2010 plans now settling into place

The new 2010 Yellow Pages directory will be out soon, anticipated for February 2010, when my new advert (see above) will appear for the first time.

With the plans in place 2010 promises to be a good year, and once the racing season calendar has been settled, you are likely to find me setting-up shop on spare days, either at The Range near North Bridge in Doncaster, and/are at the Lakeside Outlet on the outskirts of Doncaster close to the M18.

Do not be afraid to call in for a chat, or to even view what is on offer. With the latest digital wedding albums that few people in the area can probably match for the cost, together with canvas prints, exclusive limited edition prints, and images 'burnt' into wood, courtesy of my networked colleague James Scatchard of Photo-Etch, most people should find something different that might tickle their taste buds.

PF International test with Jon Lancaster

It seems like a long break over the winter months, with the recent heavy snow having an effect on events nationwide, but it was satisfying to be able to get to PF International this weekend, as part of the Jon Lancaster family team.

Jon's 2010 season should be settled early next week as he puts in place exciting plans for this year, with potentially Formula 1 just on the horizon. And nothing could be more befitting than Jon, who ain't so 'little' anymore, when bearing in mind his race-winning seasons in Renault World Series 3.5 (2009), European Formula 3 (2008), and European Formula Renault (2007), which of course followed his highly successful final year in karting in 2006 as the Vice World Champion.

Jon has retained close links with Ronnie Sala at Birel, one of the leading karting marques of the 21st century, and as a means of keeping Jon's eye sharp in preparation for his 2010 season in Europe, Ronnie, along with his former karting engine man Fred and GKS Lemmens, had provided a brand new chassis and engine for the PF International test.

A full report will appear on http://www.jonlancasterracing.com/, but needless to say, Jonny Boy had an exciting time back on the karting season after almost a four year absence.

End of season - final round

The final round of the Warden Law Thunderkart series took place a the weekend, where Hayden-Media driver James just missed out on a top 3 placing in the championship, despite missing three of the 10 rounds held. The above image shows James ahead of circuit boss Ian Lawson.

Only three drivers out of the 49 who at some stage took part in the championship competed in all 10 rounds, and with the bonus points on offer for doing so, in what had been a tightly contested series, those three finished in the top 3 places.

Craig Brock had enjoyed a reasonably consistent year to emerge as overall champion, after steadily overhauling Daniel Laws later in the year, after Daniel, gracious in defeat, had suffered a few more troubles than Craig had perhaps done in some of the finals. Tony Little had been there or there abouts in the early stages, but a poorer second half of the season compared to what he had enjoyed at the start, left him 3rd overall.

James was therefore joint 4th with Marino Pili whom he had outscored during the last few races, with Tony's 10-point bonus giving him that championship 3rd place by just two points. James though, despite not being able to drop any low scores as he had not entered enough races, was left rueing the 8-point penalty that had been unjustly meted out back in April. A top 3 had been his aim by the end of the year - it had been a narrow miss for him!

Anthony Davidson - Formula 1 driver in waiting

Black and white images can be quite striking , especially with the predominance of colour as part of current thinking, but in the right place, and with the right subject, they can grab attention.

Whilst one of the great modern day injustices is played out, with the supremely talented Anthony Davidson still waiting on the side-lines of Formula 1, whilst lesser individuals are short-listed for a 2010 drive by short-sighted team bosses, I will do all I can to promote Anthony to the masses.

Wearing my Karting Magazine race-suit, and driving the Hayden family ex-Stuart Smith 1995 Super 1 British Championship winning TKM kart, Ant showed that he had not lost any of his karting skills when he tested for 'us' at PF International in 2009.

I have a draft book of Ant's life story in waiting, with currently over 300 pages presently written covering his racing life since he was 15-years of age, and containing facts and figures that no one else is even aware of, let alone able to publish, and of course with exclusive photographs...

Formula 1 in 2010, with a good drive naturally, would raise his public profile to make publishing the book in 2010 a distinct possibility..? Then again I might just try to self-publish it anyway, because it would make a great life story of a families struggle and achievement, with an exclusive short-run supply? If it happens... watch this space!

Jon Lancaster - Rising Star

It is easy to forget sometimes just what photographs one has, but whilst glancing few some files this morning I came across this one of Jon, with me, which was taken in the pits at Donington in November 2007.

Andrew (my brother) and I have been with Jon for almost 10-years now, maintaining his web-site (www.jonlancasterracing.com) from his early karting days, through to his current exploits, where he is at the moment out at Paul Ricard in France testing in GP2, a formula that is just one short step away from Formula 1.

In just three short seasons since his final European karting year in 2006 with Birel, Jon has been a winner in Formula Renault (2007), Formula 3 (2008), and Formula 3.5 World Series by Renault (2009) - all told an astonishingly remarkable achievement.

Roll on 2010...

Ken and me...

One of the highlights from the recent Monaco Cup kart race, was being able to help out 'ace' commentator Ken Walker, (whom I first met in Egypt at the Rotax World Finals, which were held at Sharm-el-Sheikh in 2004), in the Commentary Box.

Ken needs no introduction to motor sport aficionados, and is one of the most complimentary, nicest, and helpful of people a photo/journalist on his travels can hope to meet.

At Monaco we had a lot of fun as I tried to keep up with Ken's commentary, watching the timing screens and on-track action using the TV monitor, hoping I could offer some extra bits of news that he could pass on to the spectating masses along the side of the famous street track.

Monaco is an awesome place and is worth a visit just for the experience. And with three visits in 13-months I must now be something of an expert anyway..! In terms of overnight costs, the Hotel Ambassador must take some beating, being within a 7-minute walking distance of the start/finish line, but perhaps more importantly, being a fraction of the cost of the nearby Marriott.

The image above shows Carlos Sainz Jnr taking a curious peek to his right, son of the famous World Rally Champion, and who was competing in the Formula KF3 final just a few minutes after this photograph was taken. A highly talented young racer with a potentially great future ahead of him, Carlos Jnr won the final with absolute ease... Most definitely a name to watch for the future.

British victory

The British outfit Kartograph won the six hour endurance in Monaco on Sunday, after a sterling effort at a time when penalties were being delivered like confetti at a wedding! Kartograph avoided problems, drove with style, and with reliability on their side, it was a worthy and winning performance.

Piquet Sport took 2nd place, picking up a number of 'stop-go' penalties on the way, but in all honesty were lucky to have the second step on the podium. On one of the pit-stops to serve a penalty, they not only re-fuelled and changed drivers, but failed to correctly heed a 'stop-go' at the same time, with Piquet staying only momentarily in the penalty box. A penalty should be served separately, and last a lot longer than a few seconds.

This was important for Dean Hawkey's team, who pulled back an amazing 9 laps after a disaster in the first of the three two-hour races, when the engine would not start after a driver change. Had Piquet Sport won and Team Hawkey been 2nd a protest would have been lodged, but as it was 'only' for 2nd place, the British team settled for 3rd place overall.

French racer Adrien Tambay, racing with Jules Bianchi, had an amazing escape earlier in the race, following a big shunt in the swimming pool complex when he hit the barriers very hard indeed. Fortunately he was thrown from his kart, which on this occasion was the better option than staying with his bent machine. Pale he might have been, but like a trooper he was back out on the track later in the race.