Martin Ffrench & The Low Brain PS13
I was asked late last week to fill in for someone who was meant to document Martin’s exploits at Punchestown, and seeing as it has been over a year since I last covered a full drift event, I could hardly say no. What was meant to be a relaxing day off instead started with a 6AM alarm call and getting on the road not long there after. It’s always great to catch up with the people in the Irish drifting community, a friendlier bunch you could not meet. I know a lot of these people from my first day of shooting, so it’s inspiring to see them all still giving 100% commitment to the sport. Times have moved on, and there are a lot of new faces both on the starting line and in the media briefing which made the event feel somewhat alien in certain regards. The one thing that hasn’t changed was thankfully the reason I was there – Martin Ffrench. I can’t even remember the last time I seen Martin drive, but even though he only has a handful of events under him this year, it’s plain for everyone to see that he still has the talent and aggression he is known for. Driving the LBD Achilles Nissan PS13, powered by an ex-Mosler V8, it’s almost the perfect car for Martin. Although things didn’t work out as planned, with more seat time in the car, it won’t be long before we see him back on the top step of the podium. Big thanks to Martin Ffrench, Team LBD Achilles and Paddy Macken from IDC.
Wexican Motorsport Altezza Shakedown at Mondello Park
Last Saturday I had a rare day off which kind of turned into ‘not-really-a-day-off’ but an enjoyable one none the less. The occasion was the first shakedown of the Wexican Motorsport Toyota Altezza and I was on-hand to document the event. It was a pretty chilled affair and was the perfect opportunity to test out some new equipment namely the Canon 17-40 F4 L, Canon 135 F2 L and the Canon 1.4x extender on the Canon 300 F4 L. It’s also been a while since I got to shoot some live track action so it’s great to be getting back into the motorsport season once again. The following shots primarily focus around Martin and his Altezza but if you head over to my Flickr page, there are a couple more images of some of the other attendees’. More after the jump.
On-Board with Martin Ffrench
[vimeo width=”800″ height=”600″]http://www.vimeo.com/20162768[/vimeo] I spent most of yesterday working on a personal project of mine with Martin Ffrench. I had the honor of shooting the exclusive of his SR20DET Toyota Altezza back in November and even luckier to have the chance to ride along side him during the practice sessions. These are only two short laps from the morning whilst Martin was still working on setups and ironing out any small problems. I’ll have a better video and some photographs up later this week.
Wexican Launch Drift Experience
Wexican Motorsport, have just launched their Drift Experience and officially announced their Drift Academy. Vouchers for the Experience, which make awesome Christmas presents for those loved ones with an interest in motoring or even for those you want to convert to the world of motorsport, as well as information regarding the academy can be found on www.wexicanmotorsport.com
Behind the Visor
Back in April, I was lucky enough to have time to shoot some portraits of some of the drivers and staff of the Prodrift Super Series. When the majority of your work is based around the machine and not the man, it can be refreshing change of pace to shoot the men (and indeed women) behind the visors. The idea behind these portraits was to portray the people behind the cars, to show the real person and not just the name you may recognize from the commentary. More after the jump …
New Wexican Video …
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/5348448[/vimeo] After much swearing and minute adjustments, the latest Wexican Motorsport video is online. The footage features more on-board, more out-board and more action than before. The music is by Waterford band, Gorbachov and the song is titled ‘Come & Get It’ from their debut album ‘Can’t Start the Machine’ Enjoy !
2009 so far … Part I
Since the site has been inactive for so many months, I thought I’d fill you in on my 2009 so far. It all started with an AE86 owners day at Mondello Park …
Martin Ffrench Hates …
… water barriers. They are evil and must be punished. More coming soon …