Motorsport

Loton Park 27 August 2016

Although I have not bought my next hillclimb car yet, I went to Loton Park yesterday to spectate and take a few photos.

While standing at Fallow I bumped into Stephen Morrison, who I last saw in exactly the same place months ago when he was experimenting with panning with a longer exposure to try to capture the speed of the cars rather than the exact clarity of a fast shutter speed that makes the car look stationary. Since that chance meeting I’ve been trying to do the same and here are a few that came out reasonably well.  The cars are still not in focus when you zoom in on them but they are getting there. Certainly they are more in focus than the background and convey something of the speed and excitement of the event.

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Pat Cooper. Austin Healey 100/6
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Harry Howlett, MGF. Longer exposure and panning capture locked up front wheels while rears continue to rotate.
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Same thing captured on Rob Orford’s MGB, again heading towards Fallow.
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Rhys Jones’s shiny black MX5 looking good on gold wheels on wet track.
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My neighbour from Kinver, Martyn Silcox in his Impreza WRX STI.  Not a particularly exciting photo but the number on the door is perfectly in focus which is what I was aiming for.
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This one is not 100% in focus but almost is and does convey the speed of Gary Thomas in his Force PC as he hurtles into Fallow.
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This one is definitely out of focus but I’ve included it because it does capture an exciting moment for Stuart Roper-Marshall as he goes around Museum on the limit and almost on the grass in his Austin 7.
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Terry Rogers rounding Triangle in his  smoking Frazer Nash
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Rob Morgan rounds Fallow on three wheels with the undriven inside rear stationary.

These photos were taken with a shutter speed of 1/80 but I also took some on the Automatic Sports setting which does capture moments if not atmosphere. Here are a few moments.

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David Crawley lifts a rear wheel under braking for Museum
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But Mike Gallery wins the competition for who can lift that rear highest.

Bumping into Stephen also reminded me of his website On-Track.co.uk. It really is an excellent resource for anyone looking for track days, hillclimbs and sprints.  I realise I won’t get my next car until the season is over so hopefully On-Track will point me in the direction of some out of season activities.

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Finally. a bit of fun… I made an animated gif image of Colin Mee tacking around Museum.

 

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