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The Monza Rally Show is an annual event held at the famous Autodromo di Monza near Milan, home of the Italian F1 Grand Prix. It is a tarmac rally event with a mostly Italian line up of drivers competing around the grand prix and historic banked circuit that is not used for any other event. Cars compete in seven special stages over the two day event, then the top cars from each category go into the Master Show. The Master show is similar to the Race of Champions where the cars run head to head around the circuit laid out on the start finish straight of the F1 circuit. Valentino Rossi has been a regular competitor at the event for the last 5 years now and won the rally for the second year in a row in his Ford Focus WRC. His father, ex 500cc Grand Prix rider Graziano Rossi also competed this year in a Maserati Gransport in the GT Classification. He came last unfortunately but took the opportunity to entertain the crowds all weekend with the biggest powerlides through absolutely every bend on the course. What a fantastic weekend. Ian Blackett. |
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November's cover of The Emblem features Kevin Osman on his Suzuki Hayabusa at Santa Pod Raceway. He recently set his personal best of 8.999 seconds at a staggering 163.62 mph. Kev got the drag racing bug after attending the Speedfreaks Ball back in 2004. running on his 1200cc Bandit. He soon has the engine bored out to 1371cc in the quest for more speed and better quarter mile times. He also had a JMC swing arm fitted that lengthens the wheelbase, stabilising the bike and helps prevent wheelies. Kev’s times dropped and he eventually achieved an impressive personal best on the bike of 9.98 seconds at 134mph. He made it to the finals of the Straightliners competition for bikes at Santa Pod on two occasions. Continuing his quest for more speed Kev felt that his Bandit had given up all of its potential so looked for a suitable successor. The popular Suzuki Hayabusa seemed the obvious choice. In April 2006 he took the plunge purchasing one and immediately had the GT25 Turbo Road Kit fitted and a Spondon swing arm. This upped the speeds achievable but also the risks involved. Kev achieved a best of 9.0 seconds at 150mph by October 2006 when he had an accident at Santa Pod. The bike stuttered and hooked up suddenly into a massive wheelie when leaving the start line. Kev lost it and flew off the back of the bike breaking his wrist and hand. Undeterred, he had a full race GT35 Turbo fitted by Big CC Racing along with a Single Stage lock up clutch to improve 60ft times and a Power Commander 2, increasing horsepower. The bike now runs 350 BHP at 16 psi. Ian Blackett. |
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An Ultimate Street Car regular, Andy Connell's turbocharged Kart is sponsored by Blackett Photography and believed to be Europe's fastest Drag Kart, possibly the World's fastest. Becci Lloyd piloted it to a personal best of 9.4 at 133mph at USC! Now Andy's Kart will take centre stage on display in the main entrance of Kart Mania 2007 in association with Karting Magazine. The show takes place on 17th and 18th November 9.30 - 5pm at Stoneleigh Park near Coventry. For more details visit Kart Mania's website. Becci is pictured on page 14 of Karting Magazine's November edition during her Personal best run. Becci was already featured last month in Midlands based bikers magazine 'The Emblem'. See Emblem Bikers Mag. Look out for the guys at the show and an upcoming RWYB. Ian Blackett |
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The weekend's action began with Saturday Night Special. After a late start because of the early rain, the track action got underway at 1345hrs. There was an amazing mix of machinery thrashing up the track from Go Karts to Land Speed Record holders with a dash of Taz Racing, Chris Impey's Wheelying RX7, PM Tuning scooters, Andy Frost's Victor, Pro ET cars, Street Bikes, Fireforce Jet Car and RWYB regulars. Well done to Japshow Class E winner, Simon North on achieving his first 10 second run in his awesome Subaru Impreza. Split Second was in attendance, sister car to Vampire which Richard Hammond famously crashed at Elvington Airfield, and current British Land Speed Record Holder. Julian Webb managed a 7.4 second run at 171mph. Fireforce came out later to stamp its authority on the event putting in a 6.4 second run at 263mph in the dark! The track action eventually stopped at a respectable 2109hrs. Sunday morning's RWYB action began around 0937hrs which was great considering Saturday's late start. Split Second was back for more improving slightly to a 7.3 second run at 190mph. The Old Skool Ford boys turned up 'en masse' Saturday evening after spending the day at Shakey and certainly weren't holding back on the strip on Sunday. Harris engines a-plenty were roaring up the strip on 3 and 4 wheels. Taz Racing were back for more swapping machines to try each others out. There was a huge turnout of bikes including some gorgeous Ducatis and Triumphs, with more than a few wheelies coming from the enthusiastic Jap' Bike riders. Unfortunately, I went over on my left foot whilst chasing a shot and was carried to the medical centre for treatment, stretched ligaments was the diagnosis, so I have two weeks to get better for the next RWYB, see you all then. Ian Blackett. |
