I was invited along to the British Drift Championships by my friend Steven Ball, who is the manager of Rentons estate agents of Yarm. I have previously been commissioned by Rentons to photograph their prestigious properties that require full glossy brochures. Due to client confidentiality I can't share any of that work here. If anyone is looking to buy or sell a property in the Yarm area please get in touch with Steven! Here's a link for the contact details of his branch.
Anyway back to the topic! The third round of the Drift Championships was held at Teesside Autodrome Middlesbrough and boy was it a hot day. It must have hit 26 degrees. On arrival the cars were all out practicing and since Steven had recently purchased an SLR camera we headed straight over to the track side to grab a few shots before the event started.
This was one of my favourite shots from the practice session, we got a good dose of burning rubber from this position, our T-shirts were covered in specs of burnt rubber!
This is Shane Lynch from Boyzone driving his car on the practice session. He was in the super pro class. More on him later! At this point I didn't really know what drifting was all about, apart from the obvious that was cars going sideways burning rubber. Luckily Steven was able to explain while the drivers lined their cars up on the track so everyone could meet and greet them.
Seeing the cars and drivers up close and personal was a really nice touch we both thought. You would never get to do this at other events such as the Touring Cars at circuits like Croft and Silverstone.
As you can see the cars are serious bits of kit. Think of the film " The Fast And The Furious " but for real. I had to shoot close for two reasons, one I only had a long lens with me to get close to the track action and two, there was a big crowd so getting a clear shot of a car was going to be near impossible.
A lonely helmet made a good subject. I'm glad I wasn't wearing a full race suit and helmet in that weather!
I love this sneaky shot of the " Cowboy ". I framed him up against the pink bonnet of his car which made me smile!
Here's a nice taster shot of the Cowboys trusty steed. I must admit even though it was bright pink it still looked menacing and was one of the best looking cars there. Ye ha!
By now Steven had explained that the cars go out in pairs and do two runs, with each car having a turn at being the lead. The drivers are scored for keeping the cars sideways at all times and following the lead car as close as possible mirroring their drift angles. Cars get marked down for going off the track, going straight ie coming out of the drift, spinning out and not keeping up with the lead car. There are a lot more scenarios regarding the scoring and if you are interested check out the drift website. http://thebritishdriftchampionship.com/
Here's a shot of Shane Lynch. I wouldn't have even realised who is was if Steven hadn't pointed him out, even though he was stood right in front of me lol. " Don't love me for fun girl. Let me be the one girl, love me for a reason....." That's enough of that :-)
With the event about to start we acquired some food in the form of cheeseburger, chips and a couple of drinks. We then made our way to the top of the bank on the far corner as that was the best place for an overall view of the action. Here you can see the synchronisation of the cars entering a drift on that first corner. Skillful driving since they were driving at a serious speed.
A nice profile shot of Steven enjoying the action, with a more macho looking cowboy hat. Click on the image for a larger view and you will see that I was actually photographing the cars in the reflection of his sunglasses. A picture within a picture!
As the afternoon went on and our skin colour became redder, we decided to work our way back to the track side so we could get some alternative views of the action on the way. This is another of my favourite shots from the day. The car looks almost toy like. Steven suggested it looks like an RC car.
The super pros were out on the track last and there was a big difference in their speed and drifting ability. At times they were nose to tail all the way round the track.
This is the last shot I'm sharing on this blog post. It was one of the last images I took, showing Shane Lynch giving it rock all. I have to admit he was one of the best drivers out there. I just missed the back of the cars wing in the shot. I could have fixed it in photoshop but these were just fun shots. I love the way the lens captured the heat haze in the background and the sharpness of the image. Well I would like to finish of with a big thank you to Steven for taking me on what can only be described as a tyre screeching, engine screaming, smoke filled, fun summers afternoon out. Cheers!
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