As an Automotive and Motorsport photographer my work comes in different ways. Mostly I am commissioned to shoot a car or an event directly for a client or publication, Classic Cars Magazine for example. Other times I am going to an event as a freelance photographer and then try to sell my images. This was the case with the 2025 Roger Albert Clark Rally… 1 Event, 3 Publications.
Natural Environment…
Since I was 8 years old I have been around rallying and rally cars. Dad was either driving or navigating, as a family we’d be out watching. In November we would go into the Welsh forests spectating on the UK’s round of the World Championship, The RAC Rally. When old enough I started navigating for Dad and other drivers before eventually moving across to the driver’s seat myself. In 1994 I achieved a childhood dream of competing in The Network Q RAC Rally in a Group N Skoda Favorit. After 4 days and several trips into the scenery, we brought a very battered Skoda home 95th Overall.
The RAC Rally was a highlight of the year for me and my brother. We would often follow it for the whole 5 days, watching 2 or 3 stages a day. Drive into a forest last thing each night and sleep in the car so we there ready for the first stage early next morning…. great times!! Things evolve and move on with time. 5 days of the RAC Rally became 3 days of Wales Rally GB. The rally eventually dropped from the World Rally Championship completely… end of an era!! Spin the clock on a decade or 2 and the R.A.C. was resurrected. The Roger Albert Clark Rally, a 5 day rally for all the old classic rally cars… now as a photographer, I was in my natural environment.
Back on The R.A.C. Rally again…
As it was my brother Nick’s 50th birthday on the day the rally started, we decided to wind the clock back a few years. So R Kid joined me on The Roger Albert Clark as part of his birthday celebrations. It was really great to be back out on a rally spectating road trip with my brother again. We’re getting a bit old for sleeping in the car nowadays though and the hair style has changed a little bit too!!
The first 2 days of the rally were held in the classic stages of the Welsh forests. The temperature dropped and the snow arrived to challenge the crews even more. These conditions are really tricky for the drivers with fast changing grip levels. Under the trees where shade kept the gravel tracks hard with snow and ice. Then where sun can get to the surface it became loose and muddy. Drivers could pick up speed but risk being caught out by ice halfway round the bends. The snow was great for me though as it made for pretty photos!
Seeing this Group A Skoda Favorit made us both smile. Nick navigated for me on some rallies in my first season, ’94 Skoda Trophy Championship. The following year he was in his own Favorit when we ran a 2 car team…. thanks Dad!!!
Maximum Attack….
The snow and ice didn’t seem to slow the top drivers down much. Razor sharp reactions dealing with every squirm as the cars struggled for grip….then plenty….then non again!! Mark Higgins powered into view in the Triumph TR7 V8, it looked and sounded amazing on SS7 Myherin stage. 3 days later on SS31 Shepherdshield an error leaving braking too late resulted in the car flying 50ft up a firebreak… me and Nick joined a handful of spectators that were luckily on hand to push them back on the track but dropping them over 4 minutes
Mate and my media team boss on HERO historic rallies, Director of Communication at HERO-ERA, Tony Jardine. Rather than helping run a rally, here he was out competing in his Chrysler Avenger. He was having some ignition gremlins and a slight off earlier in this stage had dropped him down the running order. So walking out of the stage I was fortunate to catch a shot of him
Carlisle and Scottish Borders…
After the first 2 days in Wales the rally headed North and relocated HQ in Carlisle. Ahead of the crews lay 3 days hard rallying in the tough classic stages of Keilder Forest and crossing the Scottish border. Rally spectators are a hardy breed. They often walk for miles into the forests to their chosen bend. Stand in all weathers, sometimes in the freezing cold. On night stages for nothing much more than the sight of a set of blazing headlights cutting their way through trees and mist…. and then gone, back into pitch dark again until another arrives.
Car 192 – Saab 96 2-stroke of Stephen Higgins and Peter Johnson. I selected a slow shutter speed and panning through fir tree branches to create the sensation of speed of the cars through the pitch dark forest tracks.
The Scottish Borders delivered the rain with abundance. The ice had broken up the surface, the rain now turned it to mud… the rally car tyres ripped it up and threw it at me!! Being a motorsport photographer for me is about telling the story for people that weren’t able to come themselves. That means watching, anticipating the action and then positioning myself to capture it if we’re lucky enough…. making my own luck maybe!
So time to try to sell some photos. Sam, at Classic Cars Magazine knew I was covering the rally and used all my photos bar 1 in their feature (Jonny Miller’s Peugeot retired before I got a shot of it or I’d have had a full house I’m sure). 2 more images being carried by the Bauer Media sister publication, Classic Car Weekly. I was thrilled that my shot of the Saab 96 was the photo chosen by Octane Magazine. 1 event – 3 publications…. job done!!
