Auto66 Car and Bike Twisty Sprint

[Simon Harrison]

Ended up at Teesside Autodrome to cover the first round of the Yorkshire Sprint Championship. First time at this venue, so thanks to GSH for some info on the circuit layout etc. As far as the venue itself, the track is very interesting, with some fast flowing sections, tight twisty bits and quite a bit of elevation change. Getting a low angle is hard because of how the track has been constructed, and the brambles are bloomin' ferocious!

Any way here's some pictures, starting with cars: -

#1 Might as well enjoy yourself, and this Sylva Mojo was about the best looking vehicle there.
http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/Auto66/09-04-06---289.jpg

#2 Sierra Saphire locks up braking for turn 1
http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/Auto66/09-04-06---128.jpg

#3 Lotus 7 lookalike - not sure about the colour, but had a nice 4 litre V8
http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/Auto66/09-04-06---063.jpg

#4 More practice at shooting into the sun.
http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/Auto66/09-04-06---254.jpg

There were more bikes than cars taking part. Stuck to the vertical format all day for practice and to minimise the less than 'stunning' backgrounds.

#5 Classic sidecar
http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/Auto66/09-04-06---376.jpg

#6 Cornering Supermoto style!
http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/Auto66/09-04-06---023.jpg

#7 On the brakes Supermoto style
http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/Auto66/09-04-06---163.jpg

#8 Lovely BSA - great noise these old bikes
http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/Auto66/09-04-06---149.jpg

#9 Getting tucked up before the blast down the back straight
http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/Auto66/09-04-06---271.jpg

Great day out, and hopefully I'll get the opportunity to visit the venue again later this year.

As usual, any comments or feedback appreciated.

Cheers,

Simon.

[dengli]

Nice shots Simon as usual. I agree about the Sylva - nice looking motor.

The Autodrome seems to be on the up now, must try to get down there sometime to have a look.

[GSH]

Beautiful set there Simon, nice to see you got better weather than i did too.
I know exactly what you mean about the brambles, i still have the scars to remind me.

Did you manage to get onto the infield or did you stick to the outside ?

[Simon Harrison]

Beautiful set there Simon, nice to see you got better weather than i did too.
I know exactly what you mean about the brambles, i still have the scars to remind me.

Did you manage to get onto the infield or did you stick to the outside ?

Thanks Geoff. Had a small amount of light rain during the first practice session, but that was all. Very gusty wind all day though which made life a little difficult from time to time.

I wandered about all over to be honest. As it was a sprint, they weren't using the whole lap. There were some positions on the infield, at the top end of the circuit, but they offered little in the way of protection, and to be honest the angles at the other end of the circuit were better. The main struggle was getting low enough to get the shots that I wanted, that and avoiding the odd rat :rolleyes: :p . Nice circuit though. A bit narrow I would have thought to race cars, but would be interesting to see bikes and karts racing. Very interesting for a blast out on a track day as well.

Should have a full gallery online tomorrow evening.

Cheers,

Simon.

[Simon Harrison]

Nice shots Simon as usual. I agree about the Sylva - nice looking motor.

The Autodrome seems to be on the up now, must try to get down there sometime to have a look.

Thanks Dave.

Still a little rough about some of the edges, but the people I've met down there so far know what they're about and the track has great potential.

Cheers,

Simon.

[Simon Harrison]

I'll edit another picture in here. The position I had myself in when the picture was taken was chosen so the riders were hard on the brakes, downshifting and setting the bike up for a right hand bend. I figured it would be a good spot to show some dive on the front forks as the bikes braked and maybe some change in body position on the rider for the corner. As this particular Suzuki T20 was braking and downshifting, there was a pretty unpleasant 'mechanical noise' from the bike a fraction before I hit the shutter. He cut the engine straight away and coasted to a stop immediately. Have a look to the left of the bike in line with the front wheel. What ever broke on the bike is exiting stage left from the frame.

http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/forum/Auto66/09-04-06---208.jpg

Whatever damage was caused was thankfully none too serious, as he was back out on track later in the day.

I've also now got the fully gallery on line for those that want to have a look. Use the link below :-

http://www.srh-motorsport-photography.com/Galleries/Motorcars/Auto66_Sprint/index.htm

Cheers,

Simon.

[despot]

The Mojo was the best looking car there? Oh dear .... ;)

Nice shots Simon - #3 & #6 are my pick.

Andy

[Simon Harrison]

The Mojo was the best looking car there? Oh dear .... ;)

Nice shots Simon - #3 & #6 are my pick.

Andy

Thanks Andy. The classic bikes were much more photogenic than the cars on this occasion, although as kit cars go, I still think that the Mojo is a very pretty motor.

Cheers,

Simon.

[musicmate]

Hi Simon there are some terrific shots there as allways any info on the shot settings & lens info would be appreciated.

Regards Steve

[Cadwell]

Love the sidecar shot.... the "big coats" on over the leathers sums the day up, I think. I'm getting more and more interested in the idea of shooting some sidecar racing...

[ajbalazic]

Impressive shots. Love the brake lockup photo.

[Brands]

Excellent series Simon.

In my limited experience I must say the SuperMoto riders are barking mad but make good action shots.

[Simon Harrison]

Hi Simon there are some terrific shots there as allways any info on the shot settings & lens info would be appreciated.

Regards Steve

Thanks Steve. All of the shots were taken using a shutter speed of 1/320s. I varied ISO between 100 to 400 to give me the DoF that I wanted. I manually metered each shot, and used my 20D for all of them.

#1, #2, #5, #7 and #8 were taken with the 300mm f/4 L IS + 1.4 TC.

#3 and #6 were taken using the 300mm f/4 L IS only.

#4 and #9 were taken using my 70 - 200mm f/4 L.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,

Simon.

[Simon Harrison]

Love the sidecar shot.... the "big coats" on over the leathers sums the day up, I think. I'm getting more and more interested in the idea of shooting some sidecar racing...

Thanks Glenn. The 'big coat' look was definately the order of the day as even though the sun was out, the gusty wind was cold. There were a handful of more modern outfits out, but they never really got fast enough to warrant the passenger hanging out due to the twisty nature of the track. The classic outfit posted above on the other hand looked a right handful, and the passenger had his work cut out even at low speeds.

You could get some super compressed perspective type shots of the sidecars with that 500mm of yours.

Cheers,

Simon.

[Simon Harrison]

Impressive shots. Love the brake lockup photo.

Thanks Alan.

Simon.

[Simon Harrison]

Excellent series Simon.

In my limited experience I must say the SuperMoto riders are barking mad but make good action shots.

Cheers Brands.

Agree about the Supermoto riders. They always look seconds from disaster whenever I see them on the track. Their body position and posture is totally different as well. Unfortunately we didn't have anyone backing the bikes into the corners on opposite lock this time.

Simon.

[musicmate]

Thankyou Simon for answering my Question most appreciated that 300 f4 must be a cracking lens pin sharp.

Steve

[Se7enUK]

Some nice pro work there Simon :)