Tag: Le Mans

The need for speed!!!

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.

Night racing.

Night racing.

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.

Night racing

The bike leaves the pits after a night time pit stop.

Night time pit stop.