The Warren Classic & Concours
With the bank holiday weekend ahead of us, it is that time when we all think of what we are going to do to fill the weekend. Thankfully for Motorsport fans and Petrolheads alike, this weekend has a lot to offer. Not only is there British Touring Car action at Thruxton and British GT at Rockingham as well as other club events around the country but on Saturday, there is something a little different you may be interested in checking out.
The Inaugural Warren Classic and Concours will be taking place on the 4th of May at The Warren Golf and Country club in Woodham Walther, near Chelmsford in Essex. On display at the 350 acre estate will be a unique collection of historic and supercars giving visitors the opportunity to get a closer look at some of the most beautiful cars in the world. If that wasn’t enough, the complete Le Mans Jaguar XJR works team will be present along with entertainment such as live music, games, an air display from the ex Red Arrows display team ‘The Blades’ sponsored by HastingsDirect and the chance to win a Mercedes Benz worth £30,000.
JD Classics will be bringing their Le Mans Jaguar
The Warren Classic & Supercar Family Experience will also be hosting the 2013 Warren Concours. Showing off a stunning array of Classic cars spanning ten decades of impressive automotive history for all the family young and old to drool over.
Max Chilton
But if that wasn’t enough to whet your appetite, also in attendance will be British Formula One Star Max Chilton and a Marussia Racing Car. “I’m really looking forward to meeting visitors to The Warren Classic and Supercar Family Experience.” Says Max, “The event provides an excellent opportunity for families and car enthusiasts to see a wide selection of the worlds most magnificent automobiles. Both Classic and Supercars will be well represented and, given the Warrens setting, it should be a fantastic day!”
The Warren Golf & Country Club Managing Director, Tony Stanton, said: “It is a fantastic coup for The Warren to get both Max and Marussia along to the event along with the Le Mans XJR works team. These additions, alongside the selection of world-class cars and entertainment, only make for a more spectacular day!”
The Warren Golf & Country Club provides a perfect setting for the event.
So if you fancy taking the opportunity to see this fantastic event in its debut year then here’s the details: Parking is free and public entry on the day is from 10.30am, with tickets priced at £10 for adults and £5 for children aged 5-16 and £25 for a family of four. Entry for classic car owners is from 7.30am and priced at £20.00 per car with parking in a dedicated area on a first come basis, plus an invitation to enter a novel ‘Car Park Concours’.
Tickets can be purchased on entry; those wanting to find out more can visit the Facebook page here or
http://www.warrenclassic.co.uk/
Back to the Track
So the motorsport season is back with a bang and a big one at that for my return trackside for the first round of the British GT championships at the weekend. Oulton Park was my destination to kick off the season and I was pretty excited. It was a bit like the first day back at school when you were a kid. Catching up with friends and seeing what was new.
It was to be my first visit to the Cheshire track and despite the five and a half hour journey up on the Friday and the 5.30 am fire alarm at the hotel on Saturday morning and having to stand around in sub zero temperatures in my PJ’s (Zoe Wenham and David Ashburn look similarly unimpressed) I was looking forward to checking out what Oulton Park had in store. Although it was cold, I was glad. I had packed my thermals, the sky was blue, the sun was out and the wind was still. Conditions were good as I headed out to shoot the first BGT practice session.
Blue Skies and new angles for my first trip to Oulton Park.
The field was impressive, despite one or two entries pulling out and the cars looked and sounded great in the morning sun. It was good to be back. Some even sported new liveries. A nod to the Tartan livery of Gregor Fiskin & Richard Westbrook’s Trackspeed Porsche which everyone seemed to like, unlike their team mates Porsche of David Ashburn & Nick Tandy who’s spotted entry divided opinion. I myself was a fan of the new look works Ginetta entry with a white, black and orange livery. Also, the Optimum BMW Z4′s look great in Carbon Black showing that you don’t need to do much to make a GT race car look good.
