News / Blog - Motorsport News

It's been two weeks since the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club's last Hillclimb... but I hadn't forgotten it :-)

At the moment I have quite a back-log of work to sort through... and it is just about to increase as I will be in Alderney for three full days of Motorsport!

The silver lining in this 'back-logged cloud' is that the next few weeks should ease up on the work-load and everything should get back on track.

In an effort to get things moving I've added a new Gallery featuring the latest GMC&CC Hillclimb.

Follow this link to view the pics:
VIEW THE LATEST GMC&CC HILLCLIMB PICS

TEN MILLION has a nice ring to it doesn't it?

How nice it would be to have that many Pounds in the Bank.... even Dollars would be OK for me!

However the chances of a professional photographer ever making that sort of money are pretty unlikely :-(

So when TEN MILLION features anywhere in my working life it will always feel a bit special... and that number has just shown up.

I've been running this web-site since 24th October 2010. It replaced what is now my very dated original web-site (still on-line for nostalgia only).

This means that it's still a couple of months short of five years since www.guernseymotorsport.com went live.

I'm incredibly proud to say that (since the start) this web-site has been viewed an amazing TEN MILLION times!!

The first MILLION views took one year - almost to the day. This current year will see over THREE MILLION views and I am thinking that this is probably where the level will settle... but who knows?

My decision to work full-time as a photographer came about ten years ago when I was 50 years old after I sold a business.

I tried retirement but that was horrible! It might sound like a good idea but I'm someone who has to be creative and challenged. So I turned a hobby into a job... and it has certainly been challenging!

However I have loved nearly every single hour of it... and there are many more hours put into photography than I ever gave to my old 'proper job'. How did that happen?

It must also be said that in the decade that I have relied on photography for my income the whole industry has been shaken up and changed beyond recognition. It now seems that everyone who has a DSLR and a Facebook page is a 'Photographer'.

But I've never regretted the decision to give it a try and I've now established a loyal following and a good sized base of regular Commercial customers for TALLPICTURES.com.

My thirty-five years spent as a retailer have stood me in good stead to respond to competition and (after a short period when I questioned the future viability) I now realise that it isn't what other people are doing, it is about what you do for yourself that either 'makes or breaks' a business.

There's also lots of room in the marketplace for every-one.

I'm now privileged to make an income out of my passion and I genuinely thank all the visitors to this web-site and the many customers who buy pictures.

So that now brings me to the future.

Well I have a couple of very exciting new developments on the way. More about those later :-)

I currently have a very full diary... mostly involving my Commercial Photography, so things seem to be going very well.

I also have a few new Commercial ideas in development. More information will follow :-)

What all that means is I'm struggling to keep the regular Galleries up-to-date.

Or when the Galleries are updated I've been slow to add a message and link in this Blog for the new pics.

Luckily I have a missus who keeps me away from too many distractions!

However she has failed this week as I've been putting together the spec for a new 'every bell & whistle' PC. This will be so powerful that NASA have already been in touch to see if I can take on some of their processing load!!

My choice of supplier/Custom builder will once again be Mesh Computers. I will keep you informed of progress in future Blogs.

But back to the Gallery updates.

I actually added the latest pics of the final Powerboat races of the season to the Gallery a couple of days ago... this is the delayed link:
VIEW PICS OF THE FINAL POWERBOAT RACES

My previous Blog commented on my busy weekend of Motorsport photography that included a Sandracing Championship meeting and the second running of the Vale Castle Sprint.

Of course, once the event photography has been captured the job is only half-finished for the photogs!

We then have to complete the edit :-(

This can be a chore at the best of times but when the sun is shining it really needs discipline to keep the nose to the monitor.

However it does help to have a missus standing behind you ensuring that you don't get distracted (too much) by the research you want to make about the new photo-editing computer on your wish-list!

Thankfully the missus can't hang around my office all day ;-)

I've just about managed to maintain the concentration on editing and the job is now complete.

The Vale Castle Sprint pics are now on-line. Hurray!

Check 'em out here:
VIEW PICS OF THE VALE CASTLE SPRINT

This weekend there was no rest for the organisers who put in all the work behind the scenes at the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club.

The Club offered two days of Motorsport to its members with another round of their Sandracing Championship on Saturday followed by an impressive Sprint meeting at Vale Castle on Sunday which gave the racers more runs than I could count!

