Jay Howard - Stateside

If all goes to plan the latest interview with Jay will appear in next month's issue of the new look Karting Magazine, as he once again tries hard to put his Indy 500 plans into fruition.  So keep your eyes peeled for the new June 2014 edition.

Jay, with Courtney and Arthur.

For aficionados of the sport Jay will need little introduction, after being the "winningest" kart racer and British kart Champion in the UK, before he had to seek how to progress his career in the USA, when support in his own country for such a sporting star was sadly lacking.

The guy is extremely talented, and perhaps more importantly, especially after all these years in what can be a rather fickle sport, someone I can count on as a friend too.

Enjoy the read.

Staircase of Talent

2014 has started well for many of my racing colleagues from the world of karting, who have progressed nicely up the sporting ladder, to potentially knock on the doors of greatness.

I bumped into Oliver Rowland at the weekend during a visit to PF International in Lincolnshire, where he was helping out the Racing Steps Foundation (RSF) Zip team.  Oliver had just returned from a Formula Renault 3.5 test at Monza in Italy the previous day, where he was preparing for his RSF World Series by Renault debut this year.

It has been a couple of years since we last met (see earlier blog post below from his Monaco 'shifter' race in 2011), and even from his younger Cadet days, Oliver Rowland, like Lewis Hamilton, I have always believed in.  For me he has always been a personable chap, very friendly and approachable,which is a trait that should serve him well as he hopefully moves forward... towards Formula 1?

                                                           Testing at PFI this weekend.
In his earlier days Oliver was the driver to beat, where he was supported by his dad Dave, who is sadly no longer with us.  Dave was a former racing rival to my brothers Andrew and Kieran in 100 National back in the mid-1980's, and he would have been one mighty proud parent to see where his eldest son was in the sport today.

Seeing Oliver again prompted me to dig an image out of the old Cadet archive, taken ironically at PF International, the scene of his latest test this weekend, where he was the proud owner of the prestigious 'GP' plate, which only the best ever win.

                                           Pole position for the Cadet final at PF International

Oliver has been a race winner in every class he has raced in.  I do not anticipate 2014 in WSR being any different - watch this space.

British Grass Kart Champs 2012

If you ever thought 250cc gearbox kart racers on tarmac were a little nuts, then how about the same thing but on grass..?

Imagine that amount of power on a rough surface, with front wheels lifting on acceleration, as the rear wheels plumed dust in the karts wake, and more than a touch of bravery is needed.

Last weekend saw the 5th British Grass Kart Championship at Wisbech, Cambs., where more than half a dozen new champions mounted the top step of the podium.

Providing spectators stayed upwind, especially photographers, good, clean fun can be enjoyed!

Race Debut

The track is Fulbeck in Lincolnshire, and it was possibly the hottest day of the year on one Sunday in June 1984.


The occasional look through the archives brought this pic to light, which took me back just over 28 years to my 'rookie' debut in 100 National, against the likes of several top flight karters of that era, including the 'great man' himself, Paul Fletcher.


The race actually came about courtesy of my two brothers, Andrew and Kieran, who thought it would be a good idea to throw me in the deep end with an early birthday present!  My sole experience up to the Fulbeck race had been just six laps of Lindholme two weeks earlier, which could hardly be considered suitable preparation.  The chassis was a Premier from the late Brian Wilson's stable in Wombwell, and after the regular Parilla TT22 failed to start in the three lap practice, hampering my preparation even further, Andrew mounted his new Parilla TT27 HKA from Brian's son, multiple World Kart Champ, Mike Wilson for the race.


For the 2nd three lap practice the new engine fired up first time of asking, only for one of the regular green plate runners to spin at the chicane on cold tyres, after which he then he hit my right rear wheel as he lost control and pitched my kart into a spin!  Cool... first heat on the cards from grid 30, and with just a couple of flying laps to my name..!  To then finish 10th was considered quite impressive at the time, and from grid 29 in the second heat, I worked my way up to 11th by the flag.  It was hard work though as the vibration was intense.  Andrew then located a chassis fracture, the after effects of the earlier shunt when I was hit at the chicane, so an early retirement ensued.


