It was also the scene of an impromptu conversation as I and a fellow snapper waited for the next stage to start. We exchanged the time of day, noted that we were both Nikon users and chatted a little longer. 

I sent Tony a few photos and a couple of them were included in the report and, well, it sort of all went from there. Twenty or so event reports or circuit guides since, it’s certainly been fun and kept me busy in this first year of retirement – “Yes, I’ll come and wash up but I just need to finish this report for PistonClick …” Oh, and Guy Smith won the rally !

Whilst 2018 was bright and sunny, 2019 brought rather damper conditions. In the event it drizzled on and off all day. It was one of those November days when it never really gets dry and never really gets light. 

With all the protective fencing at many circuits, rallying the “wrong” way – the opposite to the normal racing direction - throws up some interesting shots although, to date, fencing is not a huge problem at Cadwell. Given that the stage started at 09.00, it was still pretty chilly and the track rather greasy – as this Fiesta discovered !

With the proximity to the track, I had started out with the 70-200mm zoom and, in the event, used it all day. Once the rain set in and I had the protective cover on, I stuck with it and relied on the wide f2.8 aperture and resolved to crop images, if required.

One area we are trying to expand on PistonClick is to share with you something of what it is like to compete. I’d first chatted with Ray and Adam Ripper earlier in the year. Ray (Dad) is co-driver for Adam (son) in a Class A2 Nissan Micra and they have shared their experiences with us. 

For stage 2, I headed up to the Clubhouse to grab shots of the cars heading through the straw bale chicanes in the Assembly Area used for racing. I’m not usually a fan of artificial chicanes but these do make for dramatic images.

If you are not familiar with a circuit rallying set up, cars do 2 or 3 laps of the circuit that make up the stage and are started at 30 second intervals meaning that there is close action and even overtaking from time to time.

From there I kept walking to the bottom of The Mountain where the cars were heading back on to the track the “wrong way” via the return road to the assembly area. 

For Adam and Ray, however, the stoppage meant that they didn’t get to run Stage 2 and so returned to the service area. For stage 3, I stayed around that area to get the cars heading through the corner and then accelerating up towards Mansfield and the Gooseneck. 

“Our” adopted crew had a good run in Stage 3, having kept their original set up for Stage 2. However, they did drop time to Walker and back in the service area debated whether to change to wet tyres.

As Stage 4 started, it was time for this snapper to get a little drier and to find some lunch after a 6am breakfast at home. Then the cars went quiet … and looking down to the Pit Lane the presence of the ambulance, blue lights flashing, was concerning. 

For Adam and Ray, the change of tyres might have been the right one, but they had no chance to prove it as their second stage of the day was cancelled. With competitors given their Stage 3 times for Stage 4, they had no opportunity to narrow the gap to Walker.

On then to Stage 5 with the cars now travelling in normal race direction. I crossed the pedestrian bridge just before Coppice and stood near the small, open grandstand there – in the rain. 

Most of the day I was using shutter speeds of 1/250 or 1/200 on Shutter Priority (yes, I know I should be using Manual … or should I ?) and slowly increasing the ISO as it got gloomier. There was the occasional racing shot up the main straight – here’s two classics- a Ford Escort and a 205GTI – pick your favourite !

Now usually I don’t like people with phones getting in the way of “my” shots - but I’m glad I grabbed this one. It works on several levels, the photo of some-one taking a photo, the “like father, like child” aspect, the blurry car in the background, the couple sharing a brolly in the corner of the shot.

On Stage 5 the wet tyres were proving their value on the Micra with Adam setting a good time, but it looked as if Walker had also changed to wets – that potential Stage 4 advantage looked like an opportunity missed, albeit for understandable reasons.

For Stage 6 I headed up past Mansfield towards the Gooseneck. It was getting distinctly drizzly and gloomy but that did give some nice spray and reflections.

After Stage 6, there was just 26 seconds between Adam and Walker – that sort of advantage can easily be lost especially as they were heading into darkness to add to the rain. 

By now, it became apparent that the lack of ambient lighting meant that even with modern cameras, I was going to find it difficult to get much in the darkness. I did however manage these “interesting” shots.

In the Micra, Adam’s conservatively hard pace saw them pull back 11 seconds on Walker in Stage 7 and a further 8 seconds on the final stage, leaving them just 7 seconds behind in the final results and contemplating the two lost stages that may have brought forth the extra seconds needed for maximum points in class. We will be catching up with Adam and Ray at Brands Hatch on January.

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