News / Blog - Motorsport News

I've covered three motorsport events over the weekend together with Cross Country running and a gig.

The mucky part of the weekend was definitively the Trials event!

I'll be honest with you here, I found myself hovering around a rather slippery muddy pit filled with water (make that sticky wet mud). My hope - sorry guys - was that one unfortunate rider would drop into the pit and struggle to get out... I'd capture the picture. Job done. A guaranteed back page shot!

In the end the drama didn't unfold... however that doesn't mean the riders avoided getting wet and dirty and I did get some dramatic pics.

I've now added the first pics to my picture galleries. Take a look here at the Trials, Autocross and Karting pics:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE MUDDY TRIALS PICS
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE KARTING PICS
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE AUTOCROSS PICS

I've updated the Motorsport Gallery with the latest event pics.

Follow this link to view action from Saturdays Motocross racing, Round-7.

The track looked to be in great condition so it was a bit disappointing to see the A-Group MX 2 Class with so few riders. I reckon that the day offered just about perfect racing... it was dry and the wind-chill was easily sorted by an extra layer of clothing!

Let's hope the turnout improves for the next race.

The pics can be viewed here:
CLICK TO VIEW ROUND-7 OF THE MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

I'm sorry to say that occasionally I am reminded that I'm only a couple of years away from my theoretical retirement. I call it theoretical as at the moment I don't think for a minute that I could possibly give up on a working day!

Maybe I'll mellow and slow down as time passes by for now I seem to be working as hard as any other time in my life.

But... there's always a but! I can't deny that after a prolonged period of work my body simply doesn't recover from the effort as well as it used to. Sad but true.

I'm currently in that 'zone' after a very busy weekend which included a sixteen hour day on Saturday!

The workload has included coverage of:
Creasey's Junior Open Badminton Championship at the Rohais
St Martins v St Pauls football at Blanche Piere Lane
Columbians v Indies Hockey at Footes Lane
Guernsey v Cannon Royals Basketball at St Sampsons High
Twelve bouts of Boxing Guernsey ABC v England UNI at Beau Sejour
Round 8 of the GK&MC Summer Kart Series at The Track
Round 3 of the Autocross Club Winter Championship at Chouet
and GMC&CC Trials at Corbiere.

All these assignments are only 'half done' once the pics are taken as they then need to be sorted, edited, tagged and sent off to the particular clients. And I haven't even mentioned the updates needed on this website and the processing of the orders for prints and files as they come in!

Phew, no wonder I'm knackered!

However there's no slacking yet as the main editing and updating has only just begun. You can check out the results so far in these new Galleries:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF ROUND 8 OF THE SUMMER KART SERIES

CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF ROUND 3 OF THE WINTER AUTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP

CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE TRIALS EVENT AT CORBIERE

I photographed three sports at the weekend.

Each one involved racing with the fastest movers taking the podium spots.

The difference was the how competitors got from start to finish.

On Saturday the first racers had the benefit of an engine... they were riding Motocross bikes and they literally flew!

I photographed the action until the lunch break and then I headed north to Delancey Park where competitors had to rely on their own 'horse power' as they ran around the Cross Country course in the first race of the 2017/18 FNB XC Series.

On Sunday there was more racing to photograph... again on two wheels but this time it was only man-power getting the riders to the finish line. A course had been set up in the Guet for round 3 of the Guernsey Velo Club's Mini Enduro Series.

Photographing the three events made up just a part of another busy weekend and they are the first galleries that are online. Follow these links to view the pics:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE MOTOCROSS RACING
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FNB XC RACE
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE MINI ENDURO RACING

The final hillclimb of the 2017 season took place at the tight and slippery when wet Petit Bot hill today.

Luckily the morning started dry which gave the chance to topple a couple of established records.

Any hillclimb that sees new low marks entered into the record book has to qualify as a success but, never the less, it was a disappointment that the racing finished early after persistent rain and drizzle meant that there was no chance of competitors beating their earlier times.

I've added a new picture gallery featuring the days racing at Petit Bot.

Take a look at the action here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2017 PETIT BOT HILLCLIMB

Saturday saw the first time that a hillclimb has been organised on the Rue des Villains/Rue des Portelettes in Torteval... the Imperial Hill.

Many competitors had this hill on their wish list and due to the huge amount of work put in by GK&MC President Karl Marshal and his team it all came together for the inaugural event. Even the weather had been sorted!

Unfortunately the bikers were missing as the hill hadn't been signed off by the ACU. Maybe they'll be there next time?

Also it was a disappointment that the karter's missed a days racing. After a rather nasty accident early in the day officials judged that the hill, which has granite walls either side of the road, was just too dangerous for 'exposed' karters.

