Autosport International 2012

After entering the Autosport International 2012 Amateur Motorsport Photographer competition I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of the final five. We were invited to the Autosport Show for the winner to be announced. The photo I entered was of Gary Page driving the Pennzoil Mongoose Funny Car at the European Finals at Santa Pod in 2009.

Clicking on the thumbnail will open a larger copy.

Gary suffered a massive engine explosion at about 170MPH according to the timing date for the event and as can be seen the force of the blast has left the injector hat at a rather funny angle and lifted the front of the car off the ground. Ten minutes later Gary was enjoying a cigarette in the pits and the crew set about replacing the engine for the next days racing.

Unfortunately I didn’t take the top honour but the worthy winner was my favourite of the other four finalists and hopefully there is always next year to go that one step higher. Thanks to Haymarket and LAT for great day at the show and the chance to see the wide variety of diverse vehicle from the junior go-kart to Top Fuel dragsters. Santa Pod had a very impressive area and a good mix of cars. Chris Andrews new dragster looked resplendent in its new Lucas Oils colours but pipping it for me was the 65 GTO debuting at the show, what a stunner and one I will look forward to seeing on the strip.

Other highlights were meeting one of my Great British heroes Richard Noble and another chance to see the Bloodhund SSC mock-up. The displays were eclectic and whilst the show seemed to lack something from previous times I have visited all in all it was enjoyable.