Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship - Round 5
Snetterton Stages

Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship - Round 5.

Photographing the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship has become a Pistonclick staple over the winter months. We are now half way through the Championship and have just returned from round 5 at Snetterton.
The MSN Championship sees a variety of Rally cars, from retro to modern, taking on the tarmac surfaces of established circuits. The twist is it's not just the recognized track that the competitors attack but also the service roads and paddock areas as well. 
This is one event as a photographer that you will need to pick up a programme on arrival. Once you have been relieved of your shiny £3 you will find maps and a timetable inside. These maps are essential as there are 5 Rally stages that are each run twice.
The stages are changed during the meeting, meaning the cars that were in front of you for one stage might not be using that patch of tarmac on the next one. Or they could be going left to right then right to left. Being armed with your programme is vital, enabling you to be in the right place at the right time.
These maps are also available from the circuit websites to study before you arrive. In the case of the Snetterton Stages a map showing the spectators area was also available.
I was a little disappointed when I cross-referred the spectators map to the stages map. The areas you were to be granted access to seemed somewhat limited.
However, on arrival at the circuit it was obvious that whoever had drafted the map was no cartographer. Yes, you were limited to the areas shown but there was a lot more that wasn’t. This was a relief, I have visited Snetterton a lot and was pleased to see the best areas for photography were accessible.
If you have not visited Snetterton before, check out our Circuit Guides. Here you will get the best information on what kit you will need and the best locations for getting that killer shot from the recognised spectator areas.
When you look at how many people are sporting quality cameras and lenses at these events you would like to think that the promoters are thinking about this significant revenue stream. If not, they should be considering the spectator photographer.
The event itself was held on a gloomy day which reflected my mood. I had just travelled two hours down the A17. Anyone who has the misfortune to use this road will understand my frame of mind. 
I cheered up on meeting my co-photographer for this meeting, David from David Harbey Photography. After a quick chat on how we were going to approach this shoot we were off and running starting at the Agostini's corner.
Before we get going lets take a look at the Championship. There are eight rounds. The one we are attending, Snetterton, was the 5th with Donington Park next, Anglesey and then the final at Cadwell Park on the 7th April. We have covered most of the previous rounds - check them out in the Articles section.
The 75 cars taking part at this event are split into classes A - D with an MX5 class. Basically the classes are, A the smallest size of engine like the Ford KA up to D with the largest capacity engines. 
However, confusingly, when you use the live timing App which you can download for free from the MSV websites or the online results services you will get A - E, for E read D2 which is 4 wheel drive wheel drive cars up to 3000cc. D1 is 2 wheel drive cars up to 3000cc.
Class A - All cars up to and including 1400cc
Class B - All cars between 1401cc and 1600cc
Class C - All cars between 1601cc and 2000cc
Class MX5 - All Mazda MX5 cars between 1601cc and 1800cc.
Class D1 - All 2 Wheel Cars of over 2001cc and up to 3000cc
Class D2 - All 4 Wheel Cars of over 2001cc and up to 3000cc
Class MSA GT - All 4 Wheel Cars of over 2001cc and up to 3000cc Production GT cars
During this meeting David focused on the current Championship leaders Chris West and Keith Hounslow, penning a few words to cover his images.
Stage 1 – Agostinis – 200-500mm zoom
Those familiar with rallying in the mid 90s may remember the F2 kit cars – front wheel drive 2 litre rockets based on hatch backs – including the Peugeot 306 Maxi. 
Stage 2 – Oggies, Palmer and Riches - 200-500mm zoom
One appears in the opening sequence of the film Taxi 2 and I might also have some personal nostalgia having once had a 306GTI6 as a company car.
Stage 3 – Brundle - 200-500mm zoom
Chris West is driving just such a car in the Motorsport News Circuit Rally Championship with some success. His car was originally intended to be a works car for Gilles Panizzi a noted exponent of these cars on tarmac. 
Stage 4 – Nelson - 200-500mm zoom
Stage 5 – Nelson – 70-200mm zoom
These days the car has a 2.5 Smith and Jones engine and in West’s hands, accompanied by co-driver Keith Hounslow, it fair flies.
Stage 6 – Bentley Straight - 70-200mm zoom
From a photographer’s perspective it was a rather grey, hazy day aside from the brief hint of blue sky and sunshine early afternoon – this was, though, measured in minutes rather than hours!
Stage 7 – Wilson and Williams - 70-200mm zoom
Stage 8 – Brundle and Nelson - 70-200mm zoom
David's photos take you through the event from West and Hounslow’s perspective winning every stage and finishing 45 seconds clear of Mark Kelly and Chris Williams in second in their Ford Escort Mk2.
It looks like West and Hounslow are well on their way to a second Championship win the dominant 306. There are other awards up for grabs that are incorporated within the MSN Championship.
The Protyre Challenge is only open to competitors in the A,B,C and MX5 Class to win tyres. In this competition these cars are only allowed to run a wheel with a maximum diameter of 15 inches to compete. 

In a similar vein, the Michelin Cup is open to all of the competitors. The only stipulation being they must run with Michelin tyres and display the Michelin logo on their cars to be in with a chance of getting some free rubber. 
The D class was the first class to run the stages and by the very nature of these vehicles they were the fastest. It's not just about that class though. The others cars were equally as entertaining as they threw their cars into the corners giving it their all for the class wins.
Mark Blackmore and Matt Blackmore in the Vauxhall Corsa were first in Class A.
Winners of Class B were Paul Sheard and Bruce Lindsay in the Mazda MX5.
Joshua Davey and Tamsyn Davey in the Darrian T90 were Class C winners by a minute and a half and 5th overall on the day.
Winners of Class E were Steve Finch and Sam Fordham in the Ford Fiesta R5. The Ford M-Sport R5 was developed from the road going Fiesta ST, however, that’s where the similarity stops. These 285 bhp 4WD cars with centrally mounted fuel tanks are a popular rally car with over 250 now competing around the world.
Geoff Gouriet and Toby Marshall in the Mazda MX5 Mk2 took the honours home with a first place in the MX5 Class.
One of the best areas to capture the action is Nelson. This complex of corners can be found as you arrive at the circuit and always guarantees some dramatic three wheel action. Graeme from Graeme Taylor Images captured the action here using a Nikon D500 with a 70-200mm f2.8 lens. 
As a user of a Nikon D7200 I'm always interested to see Graeme's images as this is the camera that is the front runner to replace my somewhat abused D7200.
However, the very arty panning pictures scattered throughout this article were taken with a positively ancient D2. I love this camera and will keep using it in the right situations. Around the paddock and close in on the apexes of corners its great. 
The D500 has an amazing auto focus setup and is much better than the D7200 in that respect. Both are much better cameras than the D2 and don’t even think about fitting a long lens on the D2 - the AF is not in the same league and in low light conditions it's very poor for fast action.

But I like using the D2, the images I get please me and at the end of the day that is what counts. If you are happy with what you have in your camera as a slightly famous metal band once said, "nothing else matters"
I'm not sure if Maria Rayner was too happy with the way Pete Rayner was chucking their Ford Escort into Nelson complex. Pete looked happy enough and they finished 4th in Class on the day.
That concludes our look at the Snetterton Stages. We will be covering Donington and the final at Cadwell Park. I would like to thank David Harbey Photography and Graeme Taylor Images for the continued support and help in producing these articles. To see more of these guys' work David's website can be found here and Graeme's website is here.

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