One of the best bits about blogging is having the oppertunity to Big Up your mates.
One of the best photographers that I have encountered in the last 20 years or so is David Noels.
The Belgian has had stacks of editorial and corporate clients over the years, most notably General Motors.
He recently launched a blog and I recommend that you pay a visit to see his great work, like this
John Brooks, March 2011
A grey February morning, a Friday in Esher, Surrey like any other. Except this Friday was different, we were going to have a parade.
For the past 135 years there has been a horse racing course in the town, Sandown Park. One of the traditional winter meetings is the Royal Artillery Gold Cup Day. The Royal Artillery Gold Cup has an unusual entry requirement. Only horses that are owned or leased by those who are serving, or have served, in the the Royal Artillery are eligible to compete.
There has been a feeling in the country at large that not enough recognition has been given to the Armed Forces who serve us bravely, whatever we think of the conflicts that they have been sent to. Overstretched by mendacious politicians, under equipped by a wasteful and bureaucratic procurement process, the military have paid the price for these shortcomings with their lives.
The citizens of a small town in Wiltshire, Wootten Bassett, gave an expression of respect for the sacrifices of the Armed Forces by their informal public mourning. This is held as hearses carrying the bodies of service men and women killed in Afghanistan and Iraq pass through the town after repatriation.
This has inspired others to find some means of showing their gratitude. Someone in Esher had the bright idea last year of organising a march in honour of members of the Royal Artillery just returned from a tour of duty in Helmand Province. It was popular, so yesterday saw a repeat performance. Those regiments that took part in the march included, The Kings Troop Royal Horse Artillery, The Royal Artillery Band, Marching troops from various Royal Artillery Regiments and the Royal Artillery Pipes & Drums.
The town turned out on the High Street to applaud the soldiers and wave Union Jacks. It was very understated, very British and very sincere. The beneficiary of collections made during the morning was the excellent Help for Heroes.
I took a camera along and recorded some of the parade:
I know it has nothing to do with motor cars, I do not care. My blog, my rules
John Brooks, February 2011
SIDE BY SIDE!!!!
It said that people love Paris in the Springtime, well from my perspective the Port de Versailles was pretty good in the Winter. It is the venue for the classy show, Retromobile, a thoroughly French celebration of classic cars and things good automobile-wise.
Top of the Pile
It is a show that has something for everyone that has petrol in their soul or heart. A chance to shake off the coils of winter, say an opportunity to buy THAT book that has been eagerly anticipated. Me? The 1982 Le Mans Year Book was on my shopping list and for just €60 it sits on the shelf along with the rest of the family, only ’83 to go now.
South Park comes to La Sarthe
Of course for all the gold that can prospected there is a little pyrite here and there but for the most part it is a worthwhile affair.
Steam Train
The exhibits looked back a long way, the Cugnot Fardier à Vapeur much further than the rest, some 240 years. Encouraged by Louis XV, Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built the first self-propelled vehicle with the intention of moving very heavy items such as cannon. Amazingly one example survives in the Paris museum, Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers.
Round the Benz
Another first, part of celebration of Mercedes Benz 125th anniversary, is this Benz Patent-Motorwagen. This is widely recognised as the first motor car. There is a tale to be told of course, in that the designer, Karl Benz was on the point of giving up his work when his wife, Bertha, took the vehicle on a long drive accompanied by her two sons. The trip, over 60 miles was the first journey of its kind ever undertaken and generated much press attention. It was the starting point.
Le Sweeney?
One of the charms of the Retromobile is recognition of the more mundane vehicles such as this Renault 4. Somehow I cannot see DI Regan shouting “Vous êtes entaillé” while leaping from this cop car.
Record Breaker
All three major French manufacturers are well represented at Retromobile. They proudly show off their heritage both on and off the track. Here, “Petite Rosalie” a 30’s Citroën 8CV with special bodywork broke many long distance world records at the Montlhéry Autodrome, covering over 300.000 kilometres at an average speed of 93 kph over a period of 134 days.
I’ll Join The Legion…..
This Citroën Autochenille Type P17 is something of a contrast. Scarabée D’Or III as it was known, formed part of an expedition organised by Citroën, La Croisière Jaune. On 4th April 1931, the group left Beirut and 315 days later reached the gates of Beijing, a distance of 12,115 kilometres.
Also equipped for the rough stuff but a tad faster, was the Peugeot 205 T16. Peugeot like its sister company, Citroën and rival, Renault had a major presence at the Retromobile.
Diesel Express
Peugeot too brought out the heritage. The Peugeot 404 Diesel broke 40 records during 1965 at Monthléry including a 72 hour stretch averaging 161.49 kph.
Vive La France
Marques that no longer exist were also represented. Lorraine-Dietrich for example.
The Winner of the 1926 Le Mans 24 Hours.
