Motorcycle racing - Brands Hatch, March 9

My first UK race meeting of the season. All taken with K-5 IIs and - predictably enough - Sigma 100-300mm f4.


1 - "You stick your right arm out..."


2 - "...your right leg in."


3 - diving lesson


4 - rush hour


5 - "Our turn next..."


6 - lean machine


7 - Sheene machine: Freddie, son of Barry, made his competitive UK debut on Kawasaki #77


8 - cloud trouble

Very nice set Simon. I think I may have to snag the next Siggy 100-300mm that becomes available. There's a crispness about these that seemed to be lacking in my Sigma 150-500mm images from the BSB test day.

A cracking and high quality set Simon

A very good set and coverage Simon. Plenty of motion/action going on in there. You have the measure of the kit your using.

One advantage of living in an area where Pentax is not common is that gems come up now and again at silly low prices, hence I own a 100-300Ex. I asked at the time of purchase why it was traded and was informed that the owner shifted to Canon. Even though it was bought through a shop it was priced very low due to only a few Pentax users around here and the dealer didn't want it stuck on the shelf. I can live with that.

Best regards

Nice to see young master Sheene out having a go. Nice work as usual Simon, thanks for sharing

Thanks, all, for the kind words.

I have a 150-500 too, Peter. I took it with me to Brands last Sunday... and left it in the car all day. It's a great lens for the price, and mine is very sharp up to about 470mm, but I seem to use it less and less - mostly because a cropped image from the 100-300 is at least as good as anything from the far end of the longer lens. In any case, the 100-300 is perfectly adequate for most parts of Brands Hatch. Paddock Hill Bend is a bit of a stretch, but the image below was taken there. It's a significant crop, but I consider it acceptable... That's a battle for the lead, by the way: there were seven riders involved at one stage.

Great photos, I especially like the motion in No. 3
Thanks for sharing!

Simon, what class is Freddie Sheene riding?

All fantastic shots, 3 and 4 are my faves.

600 Sportsman Elite, Don.

Thank you, i can now keep an eye on his progress

Superb set Simon.