Both events enjoyed dry conditions, but it was the Vale Castle Sprint that really brought out the crowds who enjoyed some fantastic racing.

The fastest man along the very twisty Sprint course was Darren Warwick in his Moore Stephens Dallara. The speed and commitment that Darren showed was incredible. He was timed through the speed trap at over 100 mph! WOW!

This event has already established itself after just two years and is a great example of how hard the local Motorsport Clubs work to offer members so much varied competition.

Well done to all those involved.

I've just added pics of the Sandracing to my Galleries. The Vale Castle Sprint will follow:
VIEW PICS OF ROUND-7 OF THE SANDRACING CHAMPIONSHIP

If you judge the quality of a Hillclimb by the amount of records broken then the latest Guernsey Kart & Motor Club Hillclimb at Les Val des Terres was a great success.

I'll find the time to go through the final results to collect the official number of new records... there were certainly quite a few.

These included new records from Darren Warwick, Zef Eisenberg, Jordan Caradeuc, Chris Guille, Tony Simon and Andy Digard.

But it wasn't just the number of new records... it was the size of the chunk of time removed from some Class times.

That was another memorable day of Guernsey Motorsport :-)

I've been tied up with a couple Elevated photoshoots all day today so the Hillclimb pics have only just been edited. I've still got to edit the Karting pics.

But, for now, I've sorted the Car and Bike Classes and uploaded them to a new gallery.

*UPDATE*: The Karting pics have now been added to the Gallery.

Take a look at the first pics by clicking this link:
VIEW THE LATEST GK&MC HILLCLIMB PICS

I had a brief chat with Clint Blondel between bouts at the Open Air Boxing.

We had both had a bit of rush to get down to The Track in time for the early start of the fighting.

This was due to the fact that we'd both just left Vazon beach after the latest round of the Sandracing Championship.

However I was the lucky one as after a quick wipe of my cameras and lenses I was ready to rumble :-)

Clint, on the other hand, had to transport his Sidecar outfit and his Grasstrack car back home... and then give them a clean.

But he made it to ringside in time to see all the action.

I complimented Clint and Ross Young on their improving 'style' riding the Sidecar. They really are looking like they are ready to 'mix it' with the big names. The team have just been over to the mainland to race a couple of Grasstrack meetings and the extra track-time really shows! Well done guys.

Saturday saw three sidecar outfits on the beach. They are fast and exciting to watch. We must hope that a few more will take part in the 2016 season.

I've added a new Gallery of pics here:
VIEW PICS OF THE SANDRACING CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-6

Guernsey Kart & Motor Club decided to bring Round 5 of their Summer Kart Championship one day forward to Saturday afternoon and make it a social event as well.

What a good move...

I say this on Sunday morning (the usual race day) whilst uploading a few pics of the racing to my Galleries... and it is pouring down outside! Whatever happened to the Summer?

Unfortunately, due to family commitments, I couldn't hang around for the social after the racing. But I'm sure it was fun and I know it definitely benefited from the sunny Saturday!

I've added a few pics to the gallery including some taken with my wonderful Nikon 400mm f2.8 lens. Every time I use it I tell myself that it should be taken out of its hard case more often. Shame it is such a monster to hand-hold.

Photographers who look at the gallery wont need to be told which pics were taken with the 400mm :-)
CLICK TO VIEW PICS OF ROUND-5 OF THE SUMMER KART CHAMPIONSHIP

Two drivers 'headlined' and entertained the large crowd of spectators gathered at the top of Le Val des Terres for the Guernsey Rounds of the Avon Tyres/TTC Group MSA British Hillclimb Championship.

They produced a spectacle of top-class motorsport that you couldn't have scripted better!

Without doubt... and this isn't a Guernseyman's bias speaking, it was Darren Warwick who produced the finest of the two championship wins.

This was even taking into account that visitor and previous multiple Championship winner, Scott Moran, lowered the outright hill record below 27 seconds for the first time! He has firmly and deservedly made his mark in the record book with a 26.99.

However Scott races a much more powerful and modern car than Darren who doesn't benefit from all the technology. Scott also gets a lot more track-time under his belt as he competes in the full National season.

Darren Warwicks finest moment was when he went on to win Round 22 of the championship beating all the visitors. This win was added to an already impressive second place that Darren had achieved in Round 21.

