Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Two jumps and a water splash

Last weekend I was privileged to be able to attend Rally South Australia, part of the Australian Rally Championship, held in the beautiful Barossa Valley. I have often been told how great an event this is to shoot but was not expecting to be able to have shots from two jumps and a water splash by lunch on the first day! The weather was sensational a bit cold at night but clear and warm during the day. Rally SA have a terrific spectator area, which is intersected by 4 rally stages during the day. The action is also played live onto huge screens. Over 17,000 people attended and that’s not including all the ones we kept encountering all over the forest.

For the first day I was lucky enough to tag along with an old friend, Joel, who is the official snapper for the ARC and rally.com.au. This was Joel’s 5th Rally SA and he had spent a day driving the stages on recce looking for new places to shoot from. We spent all Saturday chasing the top 20 cars around the forest, which was great fun although we did some serious walking weighed done with gear. The hike up to the top of the ridgetops stage was something Joel had wanted to do for some time so we set off to see what it was like. It really reminded me of a Rally Finland kind of stage with its pine trees and undulating road which promised the possibility of some of the faster cars getting some big air. Sure enough the zero car came through and got a little then Simon Evans came next and flew. Eventual rally winner Steve Glenney was probably the most spectacular as he was airborne for what seemed like ages.

Day 2 and I was up early to get into the Eden High stage. Taking a gamble I walked into the stage for a while until I spotted a couple of orange ARC media vests. It was Justin Deeley and Juris Pusins, two of the best motorsport photographers around, and really nice guys too, so I knew I was onto a good thing. We stopped at a nice looking jump, which was heavily backlight but would give a really nice lighting effect. Always looking for a different angle Justin then proceeded to climb a tree above the jump!

After the top 20 had gone through it was time to move on to the next stage but it was then that I got one of my favourite shots from the weekend of a local EVO but in a beautiful backlit light. The rest of the day was then just more of the same, jumps, water splashes and sunshine. Thanks to all at Rally SA for a superb event. It really doesn’t get any better and I’ve already booked my accommodation for next year.

Monday, August 14, 2006

Valley of the Giants

What a glorious day to be in the forests of Tasmania’s south west, that is of course unless you happen to be David Waldon, Craig Brooks or Craig Sault. The latest round of the Tasmanian Rally Series was held in the spectacular Styx Valley area, home of the Mount Field National Park and the Valley of the Giants. Crisp and clear and with a decent field of cars we set off into the first stage which was 22km’s of fast open forest roads. We past a triple caution corner, which Brooksy had crashed on only a few weeks before so everyone would take it nice and easy and headed for an interesting twisty bit of road over a small creek.

The first car came through but then nothing for quite some time. Finally, sometime later, after all the competitors and the sweep car had come through we headed back out of the stage the way we came. When we got up to that triple caution corner we slowed and came around to see a very bent Subaru WRX with Waldo and Ross standing by the car. They were both fine and showed us the in-car footage of the accident which Waldo said suggested it was a car breakage rather than driver error. As I am just a humble snapper and he is one of my best customers who am I to disagree with him.

This left Brooksy in a winning position until the very last stage of the day when a fuel line broke putting him out of the rally, passing the lead to the Stonemen brothers in their Mitsubishi EVO who took their first ever outright win. You have also got to feel sorry for Craig Sault who went off 100 yards from the finish, got bogged and lost 3 minutes getting back on the road. So with one round left there is only 8 points separating David Waldon and Craig Brooks at the top of the Tas Rally Series but Waldo and his crew certainly have their work cut out for them to have the car ready in time.

Monday, August 07, 2006

Bernie’s enclave of the rich and famous

At last. After 113 grand prix starts Jenson Button has finally won a Formula 1 Grand Prix. May we all hope that this opens the floodgates and is the first victory of many. To do so in the style he did was also a great achievement as Jenson started from 14th on the grid after a 10 place penalty for a blown engine and then battled through the field in horrendous conditions.

As a Formula 1 fan in Australia life can be very tough. The majority of races are in the middle of the night or in the case of Malaysia and Japan they often conflict with the Aussie V8 taxi racing which the local broadcaster gives preference to. So delayed telecasts are the order of the day and it is often 1 or 2am before the end of the races. Since 1996 I have always made the pilgrimage to Albert Park for the Australian Grand Prix. Although I have to admit it’s not my favourite circuit and compared to the circuits I have visited in Europe it all seems very clinical. It certainly lacks the history and passion you feel at places like Spa or Monaco.

However, I have often had the good fortune to experience some seriously good hospitality there. Last year I was in Bernie’s enclave of the rich and famous, the Paddock Club, courtesy of Pentax and this year I was the guest of Panasonic Toyota. Although the best was unquestionably when I was a guest of Tag Heuer and was given the full tour of the pits and their remarkable timing centre. Aside from that I have often just got a general admission ticket and wandered around the circuit.

Albert Park is one of those tracks where you can still find some great spots to sit and watch the pinnacle of motorsport without having to pay a fortune. In fact the action shot above of Jenson Button was taken last year in such a spot and no I’m not telling you where as it will be too crowded next year! Photography can be very difficult with such high fences but if you can get close enough and have long enough lenses it’s possible to some good shots.
Anyway back to the man of the moment congratulations Jenson on your first Grand Prix win and I look forward to your second, and third, and fourth and ……………..
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