Nurburgring 24 Hours, Nurburgring, Germany
Carpe Diem or more fully Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero, should be the guiding principle for all photographers. For those of you who paid as little attention to Latin lessons as I did all those years ago, I will translate, "Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future."
What is he on about now, I hear you say? Well you only get fleeting opportunities to make what one of my writer colleagues, Marcus Schurig, calls magic. For a start the light plays a huge part in the creating the sense of wonder, of the willing suspension of disbelief. So that means being out at sunset, or more painfully, up before dawn.
In the case of this shot there was no sleep at all during the Saturday-Sunday darkness, just plodding up and down the pit lane trying to capture the moment. Then as the light started to come back, it was jump in the hire car and try and figure out a sunrise spot. The weather that usually prevails during the Nurburgring 24 Hours precludes any thoughts of Sun much less Sunrise………….so we guessed that Schwalbenschwanz might do……it was also close by………….and the I lucked into this shot. As Gary Player once said, "The more I practice, the luckier I get."
Le Mans 24 Hours, Le Mans, France
Of course sometimes the shot just happens in front of you, podiums are predictably unpredictable. You never know what is going to happen so the secret is to keep the finger on the button and wait……………here the Peugeot guys celebrate their well deserved win.
Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia, USA
Carpe Diem also means making the best of situations. Turn 6 of Road Atlanta was wet, muddy, insect infested and a long way from the comforts of the Media centre but when the rains came that's where I was stuck, so get snapping, something will turn up, Micawber's Law.
Bonneville Speed Week, Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA
Sunrise, SpeedHunters sticker and the Royal Purple #998 Streamliner…………..cool.
LMS Algarve 1000kms, Portimao, Portugal
The increase in night races has been a welcome feature of the past few seasons. This year we went down to Southern Europe and enjoyed the delights of the Algarve. Here the Aston Martin crew swing into well drilled action.
Time Attack, Oulton Park, UK
EVO on the attack, crowds entertained, job done.
EDC Oulton Park, Oulton Park, UK
The other side of the coin in the UK, Time Attack is partnered by the European Drift Championship and has proved to be really popular with the crowds attending the Tuner Shows.
Le Mans 24 Hours, Le Mans, France
The Sun descends at the Ford Chicane, the Peugeot 908 clips the kerbs and heads off on another lap.
EDC Brands Hatch, Brands Hatch, UK
The devil is in the detail……………..
Sebring 12 Hours, Sebring, Florida, USA
The one that got away. About the only blot on Peugeot's record in 2009 was that they somehow lost the Sebring 12 Hours. After that they never looked back, Francorchamps, La Sarthe and Atlanta glories awaited them.
John Brooks
OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS
Jump in the hire car éh John
Dirk
my car is still wearing the "battle scars" from that weekend
Aston racing this year..... You know, (to go off topic) I dont get why they made roadcars of their racers. Like the DBRS-9 and the Vantage N64. Probably so rich people can have their fill of aston racing at their local track days. Heheh.
Another great serie John !!!
Love the Petit Le Mans shot. It's not often you see a motion shot done that well at night. You continue to inspire, Mr. Brooks....
Please please could we get a desktop of the Aston Lola in the pits at the Algarve Night Race? Great selection again John, some of your shots are simply astounding. The N-24 opener is one of my favourite photos ever.
.
@ SamuraiRJ - are you mad? The DBRS-9 is not a road car, it's a proper race car for those on a smaller budget than needed to run a full-blown GT1 car. Also, you seem to have Aston Martin confused with Nintendo, but anyway yes the Vantage N24 is GT4 spec and meant for privateers and smaller teams. You're very unlikely to see either a a trackday, they will be racing. Do you have an problem with Porsche making GT3-RSRs and GT3 Cup cars? If you have the coin you can rock up and buy either of them too...
the 1st pic of the audi is epic, insane shot!
Can we get a shot of either the Lexus LFA race car on fire or a shot of it being towed away by a VW Toureg track vehicle during the 24h Nurburgring? I love humor pics.
I love this one: LMS Algarve 1000kms, Portimao, Portugal
How can the photo of the orange Evo be considered a 'photo of the year'? The whole thing is blurred! I understand it's hard to take good photo's of speeding cars, but why post the shit ones?
Daz, slow shutter blurred shots are a different but recognized type of motorsports photography. The focus of these shots is not to look at the details of the car, but to get a sense of speed and motion. That photo does this quite well.