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Japshow Finale went with a bang at the weekend. There was a non stop supply of gorgeous Jap motors running Saturday all day long. Track down time was at a minimum so everyone who signed on early got in plenty of runs. The only major hold up was when the JDP Supra of Greg Buccher and the Henstead Motorsport EVO did a flame and thunder style show together. The EVO's rear diff exploded as it launched sending sparks flying from the rear of the car, in the other lane the JDP car developed an oil leak mid track which poured oil in flames down the rest of the track. That incident unfortunately put paid to both of their weekends. Dee Ireland was out in his impressive 8 second Supra practicing for the fourth round of the HKS Drag Series, he unfortunately blew a head gasket which finished his weekend as well. Steve Whittaker was running his old skool Daywalker Supra and smashed his own record with an 8.0s at 168 mph, so close to running the first ever Jap European 7 second run. Fireforce came out late putting in an impressive 6 second run. Sunday saw another shed load of fantastic cars tearing up the track. Andy Barnes was gunning for records in his awesome Drag Skyline Fuujin achieving an 8.2 breaking Tim Webster's European Record for 4WD, Tim unfortunately had a bad back and could not compete. John Bradshaw turned up slightly late with his awesome Project GTST Skyline ready to compete, put in some impressive runs. After being knocked out of the HKS he decided to get in a bit more track time and practice. On his last run he really went for it, producing a massive wheelie and changing lanes in the process, left to right. Mick Begley was attending with his stunning Jun Super Lemon Skyline tuned by Perfect Touch. The car had a brand new motor prepped late into Saturday night and Mick was hoping for his first 9. He didn't achieve it but still went home with the Street Class winners trophy, well done mate. Chris Impey was out on the track in his gorgeous Green/Blue flipped RX7 tuned by RX Motors ready for battle. He put in some great runs achieving his first 9 second run after a huge wheelie on launch, see photo. This uncharacteristic sight was due to the guys being unable to turn down the boost, and it going sky high...literally. We managed to capture just about everyone who ran up the strip so check out the galleries to see your pics and photos of the HKS Drag Series competitors and demo cars and bikes. Ian Blackett. |
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After three years as Santa Pod's Resident RWYB Photographers, Blackett Photography were proud to cover our first race meeting at the weekend. We have attended race meetings in the past but never in an official capacity. Our experience at Test and Tune sessions put us in good stead as to what to expect, so I was quickly up to pace with the fast moving vehicles. We have had many of the race teams as customers in the past and it was great to see their vehicles put through their paces in a proper race environment. We managed to capture some excellent photos of the action including some massive wheelies, exhaust flames and a Paula Atkin fireball. Our Paula was on her own in the tent all weekend and unfortunately got off to a slow start Saturday, the quiet start lead to a steady flow on Sunday. Many thanks to all our customers for their support. Ian Blackett. |
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The BMWs returned to Santa Pod for the second Ultimate BMW Show. The action got off to a relatively slow start with just a few cars signed on. Then after 15 minutes running someone threw coolant all the way down the strip! After an extensive clean up the action continued with some impressive times being put in. Plenty more brave owners signed on to continue the action all afternoon with some beautiful cars taking to the famous Santa Pod quarter mile. My personal favourite was this gorgeous 3.0 CSL which certainly didn't hang about on the strip. There was a fantastic selection of demo vehicles powering up the track, including Stuart Doignie's awesome Super Gas BMW putting in some impressive times with his Dad at the wheel for a change. Ian Blackett. |
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Extreme Performance Bike Weekend took place at Santa Pod over the weekend. It was definitely the biggest bike event at the Pod that I can remember with a massive turnout from the UK and Europe. There were Straightliners, ACU, NSA and RWYB bikes running throughout the weekend making a varied spectacle. Saturday's action started with a bang, I managed to capture a chain breaking, drive belt shredding, exhaust falling off and an amazing flying bike which floated above the track. There was also an awesome 6 second near 200 mph run by one funny bike. Sunday saw plenty of excitement with even a run by Santa Pod's Fireforce Jet Car. Paula was there for the whole weekend and Andy joined us to cover Sunday's action. Check out the official National Sprint Association website for more info. Ian Blackett. |
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Le Mans cars came to Silverstone on Friday to practice for the weekend's round of the Le Mans Endurance Series. I went along to capture some of the action as I couldn't attend the weekend's race action because of Santa Pod commitments. I caught up with four of the Peugeot drivers for autographs including Marc Gene, Nicolas Minassian, Pedro Lamy and Stephane Sarrazin. I also caught up with the Pescarolo Sports drivers Emmanuel Collard, Jean-Cristophe Boullion, Harold Primat and Cristophe Tinseau for autographs as well as many other drivers from various other teams. The race went ahead on Sunday and was won by the number seven Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP of Marc Gene and Nicolas Minassian. Well done to the guys on their win. Ian Blackett. |
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Blackett Photography sponsored Nigel Holland competed at the FIA European Finals in his Ave a go Racing Mustang. I went along to crew for him on the first day of the event. My main duties were to help Nigel get the car ready for racing by emptying any unecessary bits out of it, then helping Nigel on with his helmet and gloves. I was tasked with writing numbers on the back of his car which indicate what time he aims to achieve down the strip. I also tried to help work out what time Nigel would do down the strip which involves a lot of guessing, which I appear to be rubbish at, because we kept getting it wrong! Nigel did qualify top of the sheet after the first round but things got worse from then on, but he still ended up a respectable sixth at the end of the day. Fellow sponsor Vic Amato leant a hand later on after his beautiful Mustang unfortunately broke at the event's Press Day and now requires an extensive engine rebuild. Ian Blackett. |
