Storm Freya was heading East and due to arrive mid-morning with high winds and a significant amount of the wet stuff falling from the sky. 

David writes: Comedian Billy Connolly has often said of his native Scotland, ‘there’s no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing’. Regulars at motorsport events the length and breadth of the country will echo his words.

The rain isn't a problem for Rallying, in fact it makes it more fun for the competitors and the correctly dressed photographer spectator. Lots of spray can add enormously to a panning shot. Add in the bonus of reflections from standing water and you can get some great shots.

My worry was the wind, with gusts of up to 80mph predicted. Bits of Donington circuit furniture flying around will bring the event to a premature conclusion and a wasted journey for me and the team.

Donington Stages has a history with weather. Last years event didn’t even get started as the Beast From the East dumped rather a lot of snow all over the UK.

We were to be in luck, yes there was lots of rain but the predicted wind held off. Last week we had broken out the sunglasses for the Rallying at Race Retro, this week it was the full on waterproofs. I had also checked out my covers for my camera gear. I use an eBay special for most of my wet weather work and small binbags taped to the bigger lenses. 

I should really invest in a quality waterproof cover for my gear but my cheap eBay and binbag bodge job have worked well for years. My reasoning behind not investing loads in a cover (the best are over £100) is I don’t get paid for this work so if I'm not enjoying myself I go home and dry out, simples.

If I had to stand on a corner all day with a significant remuneration coming my way I might be persuaded to invest in some better gear. As that day is never going to come the bin bags will do for now. 

Joshua Davey and Tamsyn Davey Class 3 winners and 4th overall.

So lets take a look at the Donington Stages. The Stages for the MSN Rally Championship are run on tarmac tracks around the UK. These tracks have a formal layout that we all know, if you don’t, check out our Circuit guides. 

Our guides won't help you much for the Stages so it is worth getting a programme on arrival which will contain the stages maps, start times, competitors and all the info you need to be in the right place at the right time.

Nathalie McGloin and Andrew Bayliss Class 7 winners and 33rd overall.

On arrival at Donington it was obvious that Motor Sports Vision (the owners) had been busy over the winter. New thick high fencing has appeared at the Melbourne Hairpin which used to be a great place to grab some horizon shots like the one below. This shot is of Goddard's and taken through the same type of fencing so it might still be possible at Melbourne. I will try it out next time I'm at Donington. 

As I had arrived early I consulted the programme and headed for the start line to check out the first part of the Stage. From the start the cars headed into a wooded area that you could get quite close to the action. 

Fortunately the marching army of traffic bollards that usually turn up at these events had been spaced out well so this looked to be a good location for a typical Rally shot. I would return here later.

As the rest of the team had yet to arrive and we kind of know what we are doing I ventured a bit further. The Marshalls were controlling an access point that enabled you to cross the track between races at Redgate. 

I ventured across as it looked like you could get good views of the tarmac lake and Redgate. I was wrong, The layout had the cars on the far side of the tarmac lake which is some way away, then heading straight across and up the side close to the fencing. 

Donald Trump would be impressed with this fencing. Its so thick it could be used on the Mexico border so no chance of a shot through that but you could get a shot as the cars entered and exited the tarmac lake area seen here in the background.

A bit of thought here and this could have been a great spectator area. Why they didn’t run this part of the stage up the middle of the tarmac lake is beyond me. The cars on the far side were too far away and when they got close to you the fence was in the way. Turning around Redgate from the outfield side was the same as it has been for a while now, thick fencing.

I walked back to the crossing point which was now closed as we were about to go racing. The raised bank is not new but they have put new low level fencing in and a decent surface. This area was great for getting a different view of the cars as you are about 5-10 feet above the cars so only need a short focal length lens, 35 - 50mm will do. 

Mark Jones and Anthony Windle Class 1 winners and 31st overall.

After the first stage was complete the Marshalls opened the crossing point and I headed for the start line and the wooded area. The cars are not going fast here so a nice slow shutter speed and a smooth pan will give you great results or up the speed to freeze the cars in the corner.

Heading towards the paddock I noticed the steps up to the first floor of the Redgate hospitality suits were accessible. From here you can get a even more extreme shot of the cars. I don’t usually like bollards, tyres and safety bales in my pictures but in these shots I think they add to the image. 

Next is the infield which at Donington is great for photography. Access to the infield is not obvious. If you haven't been here before find the café, called Garage 39 and the tunnel is located behind it. 

Turning around there is a wide expanse of grass which leads you to Starkey's bridge. From here you can get some great panoramic views from Schwantz to Craner Curves.

Don’t be tempted to head straight for the low wooden fence line. If you have a long lens you can get some good long range panning shots. Moving up and down the spectator banking can give you some interesting angles.

78 Mark Clayton and Nic Clayton Class 2 winers and 18th overall.

Andrew and David Harbey Photography covered this area later from the other side of the track. David writes: One other aspect of the Donington Stages was the absence of artificial chicanes between Redgate and Schwantz.

The afternoon stages were run anti-clockwise – thus heading up the Craner Curves to Redgate. I did wonder if the less powerful cars might not be especially exciting to watch, but in most cases they managed to get up a good head of speed even in the rain.

Add in some spray or reflections and you can see why I was really pleased – and then we got the briefest of weak sunshine to brighten the crew’s faces !

David captured this shot of Frank Bird and Jack Morton in car 85. This was Bird's first rally, which didn’t start well. It takes some skill to get round a track at speed with 90% of your windscreen covered in the remains of your bonnet and go onto to take 5th Overall.

Before rearranging the front end of their Dom Buckley-prepared Ex works 2007 spec Focus WRC, Cumbrian rally driver Bird put on the style round the Redgate service roads.

So back to our guide. Following the track round to Redgate the afternoon stages were running in the opposite direction to the standard track layout. This means the cars were heading towards you which is the shot you want.

Guy Smith and Patrick Walsh Class 5 and overall winners.

The rain added another dimension to the shots here as the car slid into the chicane which was pleasing for a while then it started to rain quite heavily. Storm Freya had arrived and the wind was now blowing quite hard.

With the wind and rain blowing straight at my face I decided to head off to Foggies hoping it would calm down a little. This was not to be and passing the Melbourne hairpin the heavens opened. The lure of Sunday dinner and a warm living room was too great, so I called it quits and headed for the carpark.