Back in March I headed up to the forests of Cumbria for the 47th Malcolm Wilson Rally, it would be a short visit with the rally taking on two stages on Friday evening and five on Saturday.
The Friday evening stage would be a trial by fire for my friend that was experiencing forests rallies for the first time, we stuck to the marked spectator area for his first stage giving us a safe place to try to capture the cars in the dark.
This was challenging enough but with the help of a few flashes from other photographers, stage lighting and selecting the best points to capture the cars I was happy enough with what I had managed to capture.
Once the stage has finished it was a short hike back out of the forest in total darkness before heading through the Lake District on some of the sketchiest roads I have ever driven to get parked up for the night and ready for the Saturday stage.
This time we decided to walk into the stage a fair way finding a spot with the help of the marshals that would give us plenty of different shots without having to move around.
A selection of lenses certainly helped make this spot more interesting as I could capture from 50mm unto 300mm as the cars came down the side of the hill opposite, rounded a tight right hander before accelerating past us.
Once they past us the cars stayed on power through a fast right hander, dipping wheels off the road and kicking up the grass verge before slowing into a tight left with a ditch on the inside to hook the wheels into. Going wide here wasn’t an option as a large drop on the other side would find anyone that pushed too hard through here, luckily that didn’t happen!
It was a great rally, cheap to spectate, a huge mix of cars and friendly marshals to help guide you on where is safe to stand. If you haven’t attended a forest rally, you really should! It’s easier than you think and you will always find someone to help guide you around the stage.
This will be my last rally for a few months as it’s time to kick off the motorsport season so my focus shifts to circuits until late Autumn.
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