But this still left a big turn-out of car drivers. The line-up included several competitors who dusted off their machinery so they could tick this new event off their 'bucket list'.

The day produced some fantastic competition together with a few classes not being won by the 'bookies favorite'. This was good for the sport as it keeps things interesting at the front.

As a photographer I enjoyed the challenge of making a new hill 'work' for me and I was pleased with the overall results. I ended up taking more pics than usual as I worked my way along the course.... leaving me with a bigger edit!

I've just added quite a big gallery of pics to this website. As always I've tried to represent everyone's racing but I also have a few more pics that can be viewed on my laptop computer database... contact me if you want to see more pics of your own personal seasons racing.

It would be fantastic if you could support my work by clicking the 'Buy Now' button (I know, this is a blatant plug!!)

This is a link to the Unite the Union Imperial Hillclimb:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE IMPRESSIVE IMPERIAL HILLCLIMB

I hate to start a Blog on a negative note.

But I'm afraid that I have been left with a feeling of disappointment and concern after returning from the 2017 three-day Alderney motorsport weekend.

The mood has come over me, ironically, because I had such a great time over in our sister Island... it's always been the same.

I think I'm probably speaking for the vast majority of the competitors, family and friends who make the complicated and expensive effort to visit Alderney for the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club organized racing when I say that, after the initial hassle and niggles, we all settle into the pace of small Island life and combine the love of motorsport with spending time with friends... and socializing a bit too!

So I hear you ask... 'Why the disappointment and concern?'

Well, once again, the talk amongst the guys during the weekend often turned to the possibility that this year could be the last ever Alderney weekend. In fact I spoke to one person who said he had made a point of going this year as he felt it would actually be the last one.

So I refer to the title of this Blog. Let the campaign begin....

I want to encourage everyone who has ever visited Alderney for the racing, recently or way back, to start talking about running an event again next year. You need to make an effort to spread the word about how much fun it is.

I know that life changes and the availability of Track Days and the additions to the local Motorsport calendar have given people more options than years ago but none of those events have the 'special charm' that the Alderney events offer.

I think this is a classic case of 'Use it, or loose it'.

So, there you go, I've started the campaign. Now you have to help too!

This years three Alderney weekend picture galleries are now online. Check out the fun here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE FORT CORBLETS SPRINT
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE LE GRANDE VAL SPEED EVENT
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE FORT TOURGIS HILLCLIMB

I've already commented in a previous Blog that the August/September time seems to go into work overload!

It seems that the different 'compartments' of my life - both work/family/garden/cottage maintenance - and all the other things that keep our day-to-day survival running smoothly peak at the same time.

In a way this spoils the 'fun' which my life generally is. I'm a really lucky guy.

I'm able to just take the photo jobs that appeal to me and (most importantly) my missus allows me a long tether to do what I want. Of course having a long tether gives plenty opportunity to get it tangled around my neck if I step out of line. Not so good!

So I'm just back from photographing the Jersey Weekender Festival.

That qualifies as fun - even though one of the days was very wet. But hey, it's a festival so we just get on with it and a few beers, good music and the darkness of the night all come together to take your mind off of the discomfort.

But I'm now back in the studio facing the workload. I've got so much editing to do and now the only way through it is to put the hours in. During the next few days I hope to add many new Galleries. Keep a look at this Blog for the latest updates.

This is the latest update featuring the GK&MC 2-Day Motocross meeting:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2-DAY MOTOCROSS MEETING

The end of August and the start of September is traditionally a very busy period for me as every genre of photography that I specialize in hits a peak at this time.

This year is no different and I've enjoyed an amazing variety of photo-shoots during the last month and a quick look in the diary shows lots more of the same to come :-)

This all leads to an inevitable log-jam of edits waiting (backed up) on the hard drives.

Thankfully a couple of free hours this morning brings a quick update online in the Hillclimb Gallery featuring yesterday's GMC&CC Bank Holiday event at Le Val des Terres.

I'll be sorting through as many more updates as I can in the next two days before I go over to Jersey for some Commercial work followed by two days of Weekender Festival photography.... as I always say, I love my job!

The Hillclimb pics can be viewed here:
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF THE BANK HOLIDAY HILLCLIMB

There were changes made for the 2017 Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club's Vale Castle Sprint... it was run backwards! Or at least it was raced in the opposite direction :-)

It remained a fast event requiring commitment and precise driving.

Unfortunately the ACU were unable to sign off the reverse running of the course for the bike riders so it was just the four wheeled racers who had the chance to try out the Sprint in 2017. Hopefully this will be sorted by next year.

I think most of the competitors enjoyed their days racing but one driver will remember the day more than the others. Harry Teal had a BIG crash after the finish line on his practice run. Thankfully he avoided serious injury.

