Posted by Cleggy on Jul 11, 2010 in
Bike Racing
The scheduled Saturday practice session for the 2010 Walderstown Road races was pretty much wiped out due to persistent heavy Rain, thankfully I had not planned on attending practice and by the time Sunday morning dawned the Sky was already looking much clearer.
The old pensioner (Derek Wilson) was again my travelling companion which meant that I’d have to buy my own food or starve as Derek is a Scots Man and they don’t like putting their hands in their pockets too often. We travelled down together with me doing the driving and approximately Two hours later arrived at our destination to be met with a Dry circuit, and clear skies. We made the same journey last year but unfortunately Andrew Neill was to lose his life in a crash and we soon had to return home, but there was no repeat this year (just one Red flag incident) with some great racing.
With Ryan Farquhar away competing at Scarborough (and dominating proceedings) the opportunity was there for someone else to grab a few wins and a slice of the healthy prize fund. The start / finish section of the circuit is the widest section of road and it needs to be with a mass start where a bunch of bikes all have to brake extremely hard at the first road end for the first corner. Here in the images John Burrows machine has the back-end stepping out under braking.
The Supersport race was led from the start by William Dunlop on the CD Racing R6 Yamaha and it looked like he would never be headed.
But half way through the race his brother Michael started to come on strong and was soon right on his back wheel. With a lap to go Michael made his move passing William in mid-air over the jump and managing to get the bike down, and slowed for the peel in point to the next left hander before going on to take the win.
The next event for me is the Irish Superbikes at Kirkistown on Tuesday and then off to Kells for more road racing at the weekend.
Tags: CD Racing, Irish Superbikes, John Burrows, Kells, Kirkistown, Ryan Farquhar, Scarborough, Supersport, Walderstown, William Dunlop
Posted by Cleggy on Jun 6, 2010 in
Bike Racing
With the racing finally running late on Saturday afternoon it meant that Sunday was as per the schedule a day with no racing. I took advantage of this to get a bit of a lie in, a rare treat, before venturing out for another walk round the TT paddock.
I noticed this interesting sign in the Uel Duncan camp, a reflection on their racer Michael Dunlop and just how much he puts on the line (as do all the other competitors) when he tackles the Isle of Man TT Mountain circuit!
John Burrow’s Shark Helmets lay in the corner of his awning unwashed from yesterdays race, and you can see that the Manx insect population has been visibly reduced due the speed the big lad was travelling at.
Inside the awning of Chris Dowd’s Team CD Racing, William Dunlop’s Race Tyre for tomorrows Superstock Race has already been selected.
I then went off a spin in the Car to scout out a few possible shooting locations for tomorrows racing, and there is one spot in the Glen Helen area that looks like it might offer some good Photographs………….but then I would have to contend with more of those Manx Midges!
Tags: CD Racing, Chris Dowd, Glen Helen, Isle of Man TT, John Burrows, Michael Dunlop, Mountain Circuit, Shark Helmet, TT, Uel Duncan, William Dunlop
Posted by Cleggy on Feb 21, 2009 in
PR Pure Road racer and genuinely all-round nice guy, John ‘Joni B‘ Burrows was one of the few racers to take me up on my offer of a free sponsors portfolio photo shoot
With the hectic demands of daily life and the horrid rat-race it can sometimes be hard to find the time to do these sort of photo shoots, but John was most obliging and gave of his time on a Saturday morning to allow me to indulge in some experimental photography with remote strobes. This was my first time controlling more than one flash at the same time as well as my first shoot with the flash not directly connected to my camera and I am well pleased with the results.
Of course being Nikon technology everything just worked as Nikon intended which left me free to concentrate on the actual photography rather than worry about the technical side of the equipment.
1/250th f5.6
1/250th f7.1
The above images were all shot in full manual to ensure consistency of exposure, Nikon D200, Nikon SU800, 2 x Nikon SB800 and a Sigma 70-200mm lens.
Tags: John Burrows, Joni B, Portfolio