John Brooks'S BIO

Name: John Brooks

Location: South of London, UK

Previous Locations: More places South of London

Career Path: Bean Counter in Advertising & Design agencies - London. Last 10 years running own photo business, specialising in motorsport and cars.

Notable Projects/Wins: Client list over past few years: Constructors/Manufacturers: Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Creation, Dunlop, Ferrari, Lola, Maserati, Multimatic, Panoz, Zakspeed, Zytek. Magazines: AutoHebdo, Automobil Revue, Auto Motor & Sport, Autosport, Autosprint, Daily Telegraph, European Car, Evo, Motor Classico, Motoring News, Motor
Klassic, MotorSport Aktuel, News of the World, Sport Auto. Books: Automobile Year, Le Mans Annual, FIA GT Yearbook, LMS Yearbook

Car: BMW 740 (known as Das Boot - now with 167,000+ miles)

Previous Favourite Cars: M3, 325, M6, 911, M5.........any fast company car that I could get my hands on......I ran the company car fleet

Car Passions: At an early age (2) I had a peddle car with which I won several races in my imagination, then sometime around the late 60's I started to buy Motor Sport and Autocar............went to my first race at Brands Hatch in 1970 (F1 Grand Prix won by Jochen Rindt), then my first Le Mans in 1978 (2008 will be my 28th race there)...........basically no hope of any recovery.

Personal Style: Well Mannered Decline and Fall

Favourite Band of the Moment: Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Miles Davis..............

Personal Motto: When the Going gets Tough, the Weird turn Pro or It is difficult to soar with the Eagles in the Morning when you swill with the Pigs at Night

 


2,121 Posted Nov 16 2008, 09:43 PM by John Brooks with 35 comment(s)

EVENT>>WORLD DRIFT CHALLENGE - FLASH RESULTS
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2008 Red BullWorld Drift Champion is................Rhys Millen. He beat his team mate Daijiro Yoshihara in the final to take top spot. In front of a full house down on the course laid out over the dockside at Long Beach, Millen and his Red Bull Pontiac Solstice dominated the opposition to win the title and $25,000 the largest purse in drifting history. Second place overall was Yoshihara and his Bridgestone / RMR Pontiac GTO. The final step on the podium was taken by Tanner Foust and the Rockstar...

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Posted Nov 03 2008, 03:09 PM by John Brooks with 15 comment(s)

CAR FEATURE>>DRIFTWORKS 2JZ S15 SILVIA
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They say that racing improves the breed, they also say that win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Both are clichés but contain more than a grain of truth. And that truth provides the motivation for the Driftworks Company to showcase the products available at their on line store. Of course having a bit of fun along the way also plays a part too, as Phil Morrison admitted to me. Driftworks was set up nearly 5 years ago and provides a top quality parts services to all levels of the drifting community...

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2,121 Posted Oct 06 2008, 12:04 PM by John Brooks with 11 comment(s)

EVENT>>THE GOODWOOD REVIVAL
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The say a picture is worth a thousand words but this one is almost beyond value, you could not buy these cars at any price, they are truly constructed of Unobtainium. Ferrari 330 LMB (one of only four built) leads Ferrari 250 GT SWB "Breadvan", Ferrari 250 GTO and the poor relation a Jaguar E type "lowdrag coupe""............this is the contents of the vault of an automotive Fort Knox and the treasures are being raced! With the period setting in a glorious location, the serious...

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Posted Oct 03 2008, 10:00 AM by John Brooks with 4 comment(s)

RETROSPECTIVE>>1998 PETIT LE MANS
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It is perhaps one of the most famous endings in Hollywood history, capping one of the greatest films made. With fog swirling around Casablanca's airport, Rick Blaine and Captain Renault consider their options and decide to head for Brazzaville and the Free French..........."Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.". When the flag dropped on 11th October 1998 to mark the end of the race, about ten minutes shy of ten hours into the first running of the Petit Le...

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2,121 Posted Sep 30 2008, 07:10 PM by John Brooks with 6 comment(s)

TEMPLE OF SPEED>> SPA: THE OLD CIRCUIT AND THE PORSCHE 917
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Regular readers will know that September is Porsche month here on SpeedHunters and Rod, Antonio and I trekked around Europe back in July eventually reaching Spa Francorchamps for the annual 24 Hours race. So what better way to round off a month considering the best of Porsche with a homage to one of the great temples of speed, the old Spa Francorchamps circuit. Many of you will know already of Spa, where the Grand prix circus plies its trade annually, treating the difficult, very fast track with...