One week later at Wombwell, Kieran did one lap on the repaired chassis, drove straight back into the pits and pronounced the kart undriveable.  It seems the Fulbeck spin had also bent the axle and my two 'impressive' (sic) heats from the back of the grid had been done on an undriveable kart...  


But then what did I know - six laps at Lindholme and those two laps at Fulbeck before the heats, meant I did not know any better.  I just thought kart racing was that intense... period!


Solid experience though, eh..?

British... and Proud!

It has been one of those years and my Blog has suffered as a result, but the Queen's Jubilee helped to bring everything back into focus... literally!

The weekend was certainly an event to remember, and in spite of the inevitable criticisms from some sections of the media, especially those who barracked the BBC coverage, it was an immense occasion, and one that I certainly enjoyed.

Hopefully my Blog is now back, and with regular updates, as Hayden-Media progresses forward in strength.

Oliver Rowland - 2011 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner

                                        Image copyright www.mikehayden.info.

In an earlier Blog update I wrote about Oliver Rowland, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing ever since he started as a young 8-year old Cadet karter, following some earlier on-track family battles with his dad Dave, who sadly is no longer with us - he would have been one mighty proud parent.  So it gives me pleasure to hear that Oliver picked up the latest McLaren Autosport BRDC 2011 Award last night, in a prize that includes a £100,000 boost to his 2012 season's budget, as well as a McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 test, along with a host of other prizes.

Oliver has had a quick rise to potential stardom since leaving karts (above pic taken at the 2010 Monaco kart cup when we last met), and especially this year when his growing CV was boosted by finishing the 2011 season as the Formula Renault UK runner-up.  It was an effort that the 19-year old found was recognised by the Award judging panel, whom he also had to further impress during the recent track and interview tests, which ultimately led to the presentation of this prestigious Award. 

Oliver has always been a young driver willing to speak, although on this occasion he perhaps had not been expecting to be declared the winner.  "I don't know what to say," he said after hearing the news.  "It's been a difficult year for me. I lost someone very close to me in Martin Hines, who passed away this year.  He's helped me for six or seven years.  I've had lots to learn this year in my first year of Formula Renault.  I have learned a lot and now I'm here.  I just can't believe it."

On his way to winning the McLaren Autosport BRDC Award, Oliver had to better the man who actually took the Formula Renault UK championship ahead of him, Alex Lynn, the talented Tom Blomqvist.

As the latest winner Oliver joins an impressive list of former winners, which to name but a few include 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button, former grand prix winner and ITV commentator David Coulthard, IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti, and Peugeot sports car star (and ex-F1 driver) Anthony Davidson. 

Wedding of the Year 2011

The 'new' Mr & Mrs Hayden were married at the weekend, when Liz and Jonny tied the knot at the lovely Saint Mary Church in Stone, with everyone retiring to the nearby Inn on the Lake afterwards.

With bad weather in the build-up to the weekend, and bad weather afterwards, to say that Saturday was perfect could be an understatement... it could not really have been any better!  Even the DJ during the evening party, offered the comment that he had not been at a wedding reception where he had seen so many people enjoying the occasion.

Naturally yours truly took most of the photographs, with Kat, a family friend also helping out in her own inimitable style, to make sure that photographically, Liz and Jonny would have plenty to choose from for the planned album.

It really was a fantastically enjoyable day for both families and friends.

Lewis - when life was not so frantic!

Looking through archives can reveal photographs that one can forget they had, although it made me smile when I came across this one recently.  The name on the left breast could give the game away, although it is unlikely any motor-sporting fan would not know who this was straight away..?

