Been sat in my pants most of the weekend watching the two day Cars SOS marathon on national geographic. Bliss.
BS7 on a Yamaha @ the old "madijk" corner, dutch TT I suppose around 1980, photograph made by me on Kodachrome 64 being a pro photographer at the Dutch TT, Nikon F2 wit a nikkor 300/2,8. , scanned around 2007, just found it going through old backups. Notice the fences, NO runout zones then, even at Assen, the temple of GP motorbike speed. (not mentioning some obscure island close the the UK) No fingers on the brake, trail braking was not even invented.
Watching old photographs on my Mac, Lots of memories . Le Mans 24H 1984. I was a 23 year old photographer with pit-lane access ... The "Hawaiian Tropics" got everyone's attention then. Porsche 956 doing 246 m/ph - 426 k/ph on the Mulsanne Straight during Practice/Qualifying There were NO limits then, just like Rally group B cars, these were the group "C" cars.. "prototypes " When I think of it now, Crazy! even found my old press card.
Wow that’s fkn impressive mate. I’ve always wondered how you get photographer passes? Can you buy them/be independent or do you need to work for a certain publication?
I liked it but not as much as BB. If you don’t mind violent telly I can recommmend Gomorrah if you haven’t seen it for after. Italian with subtitles but utterly utterly glorious. Just don’t get attached to too many characters
... Back in those days the magazine/publisher arranged for press cards. Have not done any commercial racing photography since 1990, so I do not have a clue how it works nowadays to be honest. ------------------------------ How to get into the Business .... One that got me in to this business then: have a couple of pro camera's dangling from you neck, a compelling story and annoy the hell out of the people issuing press cards for the Dutch TT. My annoying attitude got me a photo press card, Dutch TT 1979, me.. an 18 year old shitface with a big mouth and insisting that I had to do a job.. they probably gave me a purple 'Photo Press" card just to get rid of me... one thing I do remember, standing next to Kenny Roberts on the grid and realising how small/short he was. Sold the shots afterwards... No internet/email whatsoever. All chemical (analogue) photography. Show your prints a day later at the magazines desk.... low and behold.. pictures sold! The rest is history, they liked my shots and arranged for photo passes for the years to come..those were the days!
i'll take that as a no then, had a good reason for asking but wtf as some might say. for the record - was also there that year, and many other years, and also "in the pits". P.S. Can I have your autograph?
Judging by the first photograph even the women were competitive back then, and No woke culture whatsoever.
The New Van Der Valk series with Mark Warren, unfortunately my tv reception was breaking up so i eventually switched over, another time perhaps when i slot more money into the machine i'll get the full picture.
Video is shit. Bike is shit. No electronics. No-turbo suspension. Got Norton fiasco written all over it.
Video presenter wasn't the best. Bike is still a prototype, but its definitely not shit imo. Power to weight ratio makes it a very interesting prospect. Norton fiasco? As I recall when Norton had one of these they won everything? No electronics is deliberate, both designer and company owner say so clearly in the vid that on this bike they don't want them,. Perhaps they will add them on later editions (if they are made) perhaps not.
Some great pictures there, and sounds like fantastic memories. Did you work your way around the HT ladies?!
It just smacks of bitsa that someone sells the dream on a never materialises. Love the idea of power and weight, electronics is an absolute must have. This is 2022 not 1976. They will get millions on investment, make a few, stash the cash. And the ‘make an affordable bike’ is just laughable. And yes the presenter wasn’t the best…. bi-turbo suspension I meant to say but Apple beat me to the autocorrect and I missed it. This makes a superleggera look as cheap as a Chinese 125 and as cutting after as a MGP bike
Music last night with Keith Moon doing his usual showman shit, then onto a calming Donovan at Berlin, finished of with two rounds back in the party groove with Ronnie Woods show.