Completely authentic, is the Lorraine-Dietrich B3-6 that André Rossignol and Robert Bloch drove to victory in the 1926 Le Mans 24 Hours, amazing. They covered 2552 kilometres and considering the technology of the time that was a pretty incredible performance. To give some idea of scale, the 2010 winning Audi set a new distance record of 5,410 kilometres.
Lola GT
The world’s greatest race was well represented with the Lola GT showing the direction the the 60’s would take when Ford took over the idea to create the GT40 and its successors.
OK more tomorrow from Paris.
John Brooks, February 2011
Over The Top
As night follows day the PR releases tumble into the in box on my HotMail account. Most are routine, run of the mill affairs warranting little scrutiny but those from Audi usually get more than a cursory glance, for good reason. The latest is proclaiming the 1-2 finish for the revamped Audi R8 GT3 racer at the Bathurst 12 Hours.
What caught my eye was this image, I would have been pleased to shoot something as good as this. It simply says Mount Panorama. Bravo!
John Brooks, February 2011
Skoda 1100 OHC at the 2011 Retromobile
Skoda, a rather misunderstood and, during the years of Communist control, an unfairly maligned manufacturer, produced over the years some fine and technically advanced motor cars – their Popular model of the Thirties for example pushed our Austin Ten and Morris Eight well into the shade.
Hot Seat
Despite political restrictions, they did manage to dabble on a limited scale in competitions, mainly in national events, although three 1100 saloons did well in the 1948 Spa 24 hour race, winning the 1100 c.c. Touring category, an 1100 Sport ran in the 1950 Le Mans race and rear-engined Skodas won their class in the R.A.C. Rally no less than sixteen times!
Full Of Eastern Promise
Since the founding of the Czechoslovakian state relatively little detailed information about that nation’s interesting motor industry had found its way into Western Europe until some twenty years or so ago, and so it is not surprising that visitors to classic shows should be somewhat taken aback to see a genuine Skoda sportsracer.
Red Star Express
This splendid 1100 OHC is one of just two constructed in 1958. Based on a tubular frame, they were powered by a twin overhead camshaft version of the 1089c.c. 4- cylinder engine from the Skoda 440 saloon, giving 92 b.h.p. There were two plugs per cylinder and twin choke Jikov carburettors. A five-speed gearbox was mounted off-set at the rear and suspension was by torsion bars, longitudinal with wishbones at the front and angled with swing axles at the rear, where the brakes were inboard. These cars were designed by Ing F. Sajdl and two additional coupé versions (1100 OHC Sport) were built in 1960.
Stylish Skoda
Among successes in national events were three wins in 1958, two more victories in 1960 and also in 1961 and in 1962. The cars made only two official appearances outside of their homeland, in Budapest in 1958 where a 3rd and a 5th were scored in the 1500c.c. race and in Leningrad, where the cars came home first and second.
David Blumlein
Loud In Every Sense
To Paris for the excellent 2011 Retromobile. Look what greets the arrival of a weary traveller? Plus ca change.
More later when I am back in Blighty
John Brooks, February 2011
Stephane Ratel
Most of you will familiar with the authority on Sports Car and Endurance Racing, DailySportsCar.com
I suspect that you also know that it is subscription site.
What you may not know is that some current items are free to view. The huge archive is similarly available.
Today DSC runs a free piece that should be read by anyone with an interest in this side of the sport. Stephane Ratel, one of the saviours of endurance racing in the mid-90s and Chairman of SRO, gives an extensive interview.
Hot Stuff
He gives his verdict on the first year of the FIA GT1 World Championship and where he sees its future.
You can see it HERE
Do it now.
John Brooks, January 2011
Running on Rails
The engine failure of the #12 Ferrari appeared to hand victory to the #16 Dyson Riley & Scott Ford. As daylight broke they had a 23 lap advantage over the #2 Corvette, OK there were seven hours to go, but this was Dyson we were considering. That should have been enough but there were worried expressions in the Dyson pit. It was reported that the leader had taken on water to counteract overheating at their first pit stop some 16 hours previously. During the night the problem went the other way as it emerged that the engine was running at 120 degrees C not the normal 200. Something was amiss and even a crew chief as experienced as Dyson’s Pat Smith was unable to figure out a quick fix. Could they hold on?
A Hard Rain Is Gonna Fall
The other Dyson car, #20, lost two hours having the input shaft to the transmission replaced, so was well out of contention.
Up Front
Third overall was the GT Class leader, Jet Motorsports BMW M3. They were three laps up with five hours to go when the engine failed after an oil leak, another car gone.