Believe it or not we were actually in the same race at that year's Autosport NEC event far too many years ago, and I reckon Lewis must have had the better kart, as he was able to pass me quite easily on an impossibly short bit of track - well, that's my story anyway and I'm sticking to it..!  That, and the fact that at the time I probably weighed twice as much, as the former F1 World Champion.

He was of course immensely talented even then, and he always made a point of speaking to me whenever we met, which is going to be a positive bonus in my book.  Since he made it to F1 though access has been anything but easy...

Nyck De Vries

The young chap in the middle is a Dutch racer called Nyck De Vries, and he is more destined for Formula 1 than Lewis Hamilton ever was, and Lewis' appearance at the highest level was more-or-less guaranteed!  Nyck is the complete driver, not just talented behind the wheel, but he also has a personality to match, and hence becomes a sponsor's dream.


At Zuera in Spain last week in the final round of the WSK European Championship, where Nyck sealed the title, he was knocked from pillar to post, as he was used for a bit of target practice.  He dropped down the running order, and yet by the time the chequered flag came out, he was back at the front and easing away for a very worthy victory.  And yet he did not waste too much time by unduly criticising his rivals:


"Karting is a great racing school that teaches you fair play," he said after the race.  "But you do not become a champion by pushing your opponents.  I wanted to absolutely conquer the title on my last year in karting, and now it's a 'done deal'!  Our performances have been excellent and constant throughout the four WSK rounds.  Now I want to prepare at best for the last meetings of the World KF1 Championship".  


A 'done deal' indeed - especially when not forgetting that Nyck De Vries has already been signed by the McLaren Formula 1 team for their driver development programme... and by being on a similar programme with a rival F1 team at Red Bull, it did not do a certain Sebastien Vettel any harm, did it..?  Young driver programmes are the way forward for young kart racers and Nyck is certainly on the ideal path to benefit from his link with McLaren-Mercedes


A most deserving young champion and one worth watching out for in the future.  Just do not waste any time trying to get decent odds at a bookmakers though - it seems they have cottoned on to the likely potential of this talented racer already!

Glan-Y-Gors Super One (North Wales)

The demanding picturesque track of Glan-Y-Gors in North Wales, sited between Corwen and Betwys-Coed on the A5, played host to round 4 of the British S1 Championship this weekend, where the track drowned under a deluge in the (allegedly) drought ridden country!

Under immensely difficult conditions, where their Formula 1 'big brothers' were suffering from the same weather conditions at more or less the same moment in Montreal, some skilful driving displays were delivered for the bedraggled crowd.

Racing Steps Foundation driver Ben Barnicoat drove exceptionally well in the prestigious KF3 class, whilst his efforts in the final (see image above) clearly showed the effort he was putting into his performance.  Towards the last few laps he was pushed hard George Russell, forcing Ben to rise to the challenge. "I knew I had to get everything perfect on the last lap to pull a tiny margin," he said afterwards, "so I could take the win... and that is exactly what I did!"

Photograph Copyright

Photograph Copyright.

As a professional photographer with an Internet presence, I frequently come across examples of my work being copied without permission.  Although this can be frustrating, it has not yet caused me too many sleepless nights, even though theoretically speaking, when bearing in mind that photography is my business, and I take photograph’s to generate an income to live on, I am actually losing money by allowing such unauthorised reproductions of my copyright work.  Or worse still with no reference being made as to who the image author was.  But then I am an easy going sort of bloke... up to a point.

It is increasingly evident that their is a general misunderstanding regarding photography copyright, most of which is due to vague personal interpretations of copyright law, and particularly in the modern age, how copyright of photographs applies to the Internet.  Generally speaking having a copyright allows the author of a photograph, (in other words the person who took it, which for these terms of reference will be yours truly), to retain control over when and how any image is copied, transmitted, duplicated, and/or reproduced, for any purpose.  

