Everyday Wandering

Black and white photography

Northampton Banger World Series

I visited Northampton shaleway over the Easter weekend to watch and photograph the banger World Series with a number of heats, last chance races and a final where the winner gets a spot in the BWS world championship race. The on track action was competitive and destructive with some massive hits. This series is full contact combative racing but my main photographic interest was the hive of activity in the pits and is currently the focus of one of my long term ongoing projects. This was round 4 for the BWS and was not only my first UK short oval meet of the year but my first banger World Series event I have photographed and my first visit to this track, it didn’t disappoint.

The on track action was brutal and a experience I would recommend anyone to witness, but for me the real action and where all the photographic potential is in the pits. Its where all the human behind the scenes involvement is which makes this and any type of racing possible. It’s surprising how people can bring back to life a car that’s basically been turned to scrap after a bruising twelve lap heat for the next rounds and finals. The hive of active, dedication to go race but overall the social and family aspect to the teams make this grass route motorsport very appealing especially when compared to how heavily bloated Formula One currently is.

Photography wise I’m happy with what I came home with especially this been my first visit to Northampton Shaleway . I sometimes find the newness overwhelming at times and it took me a while to find the natural flow of things within the chaos but this is something I have to deal with at any new location. Another note I made when looking at my Lightroom catalog is a lot of the photos were focuses around the Hiab cranes on the back of the flat bed trucks, this was definitely a subject of fascination at the time which I didn’t pick up on and I wishes I took a few more different kinds of images.