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The Press day for the European Finals was held at Santa Pod on the Wednesday prior to the event. Blackett Photography were in attendance to record the event for Nigel Holland's Ave a go Racing Mustang which we sponsor. I took the opportunity to blag a ride in a couple of cars to see what going really fast feels like. My personal best in our Peugeot 206 GTi is 16.7 seconds at around 80 mph which doesn't exactly blow your mind. The first car was Stuart Doignie's Super Gas BMW 375. I am proud to say that I am his first passenger in the car and what a ride it was! I had to get togged up in a fire suit, neck brace, gloves and helmet prior to our run. The car wheelied off the line pushing me violently back into the seat, we roared through the eighth in 6.6 seconds at 114 mph and onto the quarter in 10.008 seconds at 147 mph! The experience frightened the life out of me in all honesty. I am a bit of a control freak so am not used to that kind of thing. Stuart 's car is awesome and he went on to win the Super Gas class at the European Finals, so well done and thanks to him for my ride. I then had a ride with Jason Weir in his massively powerful Comp Eliminator Plymouth Pro Suburban. Again, I was Jason's first passenger and he picked up some wheel spin at the start running through in 10.1s at 145 mph. Jason was running with a few faults that day and did an 8.7 second run the following day showing how powerful this car is without 12 stone of lard on board! Cheers Jason. Ian Blackett :-) |
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VW Action hit town with a massive turnout of Bugs and Buses descending on Santa Pod for the weekend. The vee dub action kicked off at 5.45pm on Saturday running into the darkness. There was a fantastic assortment of show cars and Rat style vehicles from the UK and abroad running up the strip with wheelies a plenty. Race cars continued to test throughout the day alongside the dubs. Organiser Brian Burrows' beautiful herbie liveried Beetle unfortunately went bang in the right hand lane putting the track out of action for a while. As well as the racers the VW Action crowd welcomed other marques to run their cars often producing some interesting races with Retro rides blowing away newer more expensive machinery. Ian Blackett. |
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Test and Tune gave competitors of the European Finals their last chance to get their machines ready before the event began. There was an awesome turnout of vehicles including Funny cars and a Sunoco sponsored Top Fuel Dragster. There was the usual band of serious RWYBers putting their road cars through their paces. There were also two Jet cars running throughout the day, Split Second did it's first ever run at the Pod. She is the sister car of Vampire that Richard Hammond famously crashed at Elvington Airfield. The other Jet car was Fire Storm which occasionally runs at the Pod at larger events. Split Second's best was around 11 seconds with Fire Storm putting in impressive 6 second runs. VW Action took over at around 5.45pm and Santa Pod's Fireforce put in a late run to light up the sky in 6.1s at 272 mph. Ian Blackett. |
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Wellingborough Town Centre was brought to life by the awesome Parade of Power on Wednesday 31st August. Blackett Photography were there to capture the event following Nigel Holland's Ave a go Racing Mustang. Wellingborough's Mayor opened the proceedings at 7pm and the procession began. This year a special burn out area was arranged down next to the Castle and drivers and riders made full use of it. Lex from GT Battle brought a couple of Drift cars to show the public what else happens at the Pod and they put on a good show. The two seater dragster did several laps as did a whole heap of other Santa Pod regulars. The cars did around five laps of the one way system then formed up in the market square to let people get a closer look. A good time was had by all. Ian Blackett. |
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Serious Run What Ya Brung competitors and race teams came to Santa Pod on Friday to test their cars and bikes at the Peak Performance Test & Tune session. With a limit of 100 competitors the theory is that you get more track time to really get the best out of the day. There were quite a few stoppages due to cars and bikes breaking so runs were limited somewhat. However, there was plenty of exciting action including Paula Atkin (see right) who put in a personal best ET of 7.59 seconds, well done to her. Saturday saw an impressive turn out of the weird and wonderful for a day of RWYB with no show attached. Runners managed quite a few runs with the weather eventually closing in around 3.30pm which sent everyone running and forced us to pack up our stand in the rain. With all the weather forecasts for Sunday's Mini in the Park being heavy rain showers all day we made the decision not to attend for fear of no runs taking place. This would appear to have been the wrong decision and I can only apologise to anyone who missed out on photos of their runs. Ian Blackett. |
