I’ve got a little confession to make here. Over the last several years I’ve had the chance to witness a great amount of Japanese car culture – the legendary race tracks, shops of all sizes, events big and small, museums, mountain roads and more. Surprisingly though, one thing missing from that list was a visit [...]
Close the corporations! Sequester the supermarkets! Emotions can run high once you visit Brooklands, one of the most imposing and impressive pieces in the jigsaw of automotive history. One visit to the track is all it takes to fall completely under its spell; several trips in and you’ll be a convert to the cause. This [...]
Crystal Palace, less than four miles from the West End of London, is one of the oldest venues used for racing in the world, and the first place from which live televised motor-racing was ever broadcast. Ad hoc motor races were first held on ‘London’s Own Circuit’ in 1899, and a permanent circuit constructed in [...]
Scandinavia is hardly awash with racing tracks – or people for that matter – yet somehow the countries that make up the region produce not only extraordinary race, rally and drift drivers but also know what makes an epic racing track. The Rudskogen Motorsenter, home to the Gatebil festivals, has been Norway’s best-kept secret for [...]
This is the last race track in Los Angeles County. The next closest track to downtown LA is 35 miles further away than Irwindale Speedway. Just a few days before the Formula Drift finals I decided to check out this empty track. It’s cool to see it like this because I am used to being [...]
Your local racing circuit is a special place, yet one that is often overlooked – unless you happen to live next door to the Nordschleife. I guess it’s a case of the grass always being greener on the other side, but rarely do we give enough credit to our home circuits. I’ve shot more events at Mondello Park than I care to remember, and as such have pretty much taken the place for granted. With all the doom and gloom – financially speaking – surrounding the world of motorsport these days, it has made me looking at things differently and forced me to appreciate things more. Rather than taking Mondello for granted, I want to show you why it’s one of my favourite racing circuits anywhere in the world.
There’s a reason why old racing tracks evoke such emotion in both drivers and spectators. It’s often down to the basic recipe that was used to create so many of them, using a concept diametrically opposite to the politics and over-planning involved in most modern track designs. The main premise was that these tracks were [...]
Could there be a stretch of tarmac in the world that has seen a more eclectic, mind-blowing selection of cars run on it than the hill-climb course at the Goodwood Festival Of Speed? The most prestigious racing circuits may well have hosted Formula 1 or top-flight sports prototypes. But how many can then add Group [...]
Indianapolis. Monaco. Le Mans. Three places that even non-motorsport fans would identify as representative of the spirit of racing, and the Holy Trinity of races that any driver worth his salt wants to have on his CV. Each of them is the epitome of their style of racing: Indy for high speed ovals, Monaco for [...]
If there is one track that really qualifies as a Temple of Speed, it has to be Fuji Speedway. It might not have the long history of some of the legendary race circuits we have featured so far like Brooklands and Autodromo Nazionale Monza, but since its opening in December 1965 it has held an [...]
I’ve been planning to write this story for some years now, but I kept putting it off. I always tried to make an excuse that I didn’t have the images I needed, or I needed more research, or that I didn’t know the track well enough. Truth be told, you can never accurately portray just [...]
In a small town half an hour from Milan in northern Italy is a place of pilgrimage for the faithful. With the imposing ridge-line of the Alps to the north, the parkland of the Villa Reale royal palace contains one of the most famous tracks in the world: Monza. As with the Nürburgring there is [...]
Beginning a discussion about America’s most well-known street circuit is a lot like navigating it, it’s best to just dive right in blindly and, with any luck, you’ll arrive safely at the apex. Although still one of the toughest stops on many series’ tours, Long Beach has changed a lot since 1975, both the city [...]
Interlagos, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The scene of so many classic racing encounters, and for me an almost mystical place – a legendary venue the other side of the world from me that I never expected to have the chance to see, but was lucky enough to visit a year ago for the penultimate round of [...]
Yas Marina is the perfect temple of speed for the Middle East. Full of character, colour and personality, it combines modernity with flowing organic textures: the towering floodlights stand side by side with the desert palms, man-made branches laden with lights to counterpoint the gently swaying palm fronds. The grandstands that stretch out along the [...]
