Phatphoto.com

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, “http://www.phatphoto.com/phatgallery/categories.php?cat_id=170″>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 the 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. Photos from the Supercar, SuperModified, Stock Hatch and Junior classes are now online