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Rotorstock came to Santa Pod for the first time ever at the weekend. The event attracted all types of Japanese vehicles not only Rotary powered ones. It also staged the third round of the awesome HKS Drag Series. Blackett photography were there to record the action for the RWYB participants and record the HKS trophy presentations on behalf of Santa Pod. The RWYB turnout was quite small so drivers managed 30 or more runs on Saturday running late into the evening. John Bradshaw's Project GTST put in some awesome times into the 8's on Saturday and will be a real contender at Japshow Finale. However, something failed and the guys went home Saturday night. Dee Ireland's Supra went bang on the line on Saturday when its Nos hose blew off. The explosion caused some damage which was repaired Saturday night and the car returned better than ever putting in its first ever 8 second run on Sunday. Sunday's RWYB allocation was four runs but that was soon changed to unlimited as the turnout was again small. Dee went head to head with Leon Green in the JPS Supra which resulted in Santa Pod's first ever all Japanese side by side 8 second run! Guy Chamberlain put in a solo run and unfortunately his bonnet blew open at 110 mph smashing his windscreen and resulting in a terrifying spin into the concrete wall on the opposite side of the track. Guy emerged unscathed but the car will need a bit of bodywork touching up, plus new screens front and rear. Steve Whittaker's Daywalker Supra put in an incredible 8.2 second run at 169 mph. The HKS final was contested by Stephen Guirey in the SMG Subaru Impreza and the Daywalker Supra which won. I now can't wait for October's Japshow Finale it's gonna be mad. Ian Blackett. |
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Andy Connell and Becci Lloyd have been coming to USC for many years now developing their turbocharged Honda Fireblade powered kart. The guys achieved their first ever 9 second run over the USC weekend. Both Andy and Becci got into the 9's with Becci achieving the quickest with a 9.457 second run at 133.56 mph. Andy is now working on the kart with a view to improve their launches where he believes they are losing a second or so. The end result could be the world's first 8 second kart. The gorgeous Becci will be featured next month on the cover of Midlands based bikers magazine, The Emblem for their September issue. Blackett Photography are now official sponsors of the kart. Look out for the guys at a RWYB event soon. Ian Blackett. |
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The first weekend in August saw Ultimate Street Car (USC) return to Santa Pod. This was the fourth time Blackett Photography have been there to capture the action at this crazy three day event. We took a record number of photos, 9700 over the three days in fact, capturing approximately 25 hours of track running. We aimed to get every run on track and just about achieved it. We had a fantastic time and certainly saw some interesting sights over the weekend. Congratulations to the JPS Motorsport team who achieved their first 8 second run in the Supra during the weekend. Also, many thanks to the Wolfsburg Performance crew for putting on such a spectacular show with their VW Beetle's huge wheelies over the weekend. Don't miss USC next year. Ian Blackett. |
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Philip Glew piloted Paul Blamire's Zen Performance Subaru Impreza to victory in the Pro Class of the latest round of the Time Attack Series. The car had more than its fair share of mechanical problems including the requirement for a new transfer box 90 minutes before qualifying. However, Philip still set the fastest time of the day and went into the Super Battle Final blasting round a wet track in 57.7 seconds to clinch victory by over a second. The Blackett Photography sponsored car now leads the 2007 Championship by two points ahead of the Roger Clark Motorsport Impreza. To finish off their weekend Liz and Paul then drove straight to Elvington to compete in Ten of the Best, helping Team Subaru to victory with an awesome 9.81 second run. Ian Blackett. |
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Mopar Euro Nationals took place at the weekend. Blackett Photography were there to record all the track action for the fourth year running and proudly as official sponsors for the first time. We managed to catch a massive eleven hours of track time taking an incredible total of three thousand photos over the three day event. We traded at the show on Saturday and Sunday selling prints on the day for the first time at the Nats as well as our usual CD images. We aimed to get fantastic shots from as many different positions as possible to put a new angle on the proceedings, and hopefully achieved it. We covered the burnout competition again and got some really nice shots. A good time was had by all. I am already looking forward to next year, see you then. Ian Blackett. |
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On Sunday the VWs returned to Santa Pod for the GTi Festival. The show ran on from Saturday's Retro Show which saw plenty of VWs on track. The day saw endless strip action with the £20 unlimited sign on giving everyone great value for money and plenty of runs. This enabled us to get loads of photos of each car from many different angles resulting in plenty of choice. The Jet Car blasted down the strip several times, as did a huge H2 Hummer (hi guys!). There were several cars with shedloads of power getting them down into the 10 second bracket. The handling circuit gave drivers a try at corners for a change! The weather remained beautiful sunshine all day which made a change from recent Santa Pod events. Ian Blackett. |
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The Retro Show took place at Santa Pod on Saturday despite the demise of Retro Cars magazine. Santa Pod took the popular show on and made it another great success. There was a fantastic array of super quick retro rides blasting down the strip all day. The amazing 2 seater dragster gave commentator Jenson a thrill with a 170mph pass. Vic Amato kindly gave Paula a ride in his awesome Mustang treating her to a 10.3 second run at 130mph, see left. There was also a selection of Pro ET cars flying down the quarter mile. Santa Pod's record breaking Jet Car treated everyone to its deafening spectacle. The weather was glorious all day and a good time was had by all. Ian Blackett.