The Round 22 'Top Twelve Run-off' was also noteable as it included six local drivers. Very impressive. You could say that Guernsey Donkeys pack a pretty hard kick :-)

I've added a quick edit of my pics to this Gallery. More will follow including the Bikes.
VIEW PICS OF THE 2015 GUERNSEY NATIONAL HILLCLIMB

Due to an incident involving Jos Goodyear at the end of the first Avon Tyres/TTC Group MSA British Hillclimb Championship Top 12 Run Off and the resulting long delay, the meeting ended and Round 20 was cancelled.

All the Channel Island Motorsport family wish him a speedy and full recovery.

So as the action was shorter than planned, so is this Blog :-)

I've just added my pics of the Cars to my Gallery. The bikes will follow:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW PICS OF THE JERSEY NATIONAL HILLCLIMB

Two different days... two different places... two different weathers.

What a contrast the Guernsey weekend has offered.

Saturday it was beach-time :-) This meant sun, sand, sea and warmth. There was also plenty of action to capture whilst photographing the Guernsey Surf Club's Junior Series. It's safe to say that a good time was had by everyone.

One sleep later and I was at the track dressed in full wet-weather gear... definitely not as pleasant as the first day of the weekend :-(

In the end I was well 'over-dressed' as the heavy rain that the iPhone app had promised never really arrived. Better safe than sorry I suppose.

The one similarity between the days was the action - of course. Why else would I be there?

The Track, in the rain, is always worth making an effort for as it offers the chance to capture a few 'roosters' - so maybe it would have been better if the heavy rain had actually arrived!

Once again I have enjoyed a fantastic weekend of photography which, by the way, also included Mower Racing and two amazing Bands at the Fermain Tavern. The pics of BLAKALASKA and Falenizza Horsepower will follow.

The first updates are here:
VIEW PICS OF THE SUMMER KART CHAMPIONSHIP
VIEW PICS OF THE SURF CLUB JUNIOR SERIES
VIEW PICS OF THE MOWER RACING

It's Racing... but not as we know it!

Yesterday, Guernsey Kart & Motor Club organised a day of Mower Racing in their field near to the Motocross Track. There wasn't a great entry but those who made the effort and the spectators who lined the track had plenty of smiles on their faces.

Credit must be given to the GK&MC President and the Committee who organised this fun event. The hope was that it would offer a little light relief from the ever so serious business of the Club's other events.

On that level it worked brilliantly. But with the poor support from Club members maybe this will be the first and last Mower Racing event?

Time will tell.

I've added a Gallery featuring the fun...
VIEW PICS OF THE GK&MC MOWER RACING

If I ever get around to making a short-list of my favourite weekends then one event would be sure to feature very near the top.

The Condor Ferries British Sandace Championship is a Motorsport event that would take a high spot on the list and Saturday confirmed to me why.

Now in its tenth year, the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club were rewarded for the decade of hard work that they have put into the Condor Ferries British Sandace Championship by seeing the best quality entry so far.

I understand that several riders chose to compete in the Sandace instead of another prestigious UK event. We were also able to see some of the most promising youngsters riding on the Vazon sands for the first time... and they were awesome. The future of the sport looks very promising.

The Sandace weekend is always very hectic. I'm on the beach for all the racing... that's the fun part... then the work starts :-(

I immediately copied the days shoot unto my laptop computer and then set off to the Wicked Wolf for the evening social.

This year (with the change of venue) I was promised a big screen and projector to display the days work. I visited the pub the day before to check out the system but no-one could show me the set-up... I was concerned that I might have problems on the night. I was right!!

It would take far to long to tell you what went wrong (quicker to say what went right!) In the end my back-up plan of taking a TV along saved the day :-)

I was able to run an un-edited slide-show of the 395 pics that I took of the racing. This is a scary thing for a photographer to do when you haven't had a chance to delete the rubbish or do any form of edit, exposure correction or cropping! To my relief almost all of them looked fantastic.

Sunday morning it was time to make a very quick edit before the Guernsey Press deadline and a further edit for Speedway Star Magazine. Then a full edit of the whole weekends work for my web-site.

So now, with the job done and the Sandace meeting already behind us for another year we must congratulate the GMC&CC for the way they ran the event. It is now a firm favourite with many International riders. They only have to visit Vazon once to catch the 'bug'. Beach racing is so different to their normal race weekends and Guernsey does it brilliantly.

