I was at Brand Hatch on both Saturday and Sunday for the final meeting of the 2007/2008 A1GP series.

I've been a fan of the event since it began and have attended all of the Great Britain races to date. On Saturday I went along with the camera gear to do some photography during the qualifying and initial support races and on Sunday I returned without camera to enjoy the racing.

As usual it was a good couple of days and made even better by the good weather and fantastic driving from Robbie Kerr for Team GBR. I hope to get some shots online this week

I'll be returning to Eastbourne Speedway at Arlington Stadium on Saturday evening to photograph the Eagles vs Belle Vue meeting which starts at 7:30pm.

This will be my second visit to a race meeting and I hope to improve my flash technique after the steep learning curve I experienced during the Eagles vs Wolves match last weekend.

Eastbourne's team consists of Scott Nicholls, Lewis Bridger, Lee Richardson, Cameron Woodward, Edward Kennett, James Brundle and a guest to replace Simon Gustaffson.

The Ace's team will consist of Jason Crump, Billy Forsberg, Charlie Gjedde, Lukasz Jankowski, Joe Screen, Michael Rajkowski and Steve Boxall.

The weather is looking a bit nasty at the moment but all being well I should have some images online from the event on Sunday.

I returned to Arlington Stadium yesterday for the 4th 2008 practice session. This was my second ever visit to photograph at Arlington and I think I was able to perfect my techniques a little. Riders from the Eastbourne Eagles Team and Poole Pirate team were in attendance.

Again the access was very good around the circuit and I was able to try a few different angles as well. Thanks to the organisers and marshals for the access they allowed. Thanks also to Lewis Bridger for pulling a few wheelies whenever he saw us aiming our cameras over the crash barrier. It was much appreciated.

Photographs from the practice can be found in my Arlington Speedway Practice Gallery. I will be adding more photographs very soon.

Lewis Bridger Wheelies

Karol Zabik slides through the corner

I hope to return on Saturday for the press and practice day to get some more shots of the team.

This Sunday I made my first ever visit to a speedway meeting. It was the second practice session for my local team the Eastbourne Eagles held at the Arlington Speedway near Hailsham.

I arrived at 11am and got myself orientated with the circuit and shooting positions. I’ve visited the speedway in the past for stock car and banger racing but not for the actual speedway events.

I spent 4 hours at the circuit watching the various riders practicing and demonstrating their extreme skill at riding around the circuit. It was a bit of a learning curve to get decent photographs as it required different settings to those that I usually work with but I found some that worked for me and started to get more consistent results. In the end I was shooting at 1/500th second for most of the day.

I hope to return to another practice if the weather stays fine but until then my results so far can be found in my gallery

After numerous bad weather forecasts leading up to the Festival of Speed I wasn’t entirely sure it was going to worth the day off work and 1 hour drive but on Thursday evening we got the gear packed and some food prepared in the hope that the forecasters were wrong.

The alarm woke us early at 5:30am and after a quick check out of the window things were not looking too good. However checking the latest weather forecast it did give us a glimmer of hope for a semi decent day.

We arrived at the car park at 7:20 and after ensuring we had all of the necessary waterproof clothing and camera gear we caught a ride on the tractor shuttle from the carpark to the entrance. Our plan was to firstly lighten our load by eating some of our supplies and then take a look through the paddocks.

We didn’t have time to see all of the paddocks before making a start on our trek up hill so we decided to check out the ‘Cartier Style Et Lux’ area. I took the opportunity to try out some ideas I’d had for angles and detail shots I wanted to capture. With the short tour complete we headed up the hill to a spot I’d photographed from last year. On arrival I was disappointed to find they had increased the hay bail height and moved the crowd back just far enough to make photography practically impossible for me. I put on the 100-300mm with 1.4x teleconverter and tried my best but only managed a few shots while balanced on tiptoes.

At the next available opportunity we crossed the track to the slightly better angle offered from the opposite side. With lower bails it meant I had more of a chance at a decent shot but still required the TC to give me enough length over the hay. During the morning we moved up the hill and then decided to take a walk through the rally stage.

We were eager to find the new jump that had been setup for the rally cars to tackle and after a long walk and a few stops at the decent angles we found it. However due to the crowds and trees it meant photographing it was too tricky and we moved on.