See Vic Amato Racing for more info on his gorgeous Mustang. |
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Lewis Hamilton got off to an excellent start to his British Grand Prix weekend today by going fastest in the morning's first practice session with a 1 minute 21.1 second lap, Raikkonen was second fastest and Massa third. However, the afternoon session saw Hamilton drop to fourth fastest behind the Ferrari pair and Ralf Schumacher who actually posted an identical time to Hamilton of 1 minute 21.381 seconds. With the Ferrari's awesome pace at the recent test at Silverstone Hamilton would realistically do well to achieve a third place in his Mclaren at his home circuit. Paula and I were there for Friday's Practice session as fans, with a busy weekend ahead of us at Santa Pod's Retro and VW Shows. We will have the video set to record all the track action. Ian Blackett. |
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DJ Treble Tee from the Rampage crew on BBC 1Xtra had a ride in Santa Pod's awesome two seater dragster at Fast Fest, see him in the back seat. Treble Tee was there to host the fantastic new event for the weekend on the Fast Car stage. Rampage are made up of Dee, Mike Anthony, Treble T, D'Nyce and Legz and are regulars on the BBC’s Radio 1Xtra. In fact you can listen to them between 9am-12pm, Monday to Friday on Digital station BBC 1Xtra. The crew have had huge chart success, regularly DJ world wide and always give the crowd exactly what they want. Check out the Blackett Photography images at BBC 1Xtra on the Rampage diary page, Tues 3rd July. You can book a ride in Santa Pod's thrilling two seater yourself. Click here for details. Ian Blackett. |
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A brand new show hit Santa Pod at the weekend, Fast Fest. The aim of the show was to give you a bit of everything and hopefully introduce you to something that you hadn't seen before. It definitely worked for me. It is the first time I have seen an F1 car on the strip and Jodie Hemming certainly tore up the track putting in an impressive 10.6 second run at 139 mph. It was also the first time that I had seen trucks on the strip and they put in some quick times too, especially bearing in mind their huge weight. There was loads of entertainment off the strip too with the drfit arena and Rampage from Radio One's 1Xtra. The wet weather put paid to the track entertainment on Saturday night. However, there was plenty of exciting action on Sunday to make up for it. Ian Blackett. |
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Redline Magazine's August issue page 20 features this Blackett Photography image of Tim Webster's GTC Duke Skyline breaking the European record for 4WD at the Performance Tuning and Modified Show Practice in May. He went on to win the PTM Pro Shootout. Blackett Photography sponsors Tim's car which features our web name on the bumper and rear of the roof.
The August issue also features Paul Blamire's Blackett Photography sponsored Zen Performance Impreza pages 102-106 with our webname on the bootlid. The car won the first round of the Time Attack series with Philip Glew qualifying and Matt Allison competing at Donington recently. Ian Blackett. |
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Caught bang to rights! Retro Ford Magazine's Central RS Owners Day report, July Issue, page 111 & 112.
The reporter writes: "Highlight of the day for us all had to be the random dancing bloke in front of the chavved-up Orion (see pictures). There was no rhyme or reason for his behaviour, but he certainly busted some moves and thoroughly entertained us!"
The writing is accompanied by five photos of this "bloke" aka 'me' in a filmstrip format, doing what looks like Russian dancing and some bizarre form of body popping.
Unfortunately I have no shame and recently did a 15 minute set at Sunday's Japshow between 1330 and 1345hrs on the stage at the eating area. I even had a couple of promo girls recording me on their mobiles! Ian Blackett :-) |
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The weather was not kind to us for Japshow. We traded at the RWYB the day before which saw plenty of Japanese cars tearing up the strip with some very impressive times. I was at the show on behalf of Santa Pod to get the photos for their website. I took the opportunity to visit Lex from Gt Battle and the guys from Driftworks up at the drift arena to get some nice shots. The guys certainly put on an amazing show for the crowd which helped to make up for the lack of drag strip action. Terry Grant did the rest with his awesome car control. I blagged a stomach churning ride next to the master to get some shots. What a rush...like riding the waltzer at the fair on fast forward, with smoke, screeching TOYOs and a deafening 3.6 Litre TVR Tamora bassline!
Check out Terry's site www.terrygrant.com to see just what he gets up to when he's not at the Pod. Ian Blackett.
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Paula, Andrew and I attended F1 Testing this week at Silverstone. Three days of testing took place with everyone except Honda and Super Aguri taking part. Test drivers and some main drivers from each of the teams were there including Kimi, David, Fernando, Felipe and Jarno. We were lucky enough to spend some time in the very exclusive Minton Consultancy hospitality suite on pit road with Towergate TLC. Many thanks to Janice Minton and Carol Mason. I also managed to bag a few autographs in the paddock including Felipe Massa, Jarno Trulli, Adrian Sutil and Frank Montagny, the rest got away unfortunately. Paula and I are now looking forward to the British Grand Prix Practice day on Friday 6th July. Andrew will be there for qualifying on Saturday.