The crash was pretty spectacular by the accounts of those who saw it! I'm sure Harry will be telling you all about it sometime in the future ;-)

My pics of the Vale Castle Sprint are now omline here:
CLICK TO VIEW THE 2017 VALE CASTLE SPRINT

Well how about that. I turn my back for a couple of days and the viewing total on this website passes through another MILLION MILESTONE!

I've been very busy for the last week and it seems that the 18 MILLION VIEWS total was broken at the weekend... and I've only just noticed!

What is also quite amazing is that the last five days has seen an extra 100,000 views added to the total!

Thanks for the continued support :-)

You can read a few of the previous MILLION MILESTONE Blogs by clicking here:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PREVIOUS MILLION MILESTONE BLOGS

Just a quick update to give you a link to another of the weekend's Motorsport events.

This time it is the Guernsey Powerboat Association's Stanley Gibbons Series - Race 7 over the North Beach Inner Course.

It was fantastic to have a bright and sunny evening for this race after some dull and grey races earlier in the year.

Dynamic powerboat racing pics need sun and the proof is in the results where you will see how the colours radiate out from the screen.

Take a look for yourself by following this link:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE VIBRANT AND SUNNY POWERBOAT PICS

I've just enjoyed a weekend that was full of action, sports, charity events, live music, the occasional celebrity, fun and a moment of adrenaline rush!

My galleries will be updated with all this drama over the next few days but first online is a Gallery featuring Saturday's Guernsey Kart & Motor Club Hillclimb at Le Val des Terres.

It was here that my adrenaline rush took place. I felt this whilst taking pics at the first corner of the 'Terres... just before the entry into 'the tunnel'.

I was minding my own business just trying to capture the dynamics of the bikes, cars and karts as they found the racing line through this fast corner.

My peace and karma was shattered as I heard the distinctive rumble of Shaun Leigh approaching me on his way to the top. My position behind a granite wall meant that the V8 engined FMD Colour Monster Locust only came into view after Shaun had entered the bend.

It was then that I realized that things were not quite going to plan as my usual view of the racing cars - that is controlled and hitting the apex wasn't happening this time!

Shaun was drifting the big V8 sideways through the corner... and at considerable speed! More to the point he was sliding in my direction!

But, as I should have known, Shaun wrestled with the steering, stamped on the throttle and brake pedals and, somehow, managed to miss me and the granite standing in his way. He pulled off one of the biggest 'saves' that I can remember and then powered his way onwards to the finish line.

The whole event only lasted a second or two but I can remember it in slow motion... and I have the pics to remind me.

After that experience the rest of the day was quite subdued but I still managed to capture some good pics. They are now online:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW SHAUN LEIGH GIVING ME A FRIGHT

Moving the Rubis Soapbox Challenge across town to St Julian's Avenue was a great success.

The 'track' was steep and was lined with spectators who enjoyed the free fun and entertainment. All the smiles made that clear.

There were even a couple of crashes to make things more memorable :-)

However the only damage done was to a couple of the Soapboxes as the 'red haze' of racing descended and the drivers pushed their machinery to the limit in the quest of lowering their best time by small fractions of a second.

I fancy that this day of fun could be established in its new setting. It seemed perfect for racers and spectators alike. Hopefully we will all meet again next year on the steep slope of our newest race track. See you there.

My pics are now online here:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2017 RUBIS SOAPBOX CHALLENGE

The Guernsey Kart & Motor Club's Summer Series Kart Championship passed the mid-point with Round 5 today.

This championship still has plenty to offer in the form of close racing with each driver able to drop their lowest points when the final count takes place.

I'm pleased to say that the weather stayed dry this time... unlike Rounds 2 and 3 which were nasty and wet!

I have only just dried out my kit after getting completely drenched on Friday night whilst taking pics of the OSA All Terrain Challenge. Summer, what summer?

So this evening, as I don't have to spend time on drying and cleaning the kit, I think a little tipple of a Single Malt Scotch Whisky or two will be in order.

This is my little treat as today's Karting pics are already on-line :-)

View the pics here:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF ROUND 5 OF THE KART SERIES

The 2017 Guernsey Motor Festival Seafront Sunday was bigger than ever. St Peter Port seafront was closed to traffic allowing a huge display of all types of vehicle.

The entertainment spread along to the North Beach car park where a day of motorsport action took place.

The weather played its part by encouraging thousands of people into town and the day provided a fantastic end to the MSA National Hillclimb weekend.

This gallery features some of the displays and entertainment...
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE 2017 MOTOR FESTIVAL SEAFRONT SUNDAY

Rounds 19 and 20 of the Avon Tyres - TTC Group 43rd Guernsey National Hillclimb Championship were held at Le Val des Terres on 15th July 2017.

