A small selection of my favourite images from the Goodwood Festival of Speed this year...
(All images © Scott Dennis - click on a thumbnail for a larger view)
FIA World Rally Cross Championship - Lydden Hill
Due to a variety of other commissions and assignments I haven't been able to cover a motorsport event for a while, so when I was asked by Audi UK to cover the FIA World RX of Great Britain at Lydden Hill I jumped at the chance.
This year the sport of rallycross celebrates its 50th anniversary and this was honoured last weekend at Lydden Hill where the first event took place back in 1967. The weekend was also a sad one for Lydden Hill 'The Home of Rallycross', as it marked the last World RX round to be held there.
From 2018 the Great Britain round of the championship moves to a newly built track at Silverstone circuit.
As this was my first visit to Lydden Hill, and indeed my first experience of a World RX event, I had a bit to learn and understand before the fast-paced action started on Saturday. Thankfully World RX commentator and old buddy Andrew Coley was on-hand to explain how things work and kept me updated with results via text message over the weekend!
Whilst my allegiance was obviously with the cars my client had racing it became clear from the qualifying races on Saturday that Petter Solberg would take some beating. With four qualifying races and two semi-finals completed Petter did go on to win the final and stand on the top-step of the podium on Sunday afternoon - his first World RX win in over a year.
I thoroughly enjoyed my World RX experience, learnt a lot and would probably do a few things differently the next time I cover a round of the championship - something I hope I get the opportunity to do again soon!
A few images from the weekend - click a thumbnail for a larger view.
Silverstone Classic 2016 in pictures.....
Look at the Silverstone Classic website and you’ll be greeted by a banner that describes the 3 day event in July as - ”The world’s biggest motor racing festival”.
And it really is hard to argue with that claim - the first day this year saw a staggering 14 qualifying sessions take place with drivers from over 25 countries competing in more than 1,000 historic racing cars, from Grand Prix cars of the 1940’s, historic Formula 1 cars competing in the FIA Masters Historic Championship to Super Touring Cars from the glory days of British Touring Car Championship.
If that wasn’t enough of a field there were Group C prototypes, including the Leyton House liveried Porsche 962 (a favourite of mine), all gracing the Silverstone circuit along with cars from the Can-Am series celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Can-Am race in North America.
When the circuit wasn’t filled with the sights and sounds of this incredible mix of historic cars ‘doing their thing’ racing, it played host to a number of parades to celebrate milestone anniversaries for manufacturers such as Porsche, Lotus and Lamborghini.
There is also much to see at the Silverstone Classic with over 10,000 privately-owned classic cars filling the infield representing owners clubs of all types.
However, the real action is most definitely on the track and it’s a real treat to see some of these cars racing as they were intended to be raced by their drivers, especially considering the impressive value of some of the cars competing.
Once the races are underway the competitive instincts take over and these ‘gentleman racers’ push their prized machinery to the limits. On occasion these limits are exceeded and cars spin and a little bit of ‘rubbing’ takes place, but thankfully these aren’t commonplace and in most cases the only thing hurt is pride.
I enjoyed what the Silverstone Classic had to offer for all three days this year – one day just isn’t enough! If you haven’t been, and I’m assuming if you’re reading this you have a small interest in historic racing – get yourself there next year!
Here’s a selection of my favourite images from my time there, I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did taking them… (a further gallery of larger images can be viewed here)
Click on a thumbnail for a larger view....
Silverstone Classic 2016
(All images © Scott Dennis Photography - no reproduction without prior consent)