Both Of The Crowd Were Entertained
The miserable conditions continued, making everyone rather grumpy, just wishing for this damn race to be finished. Even at Corvette things got a little tense. Well known, and sometimes respected writer, Andrew Cotton, popped his head into the Pratt & Miller pit to catch up with Andy Pilgrim and file some copy for the Daily Telegraph back home. There were a couple of off duty local cops acting “security” for Dale Senior and one decided that Andrew’s presence was superfluous and told him to get lost. Like any Brit abroad, Andrew ignored the cop and tried to help matters by declaring that he was not interested in Senior. He only wanted to speak to Pilgrim. The next step was that Andrew was threatened with arrest if he did not leave immediately, a plain dereliction of duty. The cop should have tasered and cuffed him there and then for ignoring an instruction from an Officer of the Law. It would not have happened in Sheriff Bill Gillespie’s time.
Of course when this incident reached the ears of GM PR, they had a collective heart attack, but all was eventually smoothed over, the Telegraph got their copy and Andrew, or his father I think, got a free breakfast.
The Cruel Sea
As the race trundled on the leading R&S extended the gap to #2 Corvette to over 28 laps. Then at around 9.30am, and with less than 4 hours to go, the call came. Butch Leitzinger parked the Riley & Scott at the East Horseshoe with an engine failure. I remember seeing the crew as they struggled to come to terms with this cruel fate, it was hard to witness, like there had been a death in the family. Rob Dyson could only say “I am not sure I want to come back to this place”. He did.
Double Dutch
The Rolex is about more than the struggle for the lead, each team has its own story to tell. Cor Euser brought a brace of Marcos from Holland, both got to the finish.
GT1?
Embracing the original “Run what you Brung” philosophy was the Canadian Porsche 911 GT1 entry, it ended up third in class.
Rocket Ron
The clocked ticked on, eventually it was 1.00pm, the race was run and we all gave thanks. The #2 Corvette had scored an unlikely win, but fully deserved none the less. It was the early stages of what would turn out to be long series of wins and championships for the Pratt & Miller team. Anyone interested in reading more about this should consider THIS. The disappointment of seeing good guys like Weaver, Brabs and Nishy robbed of their races was offset by the celebrations of the Corvette guys, who could resist such passion?
Lightning Performance
The decimation of the prototypes promoted the White Lightning Racing Porsche 996 GT3 R, driven by Christian Menzel, Lucus Luhr, Mike Fitzgerald, Randy Pobst, to second place overall.
GT Winners
They were also GT class winners.
Manfred’s Wagen
Third overall were Wolfgang Kaufmann, Cyril Chateau and Lance Stewart in the Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3 RS. Another great result.
The Final Podium
Next up was the crew of #3 who scored second place in GTS. Hard to imagine back then that this was Dale Earnhardt Snr.’s final podium. He would be fatally injured two weeks later on the final lap of the Daytona 500. His plans to leave NASCAR and come into endurance racing never came to fruition but had he lived the shape of Le Mans and the ALMS in the following years would have been very different.
L’Intimidateur
This would have become a familiar sight.
Downing’s delight
In the end the SRP1 class went to the Kudzu Mazda, here advertising the HANS system that owner/driver Jim Downing was advocating to all. Had Earnhardt been wearing one of these devices in the 500 he might well of survived his accident. They are mandatory now.
Archangel Motorsport
SRP 2 was won by Archangel Motorsport.
Hamilton Safe Motorsports
The final class winner was Hamilton Safe Motorsports who came out on top in AGT.
Champions All.
24 Hour races at Daytona International Speedway are regarded as amongst the toughest around, any of the 310 drivers who competed at the 2001 edition would have agreed and so would their crews. So the celebrations go on into the night, it is a Daytona tradition.
John Brooks, January 2011
Daytona Dawn
Saturday 3rd February 2001, the 39th edition of the Rolex 24 Hours got underway with the usual pomp and ceremony. The first few hours saw a few cars fall by the wayside but most of the 79 starters were still circulating. Then came the rain.
There is some sort of expectation from those who stay back in Europe while the Rolex 24 takes place, that the whole affair is conducted in Miami South Beach conditions. My experience has been somewhat different, 2000’s race was absolutely freezing, below zero when the wind chill was factored in. 2001 was marginally warmer but the rain was horrible. It was cold, wet and dark prematurely.
Rally Cross?
Most of the photographers showed good sense and stayed either in the warm, dry Benny Khan media centre or hid under awnings in the pits. Me? Well, Regis Lefebure and I headed out to the back straight, where we spent several hours trying make some sort of acceptable images in the murk. I reckon he got better results than I.
NASCAR 4
In this sort of dull stuff it is almost impossible to turn Chicken Shit into Chicken Salad. The 2001 Rolex 24 was a personal landmark for me, it was the last race that I shot entirely on film. By the time I crossed the Atlantic again to shoot the ALMS’ season opener at Texas I had acquired a Canon D30. Digital had arrived, that genie had escaped and things would be very different. Photographers would go on to be software operators, mind you the crap ones would still be crap.
