Team Parker Racing are a household name when it comes to the Porsche Carrera Cup GB. With many trophies and records of championship wins under their belt, this Leicestershire based team currently run 6 cars across the various classes. One of their drivers, Stephen Jelley of previous BTCC fame is in clear contention for this year's title in the number 70 car. This weekend will see the BTCC and Porsche Carrera Cup GB make way to Rockingham, the only US-style ‘oval’ circuit in the UK. The amount of work and dedication that goes into these events behind the scenes is simply amazing. Yesterday we travelled to Rockingham near Corby for an 8am start, ready to spend the day with Team Parker Racing. Let me start by saying that we both Han and I were blown away by the hospitality that Stuart and the team showed us.
In just under 2 hours, 10 dedicated members of Team Parker Racing had built what you could only describe any racers dream. Everything is worked out with precision, each car has it's own position allowing engineers to work quickly and easily. Race lorries are like the tardis, relatively normal on the outside but each house 3 cars, work benches and a driver's lounge! With free reign about the cars to produce an editorial shoot on TPR we decided to first concentrate on some interior/detail shots before Stephen Jelley arrived.
If anyone knows Rockingham, then you might know that to gain access to the circuit you need to pass through two rather large 'Exhaust Appreciation' tunnels. Before we had even arrived at Rockingham I had planned to use this for a shot. As a photographer it's crucial to have a plan mapped out enabling you to work quickly and efficiently, maximising your actual shooting time with the client. I attached a Speedlite 580EXII to a light stand and had Hannah hold it high over the nose of the Porsche. A second Speedlite 430EX had a full red gel behind the car, and using PocketWizards as my trigger we got the shot in a matter of a minutes before continuing onto the infield.
What's a race car without speed? In between towing the car around the track with a quad I jumped on the back to try and capture some motion. Some cloning in photoshop to remove the strap and again my wide angle came to the rescue. I love this shot, taken at 1/13th of a second handheld!
Just before the British Touring Car Teams started to setup their garages ahead of race weekend, we quickly borrowed one for a few dramatic shots. Most striking of which has to be this one, lit with two speedlites camera left and right.