Concerns with photographic usage, and copyright transgressions, have without doubt become more commonplace following the increase in popularity of digital cameras, camera equipped mobile telephones, and of course usage on the Internet.  It means that large numbers of people now have the freedom to take and share images, and on the whole some might even argue this is not necessarily a negative point, but....  It is now far too easy to copy or post a copied image somewhere on the Internet, without copyright clearance from the author, and image duplication on Facebook is a prime example of this potentially unauthorised usage.

Some people, even those aware of copyright issues, might even think that if an author has placed an image into the public domain, then no copyright violation is taking place if it is copied.  How simple life would be if this was true.  One pro-photographer recently found that an item of his work had not only been copied (hardly good news to start with), but was being sold as a limited edition print by A N Other (very bad news indeed, especially for the transgressor, who theoretically could end up with a limitless fine if sued, which doubtless he was!). 

If an author’s photographs are being copied or reproduced on the Internet (or anywhere else for that matter) without permission, then depending on the circumstances and the goodwill of the copyright owner, the ‘copier could simply end up with a letter of warning, should the author wished to go that far, pointing out that copyright has been infringed and to remove the offending image immediately.  For most people this course of action would normally be sufficient.  Court action would usually only need to be considered if the person responsible for reproducing the image chose to ignore the warning, or more importantly was enjoying financial gain from the use of the image.  It could end up being an expensive mistake.

It has often been heard said, erroneously, that unless the image is labelled in some way with the author’s name and an official © style copyright notice, then copyright no longer applies.  This again is simply not true and has been the case in the vast majority of countries for over 20 years.  The original author retains copyright regardless, and these rights are still retained even if the image did not have a © or similar label stating this.  If someone is intending to use someone else’s photograph, just because it was not tagged or watermarked, it does not mean copyright no longer exists.  The safest way around this is to assume that every image on the Internet is copyrighted, which means steps should be taken to obtain the authors permission, before attempting to reproduce it anywhere else.  

There is also another general misconception where, by copying an author’s images, the person copying the image is providing free advertising for the author.  This too is false.  Some authors of the photograph might be happy to accept this and not take any action, but it is up to them to personally decide if they even want the (free) advertising.  The bottom line is that anyone who wishes to copy an image should (MUST) contact the original author, and obtain permission for the use of an image.  Personally I would always recommend that this is done in writing, if only to avoid any ambiguities on how the chosen image(s) can be used.  

One of the more regular failings is that if an image is found in a public place, such as on Facebook, or in an Internet blog or forum, and then because it has been published into the public domain, people believe they can simply copy the image and reproduce it elsewhere.  It seems many folk either believe, or are aware of but choose to ignore the fact, of how, just because an image is in the public domain, the author has waived copyright.  This is never the case unless it is specifically stated otherwise, such as: “These images are available without copyright for free use”, wherever the image appears.  So unless the author specifically states this then copyright remains in place.

Copyright law is there to protect images and prevent potentially nefarious individual(s) from flouting copyright law, and reproducing an author’s images for their own purposes without payment.  It is also designed to stop those individuals from being landed with a claim for possible substantial sums of money, to compensate the author for potentially ‘lost’ income. 

It is definitely easier to ask the author first before trying to take the law into your own hands.  You might, after all, even receive a surprisingly positive reply.  And for Facebook users in particular, starting by making it clear who the author of the original image was would, for me anyway, be a solid enough starting point!

Royal Wedding

Probably the biggest secret so far of 2011 (not), the marriage of Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton, is now less than a day away, and as my invite to be the Royal Wedding official photographer did not arrive, or more likely it was lost in the post, I wondered just who had got the job in my absence? 

Well, the official photographer for the day is apparently a French chap called Hugo Barnard, who has actually been working with the Royal Family for a number of years.  It seems that Hugo will be using a Hasselblad H4D-50, a 50-million-pixel medium-format DSLR, costing a measly £25,000.  Nice work if you can get it..!  