Racing in the Rain
The switch from analogue to digital robbed the Daytona Infield spectators of the Grand Prix that would take place at the end of each track session. The Pro and not so Pro photographers would lumber towards their vehicles, jump in and try to beat the others to the Tunnel at NASCAR 4 and across West International Speedway Boulevard to the photo processors, Speedway Photo as I recall. Their service was magic, unlike most of the nonsense that we used to endure back then. The quicker you got to the store, the higher up the queue you would be, though what we were hoping to achieve by this is not clear. Even a small scanned image would takes ages to transmit down those 14.4k phone connections and broadband had not reached the Speedway yet. Still it all seemed very important to us. It showed our competitive spirit, ‘How the West was Won’ sorta thing.
First of Many
The dubious honour of being the first retirement fell to the TRV Motorsports outfit, five minutes into the race.
Unique
The Crawford had transmission problems and despite replacing the entire mechanism, they too fell out early in the proceedings.
Intersport Lola
The Intersport Lola led during the first hour but hit clutch problems, dropping them down the order. It was a rough Rolex baptism for 17 year old Clint Field.
A Big Target
Another early contender, the Robinson Racing Riley & Scott, was yet one more prototype to have problems, losing an hour behind the Wall trying to sort an engine malady.
The Old One Two
So as the light faded it was the Risi Ferrari and the Weaver Riley & Scott scrapping for the lead with #20 Dyson car and the Champion Lola hanging on…………then came #2 Corvette, this one would run and run.
Mad Mike
Of course it was not only the front runners that were suffering in the poor conditions. My old pal, Mike Youles, was having his own brand of problems out on track. PK Sport had only just taken delivery of the 996 GT3 R and were not fully prepared for the copious amounts of rain that fell unexpectedly in Volusia County. Somehow the water was all over the inside of the screen, so Mike drove along trying to work out where he was by looking out the side windows.
I’m Sorry, I’ll Feel That Again
In addition to this he was driving double and triple stints as co-driver Geoff Lister was unwell. Of course Mike took it all in his stride, “Racing by Braille” he called it at the time. with a big grin on his face. Utter madness but very PK Sport we all agreed, very much the spirit of how they went racing.
Hot Laps?
Even the Corvettes were having some difficulties. Dale Junior was sent out for his first stint as the conditions got worse, this was not great timing from the team, as he said at the time.
“When I went out there in the car it was a little slick. I spun out a few times trying to get going. The track’s drying up a lot and it’s really gotten quick. Hopefully we can get buckled down here and catch up.”
“I asked them if I could do a double, but they said later on man, save your strength. I’m ready to go when they are.”
“I had zero experience in the wet. I’ve never driven on it, so I was out there learning. But the track dried pretty quick and I felt pretty comfortable and fell into a good rhythm.”
“They kind of saved me from sending me out earlier because it was raining pretty bad. When I got to get out there the track was relatively dry, so I was OK. (On his first lap) The tires were so cold, and your adrenaline’s pumping, and I kind of screwed up. But once I settled down, I felt good.”
Junior had further problems when a half shaft failed, there was a mistake in communication and the whole transmission unit was changed but the #3 was soon back on track only losing around 30 minutes.
The next top runner to hit the rocks was the Champion Lola Porsche, a sudden drop in oil pressure causing engine failure.
The 24 hours of pounding around the Daytona International Speedway is regarded as being tougher than any other similar contest, and that is when the weather is good. The conditions that prevailed in 2001 meant that most folk were clinging on, hoping to see daylight.
Out at the head of the race #12 and #16 continued to swap the lead. Then Risi Competizione took their turn on the wheel of hard fortune. Out on the back straight McNish lost a front wheel due to lug nut seizing. Fixing this problem cost five laps and almost certainly the race was lost. This prognosis was confirmed a few hours later, just before dawn. During a routine pit stop it was noticed the oil temperature was rising rapidly, it was suspected that head gasket had failed in the V12. The Ferrari was reluctantly retired, another leader down and no Rolex for McNish.
The Speedway
The darkness went on and on, as long in Florida as it is short at La Sarthe.
Final Part of this tale of misfortune and endeavour tomorrow.
John Brooks, January 2011
The Victory Lane Roll
2003 saw the introduction of the Daytona Prototypes to the Rolex 24. Well, as their SRP 1 and 2 ancestors had found out in 2000 and 2001, any hint of delays due to mechanical problems will let the GT mob in. They are like a pack of hyenas relentlessly hunting.
So it was not a huge surprise to see a Porsche coming out on top, it’s what they do.
And of course it would not be Victory Lane without a crowd of clueless guys in bright shirts milling about purposelessly, oblivious to the TV and photographers trying to get a shot. Traditions are traditions after all.
John Brooks, January 2011