Few Recent Events

Ok so I have been a bit lazy on writing on the blog here at the moment. Mainly due to the fact that is the past few weeks I have had a life change and am now focusing completely on the business of DGB Photography. It means a lot of running around chasing jobs and publishing opportunities, but if you don't chase them you don't get them so I am not complaining.
Over the last few weeks I have been to the Formula X-treme, CAMS Supersprint, MX5 club, PCRA and ARDC State Championship events. So I have seen a variety of cars and bikes out on the tracks at Eastern Creek and Wakefield Park, giving their all for race wins or competitive lap times. Mixed in with all this I have been writing articles and submitting photos to various publications and it looks like some of those will be coming out in the next few weeks. So lets keep fingers crossed.
Below are a selection of a shot from each event I have covered recently. Just to give an idea of what I have been up to.

Formula X-treme (May 1st)

CAMS Supersprint (May 8th)

MX5 Club Day (May 9th)

PCRA (May 14th)

ARDC State Championships (May 15th)

So those shots give an idea. 

At all of these events there are some really interesting cars and bikes on display. Especially the car you see in the last shot. Its A Nissan Skyline, 2L engine running a turbocharger that knocks it up to 500Bhp. Now you could hear this thing screaming its head off all the way around the eastern creek track. Then when it came into view it would flame out on deceleration as you see in this shot. That flame is not the easiest to get a shot off, all day trying and that is about the best I could get. 

This weekend off to the CAMS Supersprint at Eastern Creek on sunday, where I will post a detailed report of the day on here after completion. However, after that I have no events to get to for a few weeks, so I going to have to start chasing some. Anyone have any ideas/invites?? :)

So you like your GT40?

Over the Easter long weekend I travelled to Eastern Creek for the FoSC event there. While shooting as many photos I could take a particular car caught my eye, the one you see below.

For a few hours we speculated whether this car was actually a original Ford GT40, because if it was then it was great to see one out on track, considering the value and appeal that these cars have. Even today after so many years they are a beautiful piece of machinery. 

Later when we were walking through the pits we noticed it parked in one of the garages and decided to walk over and have a closer look at the vehicle. Its engine cover was up, giving us a great look at the Ford motor contained below. Standing in the pit admiring this vehicle and the way it was still being used for what it was originally made to do, crush the opposition on the racetracks of the world. The stone chips had affected the paint, marks around the guards from where they rubbed on each other or other cars, all added to the appeal of this piece of working history.

As we admired the owner walked in and started to fill her with fuel for the upcoming race. By no stretch of the imagination was he a person who thought he was better than anyone else, as he happily talked to us about the car. It was just his manner of answering our questions that made the encounter all that more interesting. When asked if it was an original GT40, the answer was an affirmative. Well, original in the sense that parts had been replaced over time and some guards changed, but it was still the original chassis. To which we responded that these cars are pretty rare arn't they, it must be pretty nice to have one still on the track. As calmly as you like we were told 'oh not really too rare, they made a couple of hundred', mmm yeah and we own a Holden Rodeo they made more of them didn't they. Still it must be worth a bit, we pressed on with the conversation. "Nah not really" he replied "I was over in the UK a few years back, and they were pushing to get half a million for them". Ohh thats though we thought, I mean if we sold our Rodeo then we would be pushing to get a grand. "You also have to be prepared for the fuel, I only get 1.5km per litre". Yeah, it must be really tough to own one of the greatest sports cars ever made, to know you are only going to get a lot of money for selling it and also know that you have the money to be able to afford the insane price of fuel to distance driving. 

Did I mention he had it road registered and drove it to and from the racetrack? yeah pretty tough. It was just great how this conversation all took place without him giving off a sense of aloofness or anything. What a great conversation.

So if you feel the same way, unlike me you must be in the market to buy this:

Yep, thats right, A 1965 Ford GT40 works prototype roadster goes under the hammer in the UK later this month. 

This particular one was one of twelve pre-production vehicles that were raced in one of the greatest of motor sport events, The 1965 Targa Florio. Unfortunately it ran on only 7 of its 8 cylinders in the race, where it eventually crashed into a wall after losing a front wheel. Not a great maiden race by any stretch of the imagination. When put into production the roadster idea was scrapped and so none were ever made. 

Would you like to own this piece of motoring history? The heart and soul of a car that destroy Enzo Ferrari the biggest Le Mans trashing of his life? 

Well you can, and all you need is a cool 2.6 million pound. Of course thats only auction estimate, so you might need a tad more.