The great looking Carbon Black BMW Z4 hops the kerb at Britten’s
It became apparent early on that I liked the circuit. Spending the first session at Deer Leap and Lodge Corner, I was getting some nice angles and the session seemed to pass by rather quickly. My head was full of thoughts about where to go for the other sessions over the weekend. I didn’t want to miss some good spots and I still had so much to explore.
Discussions were had in the media centre as to where were good places to photograph and I needed opinions from other photographers who knew the circuit a lot better than an Oulton Park newbie like myself. I had decided to head round to the outside of the circuit on the far side to photograph down the hill towards the first chicane and to spend the hour long second practice working my way towards the Shell Oils hairpin. Just that section itself was a joy as again, there were so many different perspectives and angles to get and before long the session was drawing to a close. I was loving this circuit and was wishing it was a lot closer to home. I didn’t have chance to even think about how cold it was.
The United Autosports Audi R8 heads towards the Shell Oils Hairpin.
Qualifying was soon upon us and with cars all at maximum attack it was a good chance to head over to Druids where the crest on exit saw a few of the cars get light at the front and lifting a wheel or two. I was hoping to try and get a few shots of this. Soon after the first qualifying session got underway, a big accident from one of the GT4 Ginetta’s was to delay the session. It played into my hands somewhat as the sun was starting to set. I was thankful that the clocks hadn’t gone forward just yet as I had found a spot amongst the trees with the setting sun behind the farm on the opposite side of the track ready for the return of the cars. Despite the split second I had to capture the cars after appearing from view and then as quickly disappearing again, I was pleased with what I had managed to capture. Then, as the second qualifying session got underway, it was time to try and capture the cars over that crest.
The spot amongst the trees as the sun set paid off.
The day drew to an end and I couldn’t wait till Monday to get back and photograph the two races, but in the mean time, I was happy with my days work. Saturday night involved a drive round Runcorn to try and find a supermarket so we could get some food for the next couple of days. Avoiding drunken and mischievous juveniles I was worried about stopping at traffic lights and junctions in case I got hijacked at knifepoint or had the wheels stolen off my car in a time that would make the Red Bull F1 team proud. After eventually finding not one but 4 supermarkets all close together it was time to stop at the local McDonalds for something to eat. It felt like I’d stepped into the holding room for the next episode of the Jeremy Kyle Show and was pretty sure they could tell I wasn’t from round these parts before I had even said anything. Needless to say I ate my Big Mac as quick as possible at a window seat so I could keep an eye on my car, before getting out of there sharp-ish and back to the hotel. People think my home county of Essex is bad? I’m used to a lot of stuff but I was genuinely feeling uncomfortable.
We were staying in a Holiday Inn and we had noticed the previous evening that it was apparent that there was a Wedding and a reception being held there on the Saturday. The latter in full flow as we had got back. Despite the Hotel being nice, I had questioned whether a Holiday Inn was really the sort of place you’d want to get married, but each to their own. There was enough fake tan around to keep Amy Childs beauty salon stocked up for a year and I noticed a popularity for drawing on eyebrows with black marker pen giving the wearer a permanent angry expression which amused me as the angry looking orange faced girls struggled to walk properly in their ridiculous platform high heeled shoes. Even an Essex boy like myself was out of my comfort zone and decided to leave the hotel bar and head for bed.
Some of the cars were lifting their front wheels slightly on exit at Druids.
With no track action on Sunday, the day was spent watching the British Touring Car Championship on the TV in the hotel room before a meal out in the evening with friends. I struggled to get to sleep that night trying to work out the best places at Oulton to shoot the two races on Monday.
The morning was again very cold and this time the skies were cloudy and overcast. Not as good conditions as Saturday but I was grateful it wasn’t raining. I headed to the pit lane to shoot the 10 minute warm up session before deciding where to got for Race One. It was soon upon us and a few minutes were spent on the grid as the cars lined up before I headed down to the first corner. I wanted to capture the impressive Class of 2013 as they headed into the first corner of the season. They looked fantastic as they headed towards myself and the other photographers around me. I fired off shots of the first half of the field heading into the bend before turning to shoot them disappearing down the hill. Big mistake.