See the fantastic Silverstone website to find out more details on F1 testing taking place at the circuit. Ian Blackett
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Paula and I travelled to Le Mans for the famous 24 Hour Race last week. I have wanted to go there ever since I got the Le Mans 24 Hr Scalextric set for Christmas aged 9. We had a very wet week camping in the circuit, the car still looks like it's completed a rally stage! We travelled to support Peugeot as we drive a 206. Paula met her favourite driver, Jacques Villeneuve on Friday and got his autograph. We saw the race unfold through the rain, Jacques' Peugeot, number 7 unfortunately broke down with an engine problem, the number 8 Pug came second 10 laps behind the unstoppable number 1 Audi of Frank Biela. We had the complete experience and even stood beneath the podium and got soaked in their champagne. We drove the circuit from Mulsanne to just before the Porsche curves after the race which was awesome.
See the Le Mans 24 Hr website for the race report on this amazing race which is well worth a look. Ian Blackett. |
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The Classic Ford Show hit Santa Pod at the weekend. An absolutely awesome array of blue ovals were thrashing up the strip all day. There were plenty of RWYB regulars, the usual spectacular HPE weapons, Old Skool Ford favourites, RS200s, Mexicans raising money for charity, Hooligan and much, much more. Keith Ridley wins the most spectacular burnout prize from myself, getting on two wheels twice! Saturday's RWYB saw us turn up five hours late due to confusion as to when the day started, doh! We made up for it as best we could taking loads of photos of the faithful who had stayed after lunch. Including the gorgeous Lamborghini Diablo, who went up against a potent Renault 5.
Check out the official Classic Ford Show website for more details on the event. See you next year. Ian Blackett. |
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The Performance Vauxhall Show hit Santa Pod at the weekend. There was a fantastic turnout of impressive machinery blasting down the strip from 3pm - 9pm on Saturday, and all day Sunday. Highlights for me were seeing a little blue Nova Turbo matching a megabucks black Porsche Turbo up the strip. The Porsche owner was a really nice guy and a good sport and kept coming out to entertain the crowds. (Occasionally the Supercar owners get miffed and head home). I was also pleased to see the beautiful Lotus Carlton (formerly the fastest production saloon in the world) and the green flip Corsa side by side all the way up the strip. Andy Frost did some impressive runs in his Victor. We had our best weekend ever for sales at the Pod so we were obviously doing something right. Many thanks to everyone who came over to check out their photos and took something home.
Big up to everyone from corsasport.co.uk = 24% of visitors since PVS and vvoc.com = 9 % of visitors since PVS.
Check out the fantastic Performance Vauxhall Show website for more details. See you next year! Ian Blackett |
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Blackett Photography sponsored Ave a go Racing were in action again this weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. Nigel was back after the disappointment at the Easter Thunderball when an oil leak put him out after qualifying second going in to the elimination rounds. I was there as crew member on Friday to help Nigel get ready for his runs and position him in the wetbox for his burnouts. Rain did stop the session mid afternoon and the Sportsman ET competitors were only allowed four out of their planned five runs. This time the car stayed intact allowing him to end Friday's practice in an impressive 6th position. Nigel will be getting some awesome new wheels and tyres fitted before his next outing at the Summer Nationals in June...Ian Blackett.
Check out this video of one of Nigel's runs at The Main Event, Santa Pod Raceway, UK. www.aveagoracing.co.uk |
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World Superbike stars Troy Corser, Max Biaggi, James Toseland, Troy Bayliss and commentator Steve Parish visited Sywell Aerodrome on Thursday prior to their WSBK weekend at Silverstone. The guys were there as guests of aerobatic display team The Blades. The daredevils amongst the group were Corser, Bayliss and Parish who actually went up with the pilots in their Extra 300 aircraft. The Blades have been thrilling audiences around the UK, Europe and the Middle East for three years now. The team is made up of ex RAF fighter pilots all of which have flown in the Red Arrows. They will be wowing the crowds at the World Superbikes at Silverstone this weekend and the F1 Grand Prix in July. See Troy Corser, 'parachute on' ready for the off.
Check out the Blackett Photography image of Ducati's Troy Bayliss on June's edition of The Emblem Bikers Mag.
See The Blades website for more details on the team's members, aircraft and upcoming shows. Ian Blackett. |
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Blackett Photography secured a new sponsorship deal with Tim Webster for his GTC Duke Skyline. We sponsored the car last year just prior to it breaking the European Record for 4WD at the Japshow Finale. At The Performance Tuning and Modified Show Tim smashed his own record knocking half a second off his previous record with an 8.35 second run at 164.8 mph. He also went on to win the Pro Shootout so had a fantastic weekend. Gemma debuted for Blackett Photography at Japshow Finale even making an appearance in Zoo Magazine. She helped us out again this weekend, and stepped in as the Castrol Edge promo girl. See this photo published in July's Jap Performance Magazine on p10.