Things can only get bigger and better.
VIEW PICS OF THE 2015 CONDOR FERRIES BRITISH SANDACE CHAMPIONSHIP

I have a feeling that my mate and fellow photographer Mike Brehaut might have pulled off the ultimate hack of my web-site!

It seems a bit of an extreme and painful thing to go through but wow, what a result!

I'm talking about the crash that Mike had right in front of me at the Reservoir Speed Event... the perfect spot for me to get a few pics :-)

Of course I was eager to add the action to my web-site and the interest has been quite amazing. The stats show that his gallery of crash pics has had over 4,000 views since yesterday. That number amounts to 24% of todays total views.

So what do you reckon?

My mate Mike seems to be gaining new fans by using my web-site to get noticed! He's a clever guy :-)

Am I getting paranoid? What do you think?

:-)

By the way, I've now added the rest of my pics from the Speed Event including Cars, Karts & Bikes:
VIEW ALL THE RESERVOIR SPEED EVENT PICS

Mike Brehaut will always keep you entertained. He is great fun to meet for a natter over cups of strong coffee... never less than two cups! He's also very polite and always acknowledges his audience with a wave... see pic No.4 of the sequence ;-)

When fellow professional photographer and mate, Mike Brehaut (CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY ), took up the sport of Karting I joked with him that he was to make sure that if he crashed he must do it in front of me and I would guarantee to get the shot!

Well, as you see, we both kept our part of the deal :-)

Whats more, I'm relieved that I managed to nail the focus for the whole sequence of pics... my cred as a pro lives on till the next time ;-)

In fact, as I know Mike loves attention, I've given him his very own Gallery :-)

As I'm living onsite at the Chaos Festival this weekend this quick edit was done in my studio van (beer in hand) as peeps are chasing me to see the pics... the rest will follow.

I've just noticed that the viewings on my web-site are at: 9,472,666... could this be an omen Mike Brehaut?

Or is that 999, call me an ambulance?

Click here to view the whole sequence:
VIEW THE SEQUENCE OF MIKE BREHAUT'S CRASH

The next time I step onto a beach it will be for motorsport mayhem of the very best kind :-)

The Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club will be running their tenth British Sand Ace Championship meeting on the sands of Vazon Bay. I'm proud to say that I have photographed every single one.

The fact that I have been privileged to get so close to the action (and have the pics to prove it) I am certain that this National Championship only gets better and better... year after year.

I've checked out the names on the entry list and the tenth running of the Sand Ace is lined up to be the best yet. I urge you to make a diary date on July 4th at 1.30pm to find yourself a space on the sea wall to enjoy the motorsport spectacle of 500cc 'Sliders' and 1000cc Right-Hand Sidecar outfits battling for the prestigious Trophies.

I was down on the beach for the last 'Club' meeting before the 'Big One'. Pics are now on-line:
VIEW PICS OF THE LATEST SANDRACING MEETING

Sometimes you can't help but be proud of our little Island and its inhabitants.

This weekend has been one of those occasions.

I have been chasing my own camera bodies around for the last two days whilst covering several big events. The mornings work wasn't that exciting or different but each afternoon it has been RYA National Offshore Powerboat time :-) And just to add variety, on Saturday evening I captured some pics at the Castle Cornet 'Rave'!

But to get back to my original comment. The Guernsey Powerboat Association were given the opportunity to run two races in the RYA National Offshore 3A & V24 Championship. This chance had already been earned by the high standard of organisation the GPA puts in place.

However, there was always going to be a chance of missing the mark this time around as there is so much that has to run smoothly behind the scenes. There is a mountain of paperwork that needs accurate completion and then every other fine detail from safety, marshalling, permissions and trophies has to be sorted before-hand.

The great thing is that now the last podium presentation has been made we can already say that the GPA and Guernsey has done us proud... what a fantastic event that showcased everything about Guernsey at its best. Thank you GPA. Thank you Guernsey sunshine ;-)

Final thanks must go to Stanley Gibbons Investment for their sponsorship of the GPA. Without that support nothing would happen.

I got to see the bustle in Race Control after each race as I worked with John Moore from the leading magazine 'Raceboat International'. John was in Guernsey as the magazine is going to give extensive coverage of the racing... helped along by my pictures. John was also making immediate updates to the
RACEBOAT INTERNATIONAL WEBSITE
and Facebook pages. Make sure you check them out.

