2014 Le Mans – Part Two of My Motorsport Photography Year

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the pinnacle of sports car endurance racing. Everything about this race is amazing, from the large field of cars that participate (55 cars in 2014), length of the race (about 3000 miles after 24 hours), size of the track (about 8.5 miles), and the huge number of spectators that attend (263,000 in 2014). Of course their is the incredible technology in the LMP1 cars from Audi, Porsche, and Toyota. Who could have imagined when Le Mans first started 82 years ago, that we now have turbo-electric-kinetic-energy-recovery-hybrid-all-wheel-drive-carbon-fiber-bodywork cars that are highly efficient and have the endurance and speed to “race” for 24 hours. From a photographers point of view, Le Mans must be experienced, since you have the opportunity to photograph the cars under different lighting, weather, and terrain conditions. You also have plenty of time to “get the shot” and many opportunities to get a variety of photos from the “spectator side of the fence” as shown in this photo story.  Since Le Mans is a special race, I’ve dedicated part two of my motorsport photography year to cover round three of the World Endurance Championship (WEC). Hope you like the photos.

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2014 Le Mans – Race Day on Sunday (June 15)

Slept on the tour bus overnight and managed to get about 5 hours sleep. The rising sun woke me up around 5.30 am. By the time I got myself together it was around 6.00 am, and had some snack bars and water for “breakfast”, then headed over to the Esses for early morning shots. Hope you like the photos. Continue reading “2014 Le Mans – Race Day on Sunday (June 15)”

2014 Le Mans – Friday Pit Walk (June 13)

For the Friday Pit Walk, the Select Motor Tours bus picked us up around 9.30 am from La Ferte Bernard. Race car fans from all over the world were on the bus, including from my home country Australia. Also, met the president of the Mark Webber Fan Club. About 45 minutes later we arrived at Le Mans and the bus parked in the coach parking area near the main entrance to the track. We had until 3.30 pm for the Pit Walk, then the bus would take us to the Le Mans city center for the Drivers Parade, then back to the hotel around 9 pm. Hope you like the photos. Continue reading “2014 Le Mans – Friday Pit Walk (June 13)”

2014 Le Mans – Wednesday Night Qualifying (June 11)

The Free Practice session finished at 8.00 pm, and decided to stay at the Porsche Curves for the night time qualifying session. In the meantime, got something to eat and drink from the UK Tours food stand, and watched the Porsche Cup cars. The qualifying session started at 10.00 pm and finished at 12.00 midnight, so got some shots of the cars speeding around this corner into the night. Hope you like the photos. Continue reading “2014 Le Mans – Wednesday Night Qualifying (June 11)”

2014 Le Mans – Part Two of Wednesday Free Practice (June 11)

After photographing some of the free practice session at the “S” Ford Curves from Stand 23, took a ride on the Ferris Wheel to get some elevated shots of the track, then took the long walk over to the Porsche Curves. Hope you like the photos. Continue reading “2014 Le Mans – Part Two of Wednesday Free Practice (June 11)”

2014 Le Mans – Part One of Wednesday Free Practice (June 11)

For the Wednesday afternoon free practice session (4 to 8 pm), the plan was to get shots of the cars going up the Dunlop Courbes (from Stand 12) and through the “S” Ford Curves (from Stands 22 and 23), since spectators have free access to the stands on Wednesday (and Thursday), which allowed for shots over the fence. Along the walk from Stands 12 to 23, would get shots through the fence in the Virage du Raccordement area. After shooting from Stand 23, would then get some shots from the Ferris wheel, then walk down to the Porsche Curves for evening shots. Hope you like the photos. Continue reading “2014 Le Mans – Part One of Wednesday Free Practice (June 11)”

2014 Le Mans – Getting to the track, some tips, and front straight (June 11)

The last month has been very busy with two motorsport events back-to-back. Have a couple of weeks off before the next event, so thought it would be a good time to look back and post some stories on my Le Mans adventure. Hope you like the photos from the “spectator” side of the fence. Continue reading “2014 Le Mans – Getting to the track, some tips, and front straight (June 11)”