FIA WTCC - Brands Hatch
Due to noise restrictions there are very few race
meetings that use the full Grand Prix circuit at Brands
Hatch, the World Touring Car Championship over the weekend
of 26th/27th July was one of the few occasions this classic
circuit configuration was used. The SEAT Leon TDIs have
been the cars to beat so far this year but at Brands the
form book was turned on it's head and the diesel powered
cars struggled, a win for Jorg Muller in the BMW and Alain
Menu in the Chevy suggested that there is life in the
championship yet. The weekend wasn't kind to the British
drivers with Andy Priaulx only managing 4th in race one and
a DNF in race two, he was luckier than Rob Huff who went
off a few laps from home in race one due to a front
puncture with an almost certain race victory within his
grasp and completing the trio James Thompson struggled for
pace all weekend. Photos from the
WTCC,
Formula Master,
Formula Palmer Audi and
Andy Priaulx's Formula One Demo are online.
Snetterton Track Day - 24 July 2008
A selection of photos from the novice track day at
Snetterton, Norfolk held on the 24 July 2008 are now
online. This is only a small selection of the images I have
from the car sessions if you don't see youself please use
the contact link and let me know. Click on the link for a
gallery of over 200
photos.
British GT and Formula 3
Brands Hatch in Kent was the venue for the latest
round of the 2008 Avon British GT Championship. The
supporting races included the British/International F3
Championship, Caterham Superlights, Halvoline sponsored
Ginettas, the Ginetta G50 Cup, VW Cup and Formula Fords.
After a few disappointing years the grid for the GT
championship is in good health with a large number of
Ferraris, Dodge Vipers and a brace of Lamborghini
Gallardos. With full grids for the supporting races it is a
very strong overall package. Photos from the
GT,
F3,
Caterham Superlights,
Halvoline Ginettas,
Ginettas G50,
Formula Ford and
VW Cup are now online.
Britcar 24hr 2007
TheBritcar 24hr took place over the weekend of
September 8/9th at Silverstone, the pre-event talk was of
the Top Gear entry driven by Jeremy Clarkson, James May,
Richard Hammond and the Stig. The post race headlines
belonged to the all conquering Duller Motorsport BMW Z4M
Coupe which backed up it's surprise win in last years event
with an emphatic victory. Although the crowd probably
wanted the 2nd place Rollcentre Racing Mosler to take the
spoils there was still British interest with Jamie
Campbell-Walter taking a share of the driving duties in the
victorious BMW, the Paragon entered Porsche 911 rounded out
the podium places. Top Gear weren't the only media
representatives with the Evo Magazine backed Nissan 350Z
finished in a creditable 15th place (3rd in class). Huge
photo gallery from the
Britcar 24hr are now available.
World Super Bike Championship - Brands Hatch
With the announcement earlier this week that James
Toseland would be moving to Moto GP for 2008 with the Tech
3 Yamaha team his final appearance in Great Britain as a
WSBK rider was sure to be special. James had never managed
to win around Brands Hatch in Super Bikes so was sure to
put in a huge effort to win the race. He faced very still
competition from Troy Bayliss on the Xerox Ducati, ex Moto
GP star Max Biaggi on the Alstare Suzuki, Troy Corser and
Nori Haga on the Yamahas. Toseland came through with flying
colours strengthening his grip on his second Super Bike
World crown with a memorable double victory. Photos from
the
WSBK,
Super Sports,
Superstock 600 and
Superstock 1000 are now online.
Silverstone Classic
The Silverstone Classic is a three day event
featuring a huge selection of classic and historic racing
machinery. The highlight of this years festival was the
collection of over 60 Group C sports cars, possibly the
largest selection of cars seen since Group C was outlawed.
Added to this was a collection of Grand Prix cars covering
over 30 years, classic saloon and sports cars this provided
close and exciting racing in all the classes. Photos from
the
BRDC 500,
historic sports cars,
roadsports,
Porsche Invitational,
Group C,
Formula One,
Gentleman Drivers,
Pre 1966 Grand Prix and
Historic Racing Saloons classes are available.
AutoGlym Historic Festival
The full Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch in Kent
was the venue for the AutoGlym sponsored HSCC Historic
Festival. With the unpleasant wet weather continuing track
conditions during Saturday were very tricky, frequent heavy
rain showers during the day turned some areas of the track
into small rivers. There were also a number of stoppages
due to cars beached in the gravel traps. Despite all of
this there was a very impressive turnout in all classes,
some of the Historic Formula One racers had previously been
seen on the hill climb at Goodwood the week before. A
selection of photos from
500cc Formula 3,
70s Road Sports Cars,
Historic Formula Junior,
Historic Formula One,
Supersports,
Formula 3 and
Guards Trophy are online.