Seriously though Monsieur Barnard is a photographer with impressive credentials.  Born in 1963, and educated at Harrow, his work has been published in Tatler Magazine since 1993. He has photographed many famous people, and of course, he was the official photographer for the marriage of Camilla Parker Bowles and Prince Charles in 2005.

Unfortunately, at £900 a licence, just to be a stills photographer on the side-lines, I will not be there...

Images from the Royal Wedding can eventually be found within the web-site for the National Archive of Wedding & Social Photography.

Jiggy is Back

James (Jiggy) Gornall, the former British Formula TKM kart champion, BARC Formula Renault champion, and British GT champion, made a successful return to mainstream kart racing this weekend, in the opening round of the 2011 Super One Series at PF International, when he fought from a lowly grid position into a superb runner-up place... until officialdom struck!

Using his new Formula KGP Intrepid/BMB, and operating from racer Benjy Russell's camp, Jiggy recovered from 12th in timed qualifying, to take a solid 2nd place finish in the second final behind the outstanding Mike Simpson, only for problems with the MSA Steward being announced later this evening (Sunday), following a 'late in the race' clash with another driver.

Undoubtedly more news will follow on this story as it develops... as it most surely will!

Strawberry and Cream

Not quite the summer yet, although the early arrival of Strawberry and Cream onto the first podiums of the year in the British Super One Championship, is definitely a good way to start.

With the opening Rotax round taking place at Whilton Mill last weekend, the Sheffield based Strawberry Racing Team delivered an exciting start to the new season, with podium finishes in nearly every final on Sunday afternoon.

http://www.strawberryracing.co.uk/2011_news/1d.htm

With a talented team of young drivers coming through the ranks, 2011 is likely to be a strong season for all concerned on the new Tonykart/Cream comination.

The opening round of the Rotax Super One 2011 National Championship was held this weekend at Whilton Mill, but with heavy rain in the morning, and a leaden overcast sky for most of the day, it stayed bitterly cold throughout the day. When the sun finally burst through the clouds late in the afternoon, it might have lifted the spirits, but it was too little too late.

Speaking with Karting magazine colleague Adam Jones track-side, and then again later with former champ Tristram Oman, the Senior Rotax Max victor, Edward Brand, won the final on his Strawberry Racing Tonykart, despite taking part with a suspected broken arm! It was a remarkable achievement by Brand, because to win any Super One Championship round is a significant achievement on a driver's CV, let alone when carrying such an injury.

My best wishes for a job well done goes out to Mr Brand, who on this performance, must now be one of the favourites to lift the Senior Rotax title in six months time.

BBC2 recently ran an excellent documentary about two of the rising stars of British motor-sport, which can be found on the BBC i-Player:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00zgy75/My_Life_Series_2_Boyracers/

Jake Dennis, the 2010 U-18 World Champion, racing for the RSF (Racing Steps Foundation), and Ben Barnicoat, who spent most of 2010 racing in top flight events as a family funded privateer, but who achieved McLaren Mercedes recognition by seasons end, are names to look out for in the future.

Although rivals last year Jake will be amongst the Senior ranks in 2011, where he will be pitting his skills against multiple champions from across the world, whilst Ben will remain in the Junior ranks. Undoubtedly, both will meet again on-track in the coming years as they progress up the racing ladder.

Both have names that the British public should try to remember, because they are part of the elite British talent who are coming through karting.

SG Petch Abarth Champs (Round 2), Middlesbrough

Round 2 of the SG Petch Abarth Championship took place today at the Tees-side kart track, where James made his first appearance of the year for Karting Magazine and Hayden-Media, in dry and sunny conditions.

It started well with grid 3 after timed qualifying out of an enormous grid of 36 drivers and karts, but as the pack powered into the right-hander at the bottom of the hill on the International circuit, James was hit from behind and spun through 180 degrees. Fortunately the pursuing drivers parted like waves as they avoided contact, leaving James to re-start 36th and last. From that moment on though he 'flew', impressively carving his way from the back to 7th place, to within a few seconds of the fight for 4th position, but perhaps more importantly, setting the fastest race lap in the process!

