Photos from the 1970s through to yesterday.
The new Wits End Weekly Photo Challenge is Motion.
This is the third version of my response to the challenge after deciding that the first two photos I picked were a bit to obvious.
This is a shot of one of the competitors in the Le Mans 24 hour motorcycle race. The rider is exiting the last turn onto the start/finish straight. Taken around midnight, so 9 hours into the race with 15 to go.
This week’s Cosmic Photo Challenge is ‘The need for speed!!!’
Having shot a variety of motorsports for a couple of magazines in the 1980s I had a range of options in the archives.
However, once I started going through the archives there was an obvious pick. Motorcycle endurance racing was my favourite form of racing. So the pick is a long exposure of a bike entering the start/finish straight at night. Taken in 1982 at the Le Mans 24 hour race at around midnight if I recall correctly. Which meant that the rider, motorcycle and photographer were 9 hours in with 15 hours to go.
36 years ago this weekend I was in France for the 24 hour motorcycle endurance race. I was there to document a new British Endurance Racing team in their first race. I also helped out behind the scenes knowing both the riders and some of the pit crew.
This is Team Bike entering the start /finish straight at around 11 o’clock at night, 8 hours into the race. Or looking at it another way, only 16 more hours to go.
The bike leaves the pits after a night time pit stop.