Goodwood Festival of Speed 2007
Yet again the Goodwood Festival of Speed was the
place to be for lovers of all things motorsport. In it's
15th year the festival still has an electifying mix of cars
and drivers. The number of motocycles continues to grow
even with a date clash with the British MotoGP. The forest
rally stage was much larger this year with the addition of
a small jump, former world champion Petter Solberg took a
day out of his holiday to attend and drive the Subaru
Impreza WRC. Following the tradition of presenting the Le
Mans winner, complete with 24 hours of dirt plastered on
it, the Prodrive prepared Aston Martin DBR9 was driven by
David Brabham. As usual, Formula One current both current
and historic were well represented, endurance racers
(celebrating Group C), super cars and all conquering sports
cars rounded off the mix. Shots from the
paddock,
hill climb and
forest rally stage are now available.
DTM - Brands Hatch
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) made the first
of their four stops outside of Germany during the 2007
season at Brands Hatch in Kent. Using the 1.2 mile Indy
configuration the 470hp V8 engined cars set some blistering
times. Despite only having two manufacturers (Audi and
Mercedes-Benz) in the championship there is still very
close racing throughout the field. The race card also
included the F3 Euro Cup. Photos from the
DTM,
F3 Euro Cup and
Lotus Elise Trophy are now online.
Masters Historic Festival
The Masters Historic Festival race weekend includes
some of the most iconic racing cars of the 1970s and 1980s.
Even the horrible weather conditions at Brands Hatch
couldn't dim the impact of seeing a collection of V8
powered Formula One cars, the truly awesome Group C sports
cars and a fine collection of sports cars. Using the full
Grand Prix circuit, the assembled cars made a spectacle
evocative of the glory days of Formula One racing at the
Kent Circuit. For Photos from the
Sports Cars,
Group C,
Formula One and
Sports Racing
Masters.
British F3 & GT - Brands Hatch
The full Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch hosted
rounds of the British F3 and GT championships of the August
Bank Holiday weekend. The GT class featured a full grid of
cars including Mosler, Ascari, Panoz, Aston Martin, Morgan,
Ferrari and of course a large number of Porsche GT3s. The
British F3 championship features a number of rising stars
including Bruno Senna, nephew of Ayrton Senna. With a
number of other supporting races the Heritage Grand Touring
Championships and the VW Cup there was a full day of action
despite the unsettled weather. Photos from the
British GT Championship,
British F3 Championships,
Heritage Grand Touring Championships and
VW Cup are now online.
2006 Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Goodwood Festival of Speed is a unique event on
the motorsport calendar, there is no where else in the
world you can find such a heady mix of star cars and star
drivers. There are too many highlights to list them all,
Nigel Mansell making his first appearence, the Bugatti
Veyron being driven by Lord March, the Le Mans winning Audi
R10, a good crop of the current WRC cars and a missive
selection of the greats from Formula One past and present,
the list is endless. The festival continues to grow year on
year, the forest rally stage new for last year was back
bigger and better. Also with no date clash a large number
of stars from the motorcycle world appeared including James
Toseland, Chris Vermulen, Troy Bayliss, Troy Corser, Casey
Stoner and Randy Mamola. Photos from the
Festival of Speed are now online.
FIA WTCC - Brands Hatch
The FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) made
it's first appearence at the classic Brands Hatch Grand
Prix circuit over the weekend of the 20-21 of May.
Featuring team entries from Alfa Romeo, BMW, Chevrolet and
SEAT the WTCC is in it's 2nd year, looking stronger than
ever. Featuring ex-F1, ex-IndyCar and championship winning
saloon car drivers action is guaranteed from start to
finish. The conditions during practice and qualification
where very testing with frequent heavy rain showers, pole
position was decided in the last 5 minutes of teh session
with all drivers making a quick switch to slick tyres,
Rickard Rydell snatching pole for SEAT. Rob Huff competing
in his home race managed 3rd place despite a heavy crash
while pushing for a front row start. Photos from the
WTCC and a few from the supporting races are now
online.
Quaife MSA British Rallycross Championship 2006 - Round
One
The opening round of the 2006 Quaife MSA British
Rallycross Championship took place at Lydden Hill in Kent
over the Easter weekend. More details to followPhotos from
the
Supercar,
SuperModified,
Stock Hatch and
Junior classes are now online