Check out the gorgeous Gemma and friends on her myspace.
See a video of Tim's Record Breaking run. Plus the GTC website here www.gt-culture.com...Ian Blackett |
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Max Biaggi appears on the cover of The Emblem for the May 2007 issue. Blackett Photography provided the images used from the European round of the World Superbike Championship at Donington recently. Max finished a respectable second and third in the two races and now trails Championship leader James Toseland in the Championship standings. Max suffered a disappointment in race two, after leading from lap 14 until the last corner of the last lap where he ran wide allowing Noriyuki Haga to snatch the win.
This photo is displayed inside on page 24. The cover shows Biaggi sat on the grid psyching himself up for race two.
To see the latest issue see www.emblembikersmag.com
Ian Blackett. |
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The sun shone (for quite a while) when the Central RS Owners Club had their day at Santa Pod on Sunday. Blackett Photography were there as Santa Pod's Resident RWYB Photographers to record the action for the participants. There was a very varied mix of different marques on the strip as well as the obvious Fords to keep the track action going. More than a few Old Skool Fords and HPE powered cars ripped up the strip with some very impressive times put in down into the 10's and some very fast Pro ET runs as well as Santa Pod's Jet Car.
See www.centralrsoc.co.uk for more details. Ian Blackett. |
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The British Touring Car Championship returned to Rockingham after quite a few years away. Blackett Photography were there on Saturday to record the action on behalf of the Kettering Evening Telegraph. The cars used the International circuit which includes the banking and infield parts of the track. Morning practice saw three Seats at the top, Darren Turner topped the timing sheets in his Leon. Turner once again was fastest in the afternoon practice with newcomer Mat Jackson second in the BMW and Gordon Shedden third fastest in his Honda Civic. The qualifying session saw the drivers pushing to the limit with Turner on pole, Fabrizio Giovanardi second in the Vectra and Jason Plato third in the Seat Leon.
Visit the BTCC website here www.btcc.net plus details on Rockingham www.rockingham.co.uk
Ian Blackett. |
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British and Belgian GT cars descended on Donington yesterday ahead of the British GT and F3 Meeting there this weekend. With the addition of the Belcars to the test there was truly an awesome selection of machinery tearing round the track including Dodge Vipers, Aston Martins, Moslers and Porsches. Belgian GT Team AD Sport's Dodge Viper Competition Coupe is shown spewing flames as it lifts off at the end of the main straight. I was at Donington to get some practice in shooting the GTs ahead of my trip to the famous Le Mans 24hr race in June.
Ian Blackett.
See details on the Le Mans 24hr race www.lemans.org plus details on Donington www.donington-park.co.uk |
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GTi enthusiasts descended upon Santa Pod for the annual GTi Spring Festival at the weekend. Over 200 cars took to the track attempting to set their best quarter mile times. The sun shone all day and a good time was had by all. Blackett Photography were there to capture the action on the strip and also took some shots of the fantastic cars on show.
Check out the vwaction website www.vwaction.co.uk
Ian Blackett. |
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Nigel Holland from Ave a go Racing went into competition for the first time this weekend at Santa Pod Raceway. The Blackett Photography sponsored car is a 4.6 Litre Mustang GT which will be competing throughout 2007 in the Sportsman ET classification. Nigel put in an impressive performance qualifying second on Friday. On Saturday an oil leak was found which put him out for the whole day. Temporary repairs were carried out but the leak still persisted on Sunday which meant Nigel had to pull out of the competition very disappointed. He takes away some good experience from the weekend that he will take to The FIA Main Event, 25th-28th May 2007.
Nigel was interviewed at Santa Pod by Sarah Beecroft for Anglian News which went on air this evening.
Check out this video of one of Nigel's runs, it may take two minutes to appear.
For details of Nigel's race car see www.aveagoracing.co.uk
Ian Blackett |
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Blackett Photography sponsored Zen Performance were in action at Donington Park today in practice for the first Time Attack Pro Final of 2007. Philip Glew stood in for Matt Allison in the Zen Subaru Impreza setting the best time of the second practice at 1m 15.6 seconds, before a broken clutch ended his session early. Zen have taken the sensible step of employing professional drivers to show the opposition just what their car is capable of. This takes the pressure off Paul Blamire who can concentrate on keeping the car running at its full potential. Philip has been racing since he was eight, most recently in the British GT Series racing for top team RPM, as well as being a racing instructor.
Check out Philip's website here www.philipglewracing.com plus www.zenperformance.co.uk
Zen Performance's Subaru went on to win the Pro Time Attack Final piloted by Matt Allison with a time of 1m 14.1 seconds. The Roger Clark Impreza came in second and the Guglielmi Elise third. What a fantastic start to the 2007 Time Attack season.