At lunchtime we headed back to the bottom of the hill and found a spot on near the beginning of the track outside Goodwood House. This was the best position I shot at during the day as it didn’t require a TC and I could shoot without trying to avoid the hay bails in frame. The weather up until this point had been great, often with sun gracing the circuit. However a dark cloud had moved in and soon a heavy shower came down. I covered the camera in it’s waterproofs and continued taking photographs. The spray was quite welcome as it gave a more dynamic photograph, although the low light levels were more challenging. After only a few minutes it dried up and the sun came out to evaporate the surface water. Not enough though to stop an Aston Martin having a huge crash just past Goodwood House. Due to the large clean-up needed we took the chance to head back uphill to our initial location for the final few runs.

At the end of the day we returned to visit the paddocks we had missed in the morning. We started with the F1 paddock and moved around to the Cathedral Paddock and Supercar area.

In terms of photography the day was mixed. I felt partly off my game and wasn’t as successful as I would have liked but considering the difficult lighting and poor positioning the hay bails I was reasonably happy to get the shots I did keep.

Photographs from the Hill and Rally Stage.

My first visit to the Goodwood Festival of Speed was back in 2005 after taking advantage of the Sunday Times free tickets offer for the Friday. It was a great day out and offered some unique photography opportunities. The rain at the end of the day was a less welcome element, but huddled under the BAR F1 team tent we got a chance to talk to the chief engineer and witness the dismantling of the car.

Last year we went along again but missed the times offer and paid for our tickets. Again it was an enjoyable day and with my new camera and lenses I was able to get much better photographs. The weather again was a bit poor and a downpour midway through the day sent us into the wooded rally stage for cover.

This year I was more prepared and applied for the times offer as soon as it came out. However with only a few days left until the event I’m still awaiting my tickets. I’ve rang the Times twice now and both times I had it confirmed that I am due tickets. They were sent Thursday and should be here. At some point I must make the call whether to buy tickets just to ensure I can go. I’m hanging on a bit longer in the hope that they arrive tomorrow. I can only assume that they were sent via a carrier pigeon with a bad sense of direction!

Regardless of the ticket situation I hope to be there and should have some photographs online during the weekend.

Rather optimistically I made the decision to head to Brands Hatch yesterday for the inaugural Masters Historic Festival. The night before I was considering cancelling my plans due to the bad weather that was being forecasted, but I set my alarm regardless. After waking up and checking the skies locally I was pleased to see patches of blue sky, so I grabbed my gear and headed for the car. After 30 minutes on the road the skies were darkening and soon the rain started. After another 10 minutes when the rain really started to come down I very nearly turned around and headed back to home but having made the effort so far I pushed on.

Arriving at Brands Hatch the showers continued and without even taking the camera I trekked to Hailwood’s for a wakeup coffee, dressed in full winter rally gear! The first race, ‘Sports Racing Masters’ had begun and the rain eased a little, prompting me to return to the car to get the camera ready. Once it was wrapped in waterproof covers I headed to Druids for the first shots of the day. The spray and rain made focusing very tricky and my keeper rate was off to a bad start but I was able to capture a few sharp shots.

Staying at Druids for the remainder of the race I planned to catch the start of the second before moving on to another location. The Gentleman Drivers’ GT race began with a nice field of cars and after 15 or so minutes I moved onto Stirlings for a few shots. Thanks to the new fencing photography from the exit is very hard now but I did get some photos before working down the straight a little. I then moved onto the entrance of Stirlings for some rear-end shots of the cars going into the corner. That is where I met up with a fellow photographer and friend who made the miserable conditions a bit more bearable.

Fortunately the weather cleared a little later in the morning with the rain stopping and some light getting through the clouds. I was, however, still shooting at ISO 400 for most of the day.

The rest of the morning was spent walking the GP loop anti-clockwise, spending most time at Westfield. I had intended to try out some new locations but the weather was too poor to make it worth the while. Nearing lunchtime and it was the turn of the Group C Sportscars. We intended to photograph the first lap from Pilgrim’s Drop before moving back to Druids but after seeing a flaming Mazda fly past we stayed a little longer as the rain started to get heavy again. After a few laps we moved to Druids for the remainder of the race.

Lunchtime came and I hid from the rain in my car and tried to dry the equipment. The rain continued and I fought the urge to return home early. After lunch it was time for the old F1 cars to come out to play, which had been one of the main reasons for my visit. Too wet for photography I wrapped up and retuned to Druids to spectate After only 1 pace car lap the race was aborted due to the poor conditions and not fancying a further 30 minutes in the car I set off home.

The results where mixed with the rain and spray making everything quite difficult. I was pleased to see some decent shots and the water and reflections do and another element to the shots.

Master Historic Festival Gallery

My photographs from the 2007 Rallye Sunseeker Wareham stages are online in my Sunseeker Gallery.