Holding an event in November is always a gamble but Rally cars don’t stop for inclement weather, so we could guarantee a day of racing.

What you can't guarantee is if the paying public are going to turn up in significant numbers on a cold frosty November morning. To help motivate the race fans, Cadwell had a historic Rally cars display, including the mad iconic Group B cars, a fireworks display and the Transformers vehicles from the films of the same name.

I have a vague recollection of watching a Transformers film a few years ago. It was entertaining but I will be the first to admit I'm not up to speed on what all the fuss is about. There was a big truck, a rusty old Camaro and two new Camaros on show, and as I was about to leave after taking a few pics when a little girl came running through the crowd.

She wasn't the only one, there were loads of kids and some not so young kids chatting to the owners and taking pictures. Back to the little girl, she was squealling with delight shouting "Daddy it's him, it's him he's real" pointing at Optimus Prime. 

Queue dad with his iPhone taking snaps of his beaming daughter standing in front of a massive, modified Peterbilt truck. I can just imagine his cunning man - thought process a few weeks ago. 

Dad, " Shall we go to Cadwell on Sunday to watch the Rallying". 

Anyway enough of my ramblings - on to the motor sport. The North Humberside Motor Club who were running the event were formed in 1968 by the amalgamation of a few Yorkshire Car Clubs. Hessle and District Motor Club, Kingston Car Club and the East Yorkshire Car Club. The NHMC put on a mixed bag of motoring events for its members every year.

The Club is not just about Rallying. They also do Auto tests, Classic runs and Scenic runs. The headline event besides the Cadwell Stages Rally is the Bridlington Weekend of Motoring. The NHMC are involved with this event, organizing runs out. If you have never been I would recommend it.

The Cadwell Stages Rally is actually broken down into two events, the Junior Rally on the Saturday which True Turbo Media have covered and the Sunday Main Stage which well will look at in depth now.

The Cadwell circuit is as many other smaller circuits around the UK are - relatively easy to get round. After a few visits it doesn’t take long to work out where you need to be to get those great shots. If you need a guide to taking photographs at Cadwell we have done all the hard work for you, link.

The Rally Stages held on track are different to circuit races. The organizers like to mix it up and will use all of the resources available to them. They will run the cars the "wrong" way round the circuit, use access roads and car parks to challenge the car crews. 

A lot of the time the track will also be reversed to mix it up, so it can get confusing as to what direction the cars will appear between stages. You don’t want to be walking half way round the track to get that head on shot to find they are wiggling their bottoms at you heading in the opposite direction.

I would recommend getting a programme when you arrive at the track, as this will have all the information you will need. At this time of the year getting your back to the sun as it's so low can make or break your photos. The programme will have detailed timings and maps so you will be able to pre-position yourself to get the best shooting angle available.

Heading over to the far side of Cadwell the track splits into two, with cars going left and right. It was carnage here last year with a few cars rolling over after hitting the tyre wall. This year a few well placed hay bales kept the more exuberant drivers cars shiny side up and away from the tyres. 

This is where we captured D2 Class and Overall winners on the Saturday of the ANWCC Stage Rally Championship Round 22 Guy Smith and Patrick Walsh in their Ford Fiesta R5.

Ford has a rich motorsport and Rallying heritage; it's great to see the Escorts still being used in anger out on the track. First introduced to the public over 50 years ago, the Escort went on to be the stalwart vehicle for Ford Rallying. Still being competitive today in its class is testament to the design and the following these great cars still have today.

There were quite a few Escorts on track but it was Tom Blackwood's mint Mk2 that stood out for me. Its one of the nicest examples I've seen for a long time. Having recently been rebuilt this car is so clean and sorted you could eat your dinner off it. A big Ford fan, Tom has a collection of Fords including an RS200 and an Escort Cosworth.

During the lunch break for the Marshalls, the historic Rally cars display were allowed to get their motors running out on track,

Leading the MSC Circuit Rally Championship going into the Saturday meeting In the D1 Class and second overall at the meeting. Chris West and Keith Hounslow in the Peugeot 2.5L 306 Maxi Kit Car were also winners of the MSC Circuit Rally Championship Round 2. 

In second place in the MSC Circuit Rally Championship and coming third overall on the day were Peter Smith and Sion Cunniff in the1600 Ford Fiesta WRC.

As the light started to fade the challenge of getting some good images was getting quite hard. You can just increase the ISO in camera making the sensor more sensitive to the available light. However, that will lose the atmosphere. A bit of spot metering and overexposing helps.

Heading into the night stages the exhaust pops and bangs we had been hearing all day were now very visible in the falling light. Getting a bit of flameage can really make a photo. In this instance ramping up the ISO is your only option.

That concludes over visit to Cadwell for the NHMC Cadwell Stages Rally. This is the last time we will be at the Lincolnshire track this year as the season is now done, roll on next year. We didn’t hang around for the fireworks, we have seen fireworks before.

A big thank you to RP Watkinson Photography, Rob Whyles and David Harbey Photography for the chats, banter and great images. True Turbo Media's who are the Rally experts and are friends of PistonClick cover these events every weekend can be found here.