The Greatest Alfas...

If you haven't picked up a copy of September's CAR Magazine then you only have a week left to do so.

Cars that define a legend, we flew out to Balocco, Italy to re-unite Alfa Romeo's legendary sports cars. From the TZ 'comeback racer' which sounded glorious echoing through the forests of 'misto Alfa':

To the 4.7 V8, 450bhp 8C Competizione which succeeded in shredding it's tyres in a spectacular fashion: 

And how could you possibly forget the 12,000rpm screaming 155 V6 TI which enabled Alfa to lay claim of being the only non-German marque to win the DTM title:

The 24 page feature contains 18 of Alfa's greatest cars, including the eagerly anticipated 4C; a supercar for £47k? Be sure to check it out! 

Events - DTM 2012, Brands Hatch

You'd be hard pushed to describe DTM cars using words alone. The 2012 season is well underway, and this weekend sees the British round take place at Brands Hatch Race Circuit in Kent.

It's great to see BMW making a comeback in the series with their devastatingly good looking BMW M3 DTM. The 4 Litre Naturally Aspirated V8 engine makes a brutal noise as it thunders round the 1.1mile circuit, throwing flames from the side-exit exhaust:

Seeming to deny the laws of physics and navigate corners at impossible speeds, this is one motorsport event I look forward to each year.

With this being Brands Hatch, and one of my favourite 'spectator' circuits to photograph from, the obligatory 'Druids' shot was repeated on the impressive looking BMW M3 DTM of Augusto Farfus, lights ablaze...

This years coupes look fantastic, and interesting liveries/aerodynamic packages make it my favourite motorsport event to photograph. Gary Paffett placed his AMG Mercedes C-Coupé on pole, with home crowds having high hopes for the Englishman to take victory on home turf tomorrow.

Events - DTM, Brands Hatch

DTM or Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is the fastest touring car series in the world with 470bhp rwd fire breathing machines tackling various circuits across the globe. It's this weekend that sees the British round of the DTM series and Brands Hatch plays host to these dramatic cars. For as long as I can remember i've been interested in the DTM series, having owned various models of the cars as a child. With my thirst for motorsport photography being greater than ever I headed to the Kent based circuit for 8:30am, ready for the 9:00am practice session. From a photography point of view the qualifying and practice days are fantastic not only because of the lower ticket price, but the ability to freely wander between vantage points without too much hassle or overcrowding. Brands still remains to be one of my favourite circuits to photograph at, and once I heard the rumble of these V8 monsters fire up in the pit lane I felt all giddy!

These cars certainly don't disappoint, from shredding sparks to breathing fire and the immense noise they produce as they thunder around this 1.2 mile indy circuit it's a spectacle to witness:

With free practice one lasting 90 minutes it gave me plenty of opportunity to use different vantage points around the circuit (much to my foot's discomfort!):

I'll have to admit that I immediately took a shine to the Red Bull liveried Audi's, a fantastic looking car but as the day went on I grew increasingly fond of Green's chromed Mercedes:

This round of the DTM was certainly no stranger to famous names, having David Coulthard racing in the actual series itself and various support races (such as the Scirocco R Cup) boasting legends like Tiff Needell and Mark Blundell. You'll be able to see a full gallery of saturday's DTM and Support Race action at the end of this blog post. Earlier I mentioned that Brands is a fantastic circuit to photograph, especially when you can incorporate elements such as elevation. All of my photographs are shot from a spectators point of view, perhaps one day i'll be able to get media accreditation! Below is a triptych showing a few different vantage points you can obtain:

There seems to be a greater element of spectator involvement with DTM, and although i'm still not sure what you have to do to be lucky enough to find yourself in the passenger seat of one of the DTM cars for a few taxi laps it's now a dream of mine!

I think this blog post contains more images than any previous posts of mine, but I had such a great time shooting the DTM today i'll be certain to return to next years hoping for that passenger ride! ;-) For a 200picture+ gallery from today's races/qualifying/practice sessions and various support races, please feel free to click this link. If you have any specific request for shots, or would like to use any of my images please contact me here.