Ian Blackett |
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The Emblem Biker's Magazine, April 2007 Edition cover features a Blackett Photography image of Casey Stoner taken at the Moto GP last year. The accompanying article reports on Stoner's recent vicory at the Losail circuit in Doha, the first round of the 2007 Moto GP calendar. Stoner, now riding for the Ducati team on their brand new 800cc bike, won the race impressively beating off several challenges from Valentino Rossi on the Yamaha. Stoner's Ducatis outright speed on the straight was always the deciding factor, allowing him to blast past on the start/finish straight every lap no matter what. Dani Pedrosa would surely have challenged for the win if he had not overshot a bend and dropped back. 2006 Moto GP Champion Nicky Hayden came an unimpressive 8th after struggling to get to grips with the front end of the new Honda 800cc machine.
To see the latest issue see www.emblembikersmag.com
Ian Blackett |
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Blackett Photography proudly sponsors Nigel Holland's Ave-a-go-Racing 4.6 Litre Mustang which will compete at Santa Pod this year beginning with the Easter Thunderball this coming weekend. Nigel took a trip to Frankie and Benny's restaurant to have a sponsorship enquiry meeting with Assistant Manager Gareth Groves on Monday night. We took the opportunity to get some shots of the car in front of the classic neon signs of the restaurant. Fingers crossed we may be able to secure a deal with the huge restaurant chain in the near future.
For details of Nigel's race car see www.aveagoracing.co.uk
Ian Blackett. |
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Blackett Photography images have been featured in Practical Performance Car Magazine's April 2007 Edition. PPC have their very own Rolls Royce which has been sported up and featured in the magazine. Their latest escapade was to bring it up to Santa Pod Raceway and see what it could do. The car came up to RWYB on 25th February, and took on a few contenders, including a red Renault 5 GT Turbo. See Andrew Woodhouse's double page spread on pages 32, 33 and left. See my photos on pages 35,36 and 37.
Check out www.ppcmag.co.uk Ian Blackett. |
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Blackett Photography were lucky enough to spend the weekend at the European Round of the World Superbike Championship at Donington this weekend. The weekend started on Thursday with a press conference held by Championship leader James Toseland, in his Hannspree Honda hospitality suite.
We were there on behalf of The Emblem bikers magazine so Paul Martin-Del-Burgo came along to ask some questions for the magazine. James took the questions in his stride saying that he planned to keep the ball rolling this weekend with some more podium finishes. We attended an autograph session meeting several riders including Max Biaggi, Troy Corser and Karl Muggeridge. Saturday left me on my own to get some shots of James' win and podium appearance. Sunday was spent around the pit area and on the grid prior to the races. I had an absolutely fantastic time, look out for James Toseland on Emblem's May 2007 edition.
See www.donington-park.co.uk for Donington's website.
Ian Blackett. |
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If you were at The Fast Show you may have noticed the stunning new vinyl graphics on the side of the Blackett Photography Peugeot 206 RC. The design is a Peugeot Lion as seen on the Peugeot 207 RCup concept and the brand new 2007 Peugeot Le Mans 24hr contender, due to be driven by ex F1 World Champion, Jacques Villeneuve. The graphics were supplied by www.radecal.net
Radecal have offered Blackett Photography customers a 10% discount just for mentioning us when you place your order for graphics of your choice. See their website or ebay shop.
Ian Blackett. |
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March 2007 edition of 'The Emblem' magazine features a Blackett Photography image as a cover shot - Pete Howlett riding his custom Harley-Davidson on the famous Santa Pod Raceway. The Emblem is a monthly bikers magazine available in bike and accessory shops throughout the Midlands, and via a PDF file on the internet. The magazine is available for a small subscription, email: emblempromotions@aol.com for more details. Pete's bike is featured on pages 24 and 25 of the issue, with photos and a full report. Although Pete's bike is not exactly built for Drag Racing, I though the strip would provide a good background to show his bike off. Special thanks to Santa Pod Raceway for use of the drag strip.
Note: Helmets must normally be worn on the drag strip.
To see the latest issue see www.emblembikersmag.com
Ian Blackett. |
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Blackett Photography were proudly invited to the launch of the Spyker Formula One Team today. The team showed off its new Ferrari powered Spyker F8-VII. They have employed the services of hugely experienced Chief Technical Officer, Mike Gascoyne and are hopeful for a successful year. Paula, Andy and I were rubbing shoulders and chatting with with drivers Christijan Albers and Adrian Sutil, and even spoke with ITV's Tony Jardine and Louise Goodman!
Check out Blackett Photography F1 Testing reports and British GP Practice Day photos later in the year.
To see Spyker's Official website visit: www.spykerf1.com
Ian Blackett. |
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Blackett Photography has made it on to the hallowed pages of Max Power Magazine. Blackett Photography sponsored the Duke Racing Nissan Skyline owned by Tim Webster last year. The car went on to break the European 4WD Record at the Japshow Finale last October. A photo supplied to GTC was used in the January 2007 Edition of Max Power as a double page spread on pages 184 and 185.
Our sponsorship was on the front bumper and rear of the roof in the other photos in the report. We are hoping to continue providing fantastic motorsport photography services to GTC during 2007.
To see GTC's Official website visit: www.gtculture.com
Ian Blackett. |
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