Bonneville Speed Week, Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA

As can be seen in Rod's posts on his photos of the year, all the SpeedHunters gang who made the trip were blown away by the event and the whole automotive culture that surrounds the Salt Flats and the Speed Week. Linhbergh and I were wondering around the cars parked near the start line and I saw this……..too good to miss.

Festival of Speed, Goodwood House, UK

The Goodwood Hillclimb and the British Ferrari as the guys from Maranello used to call it. The clutch and the tyres are taking a caning. so if you offered one on the cheap, check it very, very carefully.

04.31AM 14th June, 2009, Le Mans 24 Hours, Le Mans, France

Sometimes plans come off. Back in mid-80s I had lugged tripods during in the hours of darkness while the Le Mans 24 Hours roared on around me but I soon figured that the amount of energy used up did not match the reward………..also this still being the era of film meant that the results were not known till after processing, then there was the cost factor…….each roll of film was around $15 so failed experiments were discouraged by the management.

Fast forward to 2009, I had an idea but could I execute it? I dashed out and purchased a nifty carbon fiber tripod, begged a pass onto the TV section of the ACO building across from the pits and had in my mind that at some stage there would a full course yellow that would create something a bit different. I like to think that happened, maybe I just got lucky.

Bonneville Speed Week, Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA 

This is probably the fastest car shot you will see all year. At this location, just after the 5 mile point on the course, the Royal Purple Streamliner was still accelerating, the final beam was broken at 394.587mph, utterly amazing. All of us here at SpeedHunters will be urging Mike Nish and Nish Motorsports on, in their quest to break the 409.277mph set by the Summers Brother way back in 1965. 2010 is the year that a new record should be written into the history books and this is the crew to do it.

Spa 24 Hours, Spa Francorchamps, Belgium

Early morning light is always a bit special, it is what makes us photographers skip breakfast and head for the hills. Up at the top of the Kemmel Straight and into Les Combes for the Brixia Racing Porsche.

LMS Barcelona 1000kms, Montmelo, Spain

When the diesels were not around in Europe, the Gulf sponsored Lola Aston Martins were the class of the LMS, like here in Spain.

Nurburgring 24 Hours, Nurburgring, Germany

The unusually kind weather at this year's Nurburgring 24 Hours meant that exploring the far reaches of the circuit was easier than ever. It also means that in the long treks around the track you could find spots where it is still possible to get up close and personal, such as here at Brunnchen.

Festival of Speed, Goodwood house, Goodwood, UK

It has become a traditional feature of the Festival of Speed for a special sculpture to be erected on the lawn in front of Lord March's ancestral pile. Audi were celebrating their centenary in 2009, this what they came up with, Per Ardua ad Astra indeed.

Le Mans 24 Hours, Le Mans, France

2009 was the year of the Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP. Somehow they conspired to let Audi bamboozle them at Sebring but then the French never looked back, even taking the Petit Le Mans crown to add to their success in the Big Race. 

So a big salut to the 908 and the Peugeot team.

Sebring 12 Hours, Sebring, Florida, USA

And speaking of Salut.

2009 saw the end of the line for one of THE great cars, the GT1 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R. Sebring, Long Beach and Le Mans were the gigs on the final tour before getting into the new GT2 programme. So at Sebring the two Pratt & Miller cars put on the usual show for the crowd and it was much appreciated.

Part 4 later.

John Brooks