The Class of 2013 heading into Old Hall Corner.
With myself pointing my camera down the hill I was unaware of what was happening to my right. The first indication of something not being right was seeing the two photographers to my left out of the corner of my eye suddenly run for cover. I wasn’t up against the barrier but stepped back just as a Mercedes SLS and an Aston Martin appeared and hit the tyres and Armco in front of me. I hadn’t heard the shout of ‘Incoming’ and had been taken by surprise. Thankfully no one was hurt and despite the Aston being able to carry on, only to retire a few laps later, the Mercedes had managed to move to a safer spot on the other side of the track, but is was clearly game over with too much damage to continue. Not the best way to start the new season for them and certainly an unexpected one for me.
The aftermath of the Mercedes and Aston Collision right in front of me.
I spent race one photographing while heading down the hill towards cascades. It wasn’t long before more drama unfolded though. Smoke could be seen billowing into the air from the other side of the circuit as the LNT Ginetta G55 had burst into flames. Again though, thankfully no one was hurt. The hour had passed quickly and the race had come to an end as I was at the bottom of the hill at cascades. Plenty of action had taken place for the season opener and it was only a few hours until race two was about to get underway.
I took up position for the second race at the bottom of the hill at cascades, only this time on the inside of the circuit to shoot the cars heading down the hill and enabling myself to then photograph the second chicane and Knickerbrook before making my way up the hill towards druids. The first half of the race seemed to go to smoothly before major incidents broke out. The second Ginetta G55 burst into flames leaving driver Colin White to leap out quickly whilst heading up the hill to Deer leap. Also, there was a big accident involving Jon Minhaw’s Trackspeed Porsche and Andrew Howards Aston Martin at the chicane I had been at earlier in the race, so I didn’t manage to get that on camera and one of the Mtech Ferrari’s collided heavily with the APO Ginetta G50. It seemed to me that I had been too close to the action or too far away in the wrong place to capture any of it.
GT4 Double winning Ginetta G50 of Zoe Wenham and Declan Jones heads up Clay Hill.
But it didn’t matter, I had a great weekend and I had experienced a new circuit which I loved. Oulton is now threatening Brands Hatch GP as my favourite UK circuit. Next up for me, the World Endurance Championships and European Le Mans Series at Silverstone.
You can see more images from the weekend on my Facebook page and purchase prints via my website. To read race reports and more head to The Checkered Flag website.
British F3
I will admit, open wheel racing isn’t my favourite form of motorsport and although I like Formula One, I’m not a self proclaimed die hard fan. I used to be pretty obsessed with it when I was a child though. I was a huge Nigel Mansell fan, in fact, I even share my birthday and year with his daughter Chloe and he won his Championship title on the 16th of August 1992. Mine (and Chloe’s) 10th Birthday. That was a pretty special day for me. But that’s enough of the nostalgia, as the Schumacher Era saw me lose interest somewhat in Formula One and I never regained the love I once had.
British F3, A Stepping Stone Towards F1
Jean-Eric Vergne, 2010 British F3 Champion
But over the last few years I have seen my fair share of open wheel racing at various circuits across the country and have appreciated them for what they are. Besides, as a motorsport fan I love being at a circuit and I’ve witnessed some great racing and the rise of some current Formula One stars. After all, these championships are the proving ground for the Holy Grail, Formula One. A huge stepping stone in the quest to become a superstar Formula One racing driver comes in the form of the British F3 championship. With the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button, Mark Webber, Rubens Barichello, Mika Hakkinen and Ayrton Senna having graced the British Series, it’s easy to see that British F3 provides a critical role in developing World Champions of the future.
However it is sad to hear that the British F3 championship announced that it was cutting the series back to just four rounds this season with two of them to be raced overseas. Increasing costs and competition from a number of other single seat championships both in the UK and abroad probably proving a major factor as drivers seek more cost effective ways of reaching the top level.