I've already added a few pics of the two races to my Galleries... more will follow:
VIEW PICS OF THE RYA 3A AND V24 NATIONAL OFFSHORE POWERBOAT RACE-1
VIEW PICS OF THE RYA 3A AND V24 NATIONAL OFFSHORE POWERBOAT RACE-2

EDIT: What is the first rule of reporting... GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT!!

So I failed there then :-(

Paul isn't racing at the Sand Ace meeting this year... he'll be in Tayac, France for the World Longtrack Championship!

But he did have a good time in Guernsey and he was VERY fast:-)

.....Last Saturday saw one of the UK's top 500cc Slider riders make a visit to the Vazon sands.

Last Saturday saw one of the UK's top 500cc Slider riders make a visit to the Vazon sands.

Paul Cooper was over to familiarise himself with the beach conditions before the prestigious British Sand Ace Championship on July 4th.

The National Sand Ace Championship is about to hold its 10th event on the white Vazon beach and this year the quality of field - both Sliders and Sidecars - is the best ever!

This is testament to the fantastic job the organising committee of the Guernsey Motor Cycle & Car Club do in bringing all the details together to make everything run smoothly.

I'll be covering the event again... that makes it my tenth time also!

I've just added a few pics of the warm-up race to my Galleries and from the way Paul Cooper was 'at home' on the beach I think he is likely to be one of the top runners in the Sand Ace. Make sure you make a diary date for the 4th July... the action will be amazing!
VIEW PICS OF THE JUNE 6th SAND RACING

It was a case of 'Six of the Best' at the Guernsey Kart & Motor Club's Bank Holiday Hillclimb with six new records set.

I spent time on nearly every bend during the day watching (and photographing) the action... and there was no shortage of that!

The racers were treated to five timed runs which is a credit to the organisation of the event and the efficient way the few 'offs' were dealt with.

The high standard of the racing was incredible to watch from the various positions I worked from with the fastest drivers producing performances that I reckon to be near 'superhuman' and very near the absolute physical limit of what man and machine can achieve?

If you noted the question mark at the end of the last sentence you will see that I wonder when that limit will be reached.

However I imagine that over the years many people have pondered the same question only to see that, remarkably, a competitor finds another tenth or two to make a new mark in the record book.

It was Glyn Ridley who cracked a major mark for all racers on the 'Terres... cracking the 30 seconds time. He now holds a permanent place in the records as the first Karter to crack 30s. The day only got better for the Ridley's when Glyn's son Daniel went on to lower his fathers old Class record in the 250 Singles.

So, as if to prove my point about records, today's fastest man in a Kart up the Guernsey hill lost one of his other records on the very day he achieved this amazing feat!

I wonder how long he will hold on to his new one?
SIX OF THE BEST... VIEW PICS OF THE HILLCLIMB

I've been photographing the Autocross 'Banger' racing down on Chouet beach for quite a few years now but last weekend's Fun Meeting was a bit more personal.

My father, as he approaches ninety years of age, has recently given up driving himself around. I hope I am still 'on the road' at a similar age... time will tell.

Having made that decision, we were left with a fairly worn-out Hyundai Getz in Seaside Blue to dispose of.

Maybe it was the name of its colour that triggered the idea that the Getz deserved one last swan-song before going to the crusher. So the car was offered to the Guernsey Autocross Club to be used in any way they chose.

That brings us to last weekend's Fun Meeting and the Inter-Insular championship... Guernsey v Jersey.

When I walked around the pits looking for the old car I needed to take a clue from the colour because once all the trimmings have been removed I find many modern cars seem to loose their identity.

But, of course, I soon found it and I met the driver who would be giving it one last burn-out... or maybe its first ever burn-out?!!

I then waited eagerly, camera at the ready, to capture the Getz's last hurrah... and it went out in style, even managing a jump off the ramp which I think was the fatal blow :-(

So it only enjoyed a short time on track but what a way to send an old lady to the crusher. I now have a few pics to show my father and they are sure to bring a smile to his face :-)

I've added a picture gallery for the Fun Meeting. Why not take a look how many times you can spot the Seaside Blue Hyundai Getz? Answers on a Postcard please.
VIEW PICS OF THE FINAL BURN-OUT OF THE HYUNDAI GETZ