of this scale. I’m used to going to the Pirelli International, and the Malcolm Wilson, but this was an entirely different scale.

It was also my first time seeing WRC-level drivers on stage.

Jari-Matti Latvala went on to win the rally today. He came in to SS8 with a huge lead, and acted like the thick fog that was covering the jump section didn’t even exist. Luckily, it cleared up after about half the cars had ran through, making my job much easier.

Sebastian Loeb went on to take the second spot from Petter Solberg on the last day of running, but actually looked quite slow on Halfway, in my opinion. I’d love to see him drive on a day where he’s at his fastest.

Matthew Wilson looked quick over the jumps. I guess growing up in Cumbria has some advantages for this event! He came home in eighth once the event was all over.

 

I decided to play around with slow shutter speeds partway through SS12. I think some of them came out really well. Recently I’ve been shooting much faster than normal.

 

I blame the 70-200 2.8, and it’s gorgeous bokeh.

 

This Skoda, driven by Hayden Patton, was probably one of the most photogenic of the bunch. One of the simplest liveries in the entire field.

With any luck, my full coverage of Wales Rally GB, as well as a tour of the M-Sport and Ford World Rally Team HQ should be coming soon on MotoIQ! Stay tuned!

 

Apr
29

Pirelli International Rally

So, I went to the Pirelli International Rally yesterday. Blown away by the crazy Scandinavian talent!

I wish rallying still featured as many 4WD monsters. Though these DS3’s sounded incredible.

I really didn’t expect a huge, rock lined quarry in the middle of SS3. Or the drivers to be so balls out and barely missing massive boulders at the side of the road. Incredible.

There were a few AWD cars too. You can tell when an Evo is coming because it pops whenever the driver feathers the throttle.

This guy. Kieth Cronin, the eventual winner of the rally. Insane! Even the AWD cars weren’t jumping on this kink over a sharp crest, his pace was incredible.

The kink was an awesome, but scary place to be standing. Every driver cut it tighter, going on to the bark and frankly, massive rocks. More than once there was a dangerously big stone kicked in my direction.

Historics! There were a ton of Porsches on show. I’ve never seen a 911 on a rally stage before, quite an impressive sight. The historics mainly consisted of these an the Mark I and II Escorts. As usual in British rallying, those things are everywhere.

I was excited to see the iconic Martini livery out on show, but then I noticed it was slightly modified. Grr.

Right, I think that’s about it for the Pirelli. Good event, I have to say.

BUT!

I have something rally-related in the works that could be absolutely amazing in May. Something tenuously related to that image above. Watch this space!