I’m not here to criticise the series and the current difficulties it is experiencing or point out mistakes or how it should be improved, as to be honest, I don’t really know the answers myself. But I will reiterate one thing I have spoken about many times before, and that is lack of support from fans. I have always been increasingly frustrated at how some huge British Racing Series never get the fan support they so deserve. I have been blown away by the huge crowds the British Touring Car Championship pulls in, yet the British F3 championship, which runs in conjunction with the British GT championship during its race weekends only see’s a fraction of the crowd the BTCC does.
Talented British Racer Jack Harvey won the 2012 Championship
How many F1 fans are out there? Many of whom would probably call themselves, ‘Huge Fans’ or ‘Die Hard Fans’. Yet also, many will complain that Formula One is elitist, expensive and inaccessible for the everyday ‘normal’ fans. How many of these fans have sat in front of the TV moaning at the celebrities on the Grid before a big race who clearly have no interest in the sport and are only there because they have been given a free pass and it’s the ‘Fashionable’ thing to do? Yes, I hate it too. But how many have ventured out to watch some live motorsport and support the possible Formula One stars of the future in the British F3? With weekend tickets for around £30, (great value compared to a premiership football match) three championship races per weekend and the chance of watching the mechanics at work, wandering the pit lane and getting up close to the drivers and cars, what is there stopping you? You’d be surprised at how many Motorsport celebs you can see blending into the paddock too not wanting to hog the limelight. You never know, in a few years time, you could be watching one of the current crop of F3 racers stand atop An F1 podium or lifting the world championship trophy and you could turn to your mates and say, ‘I met that guy once.’ Or ‘I saw him race and supported him before he made the big time.’
British F3 gives you a chance to get up close and personal to the F1 stars of the future
I could go on about how the media should be doing their bit to bring some of these great British race series to the attention of the public, but I’ve done that before. Plus most of you reading this will be big motorsport fans and know about these Championships anyway, so as fans, it’s only right we do our bit and go and support. Before it’s too late.
No UK 24 Hour Race
Last weekend saw the last race of the year on my hectic 2012 calendar, the Britcar production cup night race at Brands Hatch. Despite the miserable weather, it was a good day and a great race. However there was one part of the day that left me somewhat disappointed. It was announced that there would be no Britcar 24hr race next season.
Despite the miserable weather, the Production Cup Night Race provided some great racing.
The UK has a thriving motorsport scene and is probably the hub of motorsport technology. Lots of F1 teams are based in the UK, there are superb championships such as British GT, Formula 3, and British Touring Cars going all the way down to well entered grass roots level. The UK is also home to some great circuits such as Brands Hatch and Silverstone. Yet next year there will be no 24 hour endurance race in Britain.
There are successful 24 hour races held across the globe, which are always well attended. Obviously the likes of Le Mans and Daytona 24 hour are massive events and so too is the Nurburgring 24. But races in Belgium, Dubai and Spain are also becoming increasingly popular. Endurance racing has a huge following of hardcore racing fans across the globe and also within the UK. There are thousands who make the trip across the Channel to Le Mans or Nurburgring each year to get their much needed fix of live 24hr racing. So why, when the UK is such a big player in the word of Motorsport can we not host a popular and well supported 24 hour race?
24 hour races such as the Nurburgring 24 attract plenty of fans from across Europe.
Without going into details, I understand costs and budgets have a huge influence on the demise of the Britcar race, but fields have been in decline and with less than 30 cars taking part in this year’s race, it was, to be more than fair, a poor turnout. It also felt like the spectator numbers had also taken a nose dive too compared to previous years. But even when the field was 60-70 strong, the crowd numbers still, personally speaking, seemed somewhat disappointing. Maybe more could have been done to advertise the event, maybe more could be done to create awareness of the series as a whole, or maybe the lack of big European teams and well known drivers that enter the other 24hr races doesn’t generate interest. Perhaps Top Gear could come back and have another stab at racing round the clock.