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Posted Sep 28 2008, 02:47 PM by John Brooks with 4 comment(s)

CAR FEATURE>>CHAMPION 911 GT1 EVO
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Seeing old race cars for the first time in ages is a bit like bumping into an old flame, there is a natural tendancy to don the rose tinted spectacles, remember the good times and forget the bad. Racing imitates Life. Those of you paying attention will know that Rod, Antonio and I were guests of Porsche AG at their Leipzig Factory earlier this year. Like all good hosts they made us feel very welcome and when they showed us up to the museum/display area it was an opportunity to meet up with some old...

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2,121 Posted Sep 26 2008, 01:00 AM by John Brooks with 7 comment(s)

RETROSPECTIVE>>PORSCHE, LE MANS AND ME
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Porsche and Le Mans........and me? How did all this start? Well, it's probably easier to say when, 1970. Inspired by tales in the magazine Motor Sport of supercars competing at the world's greatest race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, I was hooked. Naturally I did not actually go to the race, I was a bit young but I do remember being at a cousin's wedding, sneaking out to the family car every hour or so to hear the radio reports..........I nearly flatted the battery......my father was not best...

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Posted Sep 15 2008, 10:09 AM by John Brooks with 6 comment(s)

CAR SPOTLIGHT>>PEUGEOT 908 HY
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What does the expression Hybrid conjour up when applied to cars...........politically correct, save the whales, eat Muesli etc. etc. Well with typical French style or elan as they would say Peugeot have blown that cliche wide open At Silverstone last evening they unveiled their take on "le concept Hybrid".........combining the stunning 908 Le Mans Prototype and a kinetic energy recovery system...... Why? Well as the press pack says.............. HY technology enables a proportion of the...

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2,121 Posted Sep 11 2008, 01:00 PM by John Brooks with 8 comment(s)

CAR FEATURE>>PORSCHE 911 CARRERA RSR TURBO
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A Walk on the Wild Side In the field of motoring certain technological advances become associated with a particular brand, Audi Quattro for instance or Porsche Turbo. Porsche Turbo, ah yes……… the image that springs to mind is that of a 911 as muscular as body builder and like any truly wild animal never fully domesticated. Fail to treat one of these cars without proper respect and at best it will be quick trip to the hedgerow. Where did this road going beast come from? Like most...

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Posted Sep 10 2008, 09:00 AM by John Brooks with 7 comment(s)

CAR FEATURE>>PORSCHE 917/10 & 917/30 - TURBO PANZERS
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The Answer is Blowin’ in the Wind……….. You’ve all heard the old sales pitch. Take two great concepts and mix them together to produce twice the product or more. All well and good, except that is rarely the case, usually the strengths and benefits of both ideas get diluted in the process and somehow more becomes less. However when the principle does work the results can be spectacular. Back in 1971 Porsche were faced with a bit of a problem, what to do with the all...

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2,121 Posted Sep 09 2008, 01:47 AM by John Brooks with 22 comment(s)

EVENT>>EDC SILVERSTONE
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It had to happen sooner or later.............I had to go along to a drift event in person and see what Rod and Antonio were talking about. So I had a free weekend and the European Drift Championship was out at Silverstone. So here on full throttle is Phil Morrison in his Nissan S15, which powered by a Toyota engine...........a more detailed look at this car later. Like Antonio's D1SL event in Ebisu the weather was not kind at all...............for the first two sessions on Sunday it was wet/damp...

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Posted Aug 15 2008, 09:10 AM by John Brooks with 4 comment(s)

EVENT>>BRANDS HATCH TIME ATTACK PRO CLASS
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My first taste of Time Attack in the UK came last weekend when the circus came to the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit. I have already featured the Zen Performance Impreza on SpeedHunters but the Sainted Editor, still in steamy Japan, requested a gallery feature on the Pro Class event. So it would seem appropriate to start with the car that ran a consistent second to the Zen effort, the Lotus Elise of Steve Guglielmi which turned in a time only 3/10ths shy of the record breaking Impreza. A Lotus Elise would...