Up at the sharp end Simon Marshall initially indulged in a tough fight for the lead with Scott McNicholas. Once they got within the back-markers though around mid-distance, it allowed Simon to break clear, leaving Scott to fall back into Craig Brock's clutches, in what was a nose-to-tail finish for 2nd place.

The next round of this impressively supported championship will take place on the first Sunday in April.

Harry's Christening

Today was an enjoyable Sunday when two friends, Joanne and Lee, asked me to take photographs of their son Harry's Christening.

Mixed weather made outdoor pics a little hit and miss, but on the whole everything went well - I got more than enough images to make the family book I am preparing worthwhile for the proud mum and dad.

Harry played his part well although he was not too keen when the holy water gave him a mid-day hair wash!

Tada-san

Sad news seems to have been too much in abundance of late, and so it continues with the news that Tada Takano, an ace Japanese photographer and friend, has died.

I first met Tada-san in 2007 at the World Cup in Suzuka, and then again in 2008, when the above photograph was taken (Tada-san can be seen in the middle with the biggest smile!).

He and his wife Norika looked after me over the weekends of those two races, making travel and eating more acceptable, as they indulged my western ways so far from home.

In 2007 whilst in Race Control I was aware of a 'shadow' over my shoulder when I was mounting my U/C (ultra-compact) 70-300 Sigma lens onto a Canon camera. With the large' dinner-plate' zoom lens mounted on his shoulder, Tada-san grinned and offered the prime words of wisdom: "Ahh, cute!" The embarassment meant I bought a 'proper' Canon lens before I returned one year later, which thankfully earned his approval.

My thoughts are with Norika at this time - he was a good bloke to know well.

Getting what you pay for.

I read an interesting article recently that more or less matched my own thoughts on the costs associated with wedding photography. It made me wonder why us poor wedding photographers even bother to get up in the morning, especially with so many half-wits spending weekends earning untaxed beer money with their own uninsured, unqualified, poor version of wedding photography.

Most folk are likely to have heard about the brides and grooms who have not received their wedding albums, or the job that the so called professional did was so bad, they cried for weeks afterwards. In other words, the photographer wrecked the wedding, and their memories were ruined. But is it a case of you really do get what you paid for?

Some out of work people are quick to see where they can make a fast, undeclared buck on top of their dole money, available from a few weekends work of quick snapping, before hobbling off to Asda for the one-hour wedding prints to be made. These characters, the hardy weekend warriors, might probably even account for more than half of the wedding images taken throughout the week..? Pay cheap – suffer the consequences..?

And yet the real photographers, those who can do the job expected of them, who are tax registered, properly insured, and expect the couple to be like-wise insured, are slowly reducing in numbers as the weekend warriors do their bit to ruin hopes and wishes.

It was with some amusement when a potential customer said they could get a similar level of service from A N Other, including a ‘proper’ digital album, for supposedly half my cost. I suggested she do it, and hopefully she kept smiling afterwards, because I knew it was not possible. But out of curiosity I researched the lady photographer in question. True enough, I found her price, but then there was the small print. This was for a maximum of three hours work (and not just on-site, but from where she lived and return), so on-site left maybe two hours? Additional time was then charged at £100 for each 30 minutes extra, so before you knew it that cheap product had suddenly becoming rather expensive...

If it is going to be done properly a true pro will not rush through with a scatter-gun approach, firing away at will, hoping enough images will be acceptable to make a poor quality album that would cost the picture-taker (I really cannot use the word photographer), less than £50 to make.

Money is not everything, but I believe you really do get what you pay for, which from a real pro photographer, is going to be quality, commitment, a love for the job, and standard of service.

Make sure proper research is done and be wary of dealing on cost alone – it could be a painful experience.