As the first big event of the year at Cadwell it generated quite a lot of interest, with a decent crowd turning out despite it being somewhat cold and misty. Due to the fact that the Rally was using the link roads, required access to these and other tarmacked areas the public parking was limited to just the main carpark. 

No big deal but usually you can park round the circuit next to the track. My favourite is to park at the mountain, jump out of the car and then be right next to the action. But it was not to be, it is a good idea not to mix full race cars with the public - safety first. 

The only other main parking restriction was that there was no vehicle access to the side of Park Straight. It’s a bit of a walk from the main viewing areas so I would usually drive round. Also, on arrival a map of the circuit was given out showing the areas you could and could not spectate from.

Sections of Park Straight were also out of bounds to the public if you were in a car or on foot. This area had a split last year where the cars went left and right allowing you to get some good pictures of the action. 

I decided early that it wasn’t worth the walk on the off chance that I might be able to see the cars and get a good picture. There are plenty of other places at Cadwell where you can get interesting pictures and watch the action.

As a spectator photographer, visiting a circuit for an event should involve a certain amount of prior planning. From the basics like what's the weather going to be like and where will the sun be. It's pointless to start the day shooting into the sun only to go round the track with it staying in your face all day. Have the sun to your back - rule one. 

Part of this process is deciding what sort of images you want to take. This will lead you on to where you need to be to get those images. It will also determine what lens you need to get that shot if you are lucky enough to have a selection. Checking out our circuit guides will help, as will google maps and any information you can find on the internet. 

I managed to find maps of the nine stages that were available for the Rally on line. These were also included in the programme at the main gate. I had studied the maps the night before so had it in my head where I needed to be at what time. However, my cunning plan didn’t quite work out, I should have picked up a programme. 

The morning stages were running the wrong way round Cadwell and not using Hall bends. So I stayed around the mountain to Mansfield area. If you are not familiar with Cadwell take a look at our Circuit Guide.

After lunch I worked my way to Hall Bends which is a great place to get up close to the cars. As the afternoon session set off I could hear the cars approaching so I got ready, only to hear them head off towards the start line and pits area. No problem, they must be coming the wrong way round again? No, I could see them heading up towards Charlies, which is how I felt.

I started to walk back to the action only to see the first car screaming towards Hall bends. They were using Hall as the second part of that stage, splitting from the first lap at the base of the mountain. Queue Benny Hill music as I briskly walked back to Hall Bends; I don’t run unless there is extreme personal danger.

We have been following the MSN Circuit Rally Championship which started way back in November last year, so the cars screaming through Hall Bends were familiar with the usual suspects out in the lead. 

We have been following the MSN Circuit Rally Championship which started way back in November last year, so the cars screaming through Hall Bends were familiar with the usual suspects out in the lead. 

When I say lead, Rally Stages are not a race in the usual sense of the word. This is a timed event, fastest cars start first and fastest on the day in it's class will win, so no close racing, the cars are set of at intervals. 

This is good for the spectator photographer as it gives you a little time to see if your photos are coming out well. Just like me, a lot of the spectators had been fooled by the split and there weren't too many people down at Hall Bends. 

As I'm always looking for a different view point and therefore image, I had the opportunity to move round and try a few things out. I like variety and if you don’t try something new you will never know.

As with all the events I go to I will make sure I have a good selection of images of the cars I want to capture, then I will start to get creative. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but experimentation is one of the fun parts of photography. The down side to being creative in motorsport is that when something happens right in front of you and your mad camera settings haven't quite worked out as expected and you lose the shot.

Down at the bottom of the mountain the cars were cutting the corner kicking up the dirt from the side of the track. In hindsight I should have gone to my "go to" setting and not been so creative. I still think I can pan a fast car with a mega slow shutter speed consistently. I can't, so I blurred out a few killer shots, which was a shame. 

As a spectator photographer I like to watch the racing as well as capture it. One aspect of getting a good shot is observation. A good racing driver will take the same line all the time. So when you see something interesting the driver will probably do it again next time round.

However, while practicing my wide angle panning I didn’t expect Bill and Alex Routledge in car 70 to go into full off road Rallying mode on consecutive laps in exactly the same place. Just goes to show, expect the unexpected in motorsport. 

Not a great photo, but it's an example of noticing something about a car then shooting it until you get it. There were a few cars shooting flames from their exhausts. Annoyingly they refused to do it right in front of me. This rapid Mazda MX5 with Paul Gorge and Daniel Hurst on board were heating up the back brakes somewhat.  

So on to the results. For the second season in a row the over all Motorsport News Circuit Rally Champions and first on the day were Chris West and co-driver Keith Hounslow in their Peugeot 306 Maxi. They completed the 9 stages in a total time of 44 minutes 32 seconds taking the Class D win. They had wrapped up the Championship at the previous event, round 7 at Anglesey. 

Second in the Championship and 5th on the day were Stephen and Jack Tilburn in the iconic Ford Escort RS2500. I took a lot of pictures of this car, it just looked and sounded fantastic.

Third place in the Championship went to Ciro Carannante and Simon Coates in the Porsche Cayman.

In Class E Frank Bird and Jack Morton in the Ford Focus 07 WRC taking the win and were 2nd overall on the day, in a total time of 44 minutes 49 seconds. Hopefully they will be competing next year and give West and Hounslow a run for their money.

Class A winners were Andrew Egger and Alan Jackson in the Vauxhall Nova. In the hands of Egger this pocket rocket came 17th over all out of a field of over 60 cars.

The overall Championship winners in class A were Dale and Andrew Lawson in the MG ZR

 In class B it was Chris Ruck and Steven Harris in the McD Vauxhall Corsa S1600.

The Class B overall winners driving an MX 5 were Paul Sheard and Bruce Lindsey in the Paul Sheard Racing Team prepared Mazda. Paul is a seasoned veteran of the racing scene having been competing for over 30 years.

Class C winners on the Sunday were Mike English and Andy Robinson in the classic Ford Escort Mk2 RS. 

Finishing in fourth place Ryan Connolly and Chris Allen were still able to celebrate the Class C overall title in the Ford Puma. The RACE Performance team didn’t have far to travel to take the title trophy home - they are based in the historic city of Lincoln.

That concludes our coverage of the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship for this year. The PistonClick team will be back in their big winter coats snapping the action when it all starts again in November. If you are interested in Circuit or the other forms of Rallying check out True Turbo Media. 

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