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2,121 Posted Aug 11 2008, 09:00 AM by John Brooks with 20 comment(s)

CAR FEATURE>>ZEN & THE ART OF SCOOBY CAN-DOO
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The icon flashing was the first warning...........mail received.............from the Sainted Editor while on his Japanese trip.............Get down to Brands Hatch on Sunday...........Time Attack and do a feature on the ZEN Performance Subaru.............so knowing nothing about the sport or its competitors I steered my old jalopy round the M25 and in through the gates of the famous Kent race circuit. After wondering about trying to size up the event (more later) I slid on down to the pitlane and...

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Posted Aug 09 2008, 03:40 AM by John Brooks with 5 comment(s)

EVENT>>SPA 24 HOURS THROUGH THE LENS
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Tales from the Forest……….. In Europe each year we have three famous 24-Hour races on three famous circuits. Le Mans is known by everyone and is the pinnacle of endurance racing with full works entries and massive factory involvement. There is worldwide media coverage on a par with any Grand Prix or NASCAR race and there are fans that follow this race to the exclusion of all others. It is arguably the most famous motorsport event on the planet. Winning here will overshadow any...

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2,121 Posted Jul 22 2008, 04:25 AM by John Brooks with 5 comment(s)

EVENT>>GOODWOOD: A BAKER'S DOZEN
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Hundreds and Hundreds of cars to choose from at the Goodwood Festival of Speed…………what was your top 12 asked the Sainted Editor? Well ask the question tomorrow and you might get a different answer but this morning my whims lead me this way………in no particular order. Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative Cadillac Series 61 Fastback – in some ways this is an odd choice given the amazing machinery displayed on the lawns but something in...

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Posted Jul 21 2008, 06:29 AM by John Brooks with 12 comment(s)

EVENT>>GOODWOOD: EXOTICS ON THE GRASS
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The Goodwood Festival of Speed attracts some of the coolest cars on the planet and some of rarest. The Cartier “Style et Luxe” exhibition had two sub themes that combined these two qualities, cool and rare. Titled “Dawn of the SuperCar” and “The Shape of Things that Never Came” the participants drew crowds who appreciated the presence of some really special machines. In the first category there was a good example of how letting the emotions get the better of common...

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2,121 Posted Jul 17 2008, 10:42 AM by John Brooks with 3 comment(s)

EVENT>>GOODWOOD: DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER...
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...Well maybe but so it would also appear is the appeal of James Bond or 007 as he is known in the trade. This year sees the centenary of the birth of Ian Fleming, author of the original books and ex-naval intelligence officer, and to celebrate this there was a small exhibition on the lawn of Goodwood House amongst the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours d’Elegance. Of course Fleming did not only write the series of Bond books but also Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Sadly at Goodwood there was no sign...

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Posted Jul 15 2008, 03:00 PM by John Brooks with 6 comment(s)

EVENT>>BEHIND THE 2008 FESTIVAL OF SPEED
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Mention the Festival of Speed to any petrolhead and the image most likely that will come to mind is of Derring Do on the Hill Climb……..you know, tyre smoke and opposite lock……….well that still goes on but these days the Festival is a whole lot more than rubber and oil. We used to have a motor industry in the UK but bad business practices, worse products and terrible labour relations put paid to that sector of the market leaving a few specialists, a few foreign owned...

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2,121 Posted Jul 10 2008, 11:08 AM by John Brooks with 18 comment(s)

EVENT>>GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED: PROLOGUE
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Back in the days when we all knew our place there was a fixed social season in London, where all true gentlemen would gather, “The Right Crowd and no Crowding” Many of the events on the season were sporting in nature, Royal Ascot, the Boat Race, Wimbledon, Cowes Week, Henley Regatta etc. etc. After the demise of Brooklands, motorsport was not really represented in this social whirl, a Formula One Grand Prix at the charmless Silverstone airfield could not cut mustard. So some 16 years...

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Posted Jun 18 2008, 01:00 PM by John Brooks with 10 comment(s)

GALLERY>>TEN YEARS AFTER: LE MANS 98
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In order to put some order into our lives we divide time up into units............hours, minutes, days, weeks, years, decades even centuries. A decade is a handy period on which to look back on events......the dust has settled and the emotions cooled, leaving the just the story........... Sometimes we can see the patterns of the present in the deeds past history..........and motor sport is no exception. 2008 at Le Mans is a time of optimism, the top class had a classic battle with Audi and Peugeot...

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John Brooks