Sadly there will be no Britcar 24 hour race in 2013
I know it’s hard to organise a high profile event and it takes a long time to but create a quality race that attracts big names and manufacturers, but sure the UK deserves something of that scale? Ok, so the UK circuits probably don’t have the charm that the likes of la Sarthe, Spa or the Nurburgring Nordschleife but it’s not that that’s causing the stumbling block. It needs a backing from a good motorsport organisation. Whilst I really like the Britcar race series, would they ever be able to take their 24hr race to the next level? Recent years suggest not. I know the likes of the SRO already organise the Spa 24hr race as well as a number of superbly run and supported race series including the British GT that is continually getting stronger and stronger, more high profile and increasingly well supported and entered. So with a series of this nature running in Britain that already has the rest of Europe standing up and taking note, maybe there is still chance of a top 24 hour race in the UK becoming a regular feature that will get fans not just across Britain in attendance, but fans across Europe too.
The baton has been dropped and is in need of some steady hands to pick it up. Or maybe, there are just too many 24 hour races already?
Could the success of the British GT be the platform for a new UK 24 hour race in the future?
Race report from the Britcar production cup race can be seen on the Checkered Flag website here. More photos from the Production cup can be seen here, and photos from the Britcar Open GT race here.
Finally, if you are a fan of endurance and GT racing, then there are still a few remaining copies of my limited edition 2013 A3 calendar available, featuring images from the Nurburgring 24, British GT, GT Open, FIA GT1 and WEC. Also you will receive a free A4 mounted print with every copy ordered. Just visit my website here for more details. Also, a range of prints from the race events I have covered this year are also available to purchase and would make an ideal gift for any petrol head and motorsport fan this Christmas.
Past-Your-Eyezed
We all know that recently Gordon Shedden was crowed the British Touring Car Champion much to the delight of many fans and most of us hope it will be the first of many for the likeable Scot. However, the guys at Ebay Motors have this week achieved something equally impressive.
A few months back I wrote about the Mechanics Challenge. A task in which Ebay Motors mechanics set about building a super fast milk float from items bought off the popular online auction site Ebay. With the help of Ed China, Motoring specialist and TV presenter famed for building items such as road legal Sofa’s, the task was on.
Past-Your-Eyezed – The Milk Float in Action
With the float complete, featuring parts that BTCC fans had voted on using such as a V8 engine from an old Ambulance and a Petrol tank fashioned from a Milk Churn it was time to set about breaking a record. The vehicle really did Moo-ve and With Tom Onslow-Cole at the wheel, a speed of 77.53mph was achieved at the Transport Research Laboratory setting a new Guinness World Record for the fastest milk float on earth.
The new fastest Milkman in the world, Tom Onslow-Cole said: “The eBay Motors Mechanics Challenge has been an amazing journey and I’m delighted that we have broken the Guinness World Record for the fastest milk float. The team mechanics and Edd China put in a sterling effort to create a milk float that looks as slick as this and has the performance necessary to break the record.”
Hot Milk – Tom Aims for the Gold Top
Sidekick Ed added: “It’s been brilliant working with the amazing engineers at WSR on this project. With their support our humble milk float is now almost a fully-fledged racing car! I’d like to thank all the fans for their input on what eBay Motors parts and accessories we used to build the milk float during the Mechanics Challenge, they clearly know their stuff!”
Speaking about the project, Andrew Hooks, Head of eBay Motors, was quoted as saying: “It is fantastic that the eBay Motors Mechanics challenge has beaten the World Record for the fastest milk float and great to see the reaction from our customers, many of whom not only keenly followed the project, but also chose the winning parts. Tom Onslow-Cole did a fantastic job driving the record-breaking milk float and I’m sure people will enjoy watching the float being put through its paces in the stunt videos on our website.”
Milking it – Edd & Tom Celebrate setting a new world record.
To see videos of the Milk Float in action, find out more about the Mechanics Challenge and about the Ebay Motors Team Head over to their website here:
http://www.ebaymotorsbtcc.co.uk/mechanics_challenge