This was a bit of a vintage year as we saw five local drivers qualify for places in a National Round.

Darren Warwick and Nick Saunders qualified for both Rounds and duplicated their podium places each time by finishing in second and third place. This was Nick's first time on the local National podium and it was a deserved reward for a driver who has chased this goal for so many years.

Both competitors drive cars that lack all the modern technologies and have to make local knowledge count together with awesome skill and nerve! When you drive a car that is slower up the straight bits there is only one way to be competitive against the 'power junkies'... you have to be faster around the twisty bits. That's where the nerve comes in!

Congratulations have to go to Richard Spedding who won both of the local Rounds... this was actually the first time that Richard had stood on the top step of the podium. Guernsey is guaranteed a special place in his motorsport memories!

Twins Paul and Ian Le Messurier were also notable qualifiers in what was basically a home built car. Very impressive. They have made a habit of joining the 'top guns' in the Run Offs. Well done guys.

The other truly impressive performance came from Jackie Le Cheminant who became only the second lady to qualify for a Guernsey Top Twelve Run Off. Jackie has only just taken over driving the Rubis OMS car that used to be shared by her father and brother. Jackie certainly showed that she is more than a match to the guys in the family.

Another memorable performance came from John Dunne who seemed to raise his own high standards in response to the appearance of a couple of top tin-top drivers from the UK. Just as in Jersey, John was pushed hard by the visitors but was triumphant and ended the two events with a new record on both hills.

This gallery shows all the action from 2017.

If you are a competitor please consider buying a couple of pics as this is my livelihood and my wife gives me a very small beer allowance. I'm meant to earn the rest ;-)

Follow this link to view all of the Guernsey National action:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL THE GUERNSEY NATIONAL ACTION

This is just a brief Blog to tell you that the Galleries have been updated with pics of Rounds 17 and 18 of the Avon Tyres - TTC Group 44th Jersey National Hillclimb Championship.

These latest Rounds were held at Bouley Bay hill, Jersey on 12th July 2017.

In contrast to the previous years event when it was a scorching day leading to incredible racing and the outright record for the hill dropping three times, 2017 started with a light drizzle and never really fully recovered.

However the event was notable for a local man. Jason Mourant took his Gould GR55 to a memorable win in Round 17 beating all-comers and becoming the first local resident to win a Jersey round of the MSA Hillclimb Championship since 1962.... it only took 55 YEARS! Well done Jason.

These galleries display all the action. Please remember that pics are very low resolution and don't display the detail in a print or higher resolution digital files.

Now the racers move on to Guernsey and Le Val des Terres. Once again I'll be track-side capturing all the action,. See you there.

Follow this link to view pics of the 2017 Jersey National:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE JERSEY ROUNDS OF THE 2017 NATIONAL HILLCLIMB

I've just managed to add a gallery of GK&MC Sprint pics from Saturdays Vazon Coast Road meeting.

That is probably it as far as updates go until the end of the week as I'm now off to Jersey to photograph their round of the MSA National Hillclimb Championship at Bouley Bay.

We are all hoping that Condor Ferries has managed to find space on one of their ferries to get the trailers over after running out of space yesterday!

Normal service (updates) will resume shortly....

Click here to view the Sprint pics:
CLICK ON THIS LINK TO VIEW THE GK&MC SPRINT PICS

The weekend has been very busy but what great fun.

It was about as diverse as you could make it... just how I like it!

Over the two days I have photographed a Sky Bet Championship football team, Bristol City, playing a friendly against Guernsey Football Club at Footes Lane.

As a contrast to that I captured some of the 'action' during the Guernsey Bowls Tri-Test match at the Corbet Field. This featured teams from Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Jersey.

Another summer sport that was on the list was a Praxis CI League Cricket match at the College Playing Field, 2mi Wanderers Irregulars vs Canaccord Genuity Griffins.

Then to mix things up a bit more there was Motorsport action at Vazon Bay for the GK&MC Sprint meeting.

Now that list would have been interesting enough as it is but the weekend continued with a photoshoot at the Pheonix Artistic Roller Skating Club's competition at Beau Sejour. This was the first time I had been asked to cover this event and I was very impressed by the standard of performances.

.... and that wasn't the end of the 'togging. A quick visit was booked for me to photograph Noi Monachan and her garden which was opened to the public in aid of the Guernsey Headway Charity.

Oh, and there was a bit of gig photography added to the list to complete the mix!

All that photography has left me with some editing to do... but that is well on the way. You can view the first galleries featuring the Guernsey Bowls Tri-Test match, the Praxis CI League Cricket match and the GFC vs Bristol City football.

Follow these links to view the first pics:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE GFC vs BRISTOL CITY FOOTBALL
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE BOWLS TRI-TEST
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE PRAXIS CI CRICKET