I like those, Mike - especially the Cobra.

I was there on Monday, but the 100-300 appears to have been playing up and almost every shot was horribly soft. I won't be posting an album!

Thanks, all.

The speed element involved a bit of cheating - all except the grid girl were taken on Friday or Saturday. Drove away from the track just after six on Sunday evening, reached north-west Kent just before 11, am about to judge the weekly Pentax comp and will be en route to Oulton Park by about 4.30am, for a day of historic racing.

Just another straightforward weekend...

While I'm waiting for the traffic to subside (fat chance)...


1 - Kimi Räikkönen leads Sergio Pérez (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


2 - Alexander Rossi prepares not to make his F1 race debut with Marussia (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


3 - The winner set against Spa's full majesty (K-5, DA 17-70mm f4)


4 - (K-5, Sigma 50-150mm)


5 - "Keep the bloody noise down..." (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


6 - It wouldn't have been Spa without some of this (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


7 - Controversy-free moment for Lewis Hamilton (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


8 - Nico Hülkenberg crests Raidillon (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


9 - Rare shot of Pastor Maldonado not hitting something. The snappers are probably taking a shot similar to #7 or #8. None of them is using a Pentax, I'm afraid (K-5, DA 17-70mm f4)

Nice to see you back in the fold, Andrew - I'm not sure the Red Bull RB10 changes direction quite that quickly.

Probably time you organised another day out in the Peak District, I reckon...

Thanks, all.

Paul, one of the reasons car racing stopped in the early 1980s is that it became unsustainable, not least because errant drivers kept damaging Grand National fences and leaving organising clubs with sizeable bills.

Nowadays, I understand that motor racing's governing body - the MSA - won't license the final corner, Club, for car use. I'm not wholly sure of the reason - it might be related to the proximity of a public road.

All up to the customary Storm standard, but like others I feel #2 has a little added zip.

I should probably look at a map occasionally before I go zig-zagging between racetracks. I'm sure I'm forever bypassing gorgeous scenery without knowing it's there...

One of only four circuits to have staged a Formula One world championship race in the UK (five times in fact, between 1955 and 1962), Aintree's motorsport significance is all too often forgotten. The full grand prix circuit last hosted a race meeting in 1964 (although it remains largely intact) and the shorter club track hasn't hosted any car racing since 1982, partly because strays kept damaging fences on the adjacent Grand National course. Motorcycle racing has continued uninterrupted since the venue first opened in 1954, however, and continues to this day (five meetings per annum, the next - 2014's finale - being on September 20). I'd last covered an event there in 1982, shortly before car racing was banished, so yesterday it was time to rewind the clock...


1 - The circuit infield used to feature little but wasteland. Peer beyond that mound, though, and you'll find a carefully manicured golf course (K-5 IIs, Sigma 50-150mm f2.8, 1/100)


2 - Sidecar union primed for action (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


3 - Sidecar union in action ((K-5 IIs, Sigma 50-150mm f2.8, 1/200)


4 - Included for reasons of historical curiosity, rather than artistic content: this strip of asphalt was once known as the Sefton Straight, part of the circuit graced by such as Fangio, Clark, Moss and Brabham. Nowadays, it features an ice cream van and a chip kiosk (K-5 IIs, Sigma 50-150mm f2.8, 1/5000!)


5 - Grand National stands add a little context (K-5, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


6 - In the past you could see warehouses and industrial cranes over the top of the far bank. Now, there's a trim housing development. The Grand National rails used to be left in place during car and bike meetings, but no longer (K-5 IIs, Sigma 50-150mm f2.8, 1/160)


7 - First-lap scrum (K-5, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


8 - I can always pretend it's still 1982 (K-5 IIs, Sigma 50-150mm f2.8, hugely fast shutter speed)

Yet more photos of something other than motorsport, shock... A few snaps from earlier this week at Planet Whipsnade.


1 - The lesser-known green-and-brown bear (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4, DA 1.4 TC)


2 - Back to plain brown (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4, DA 1.4 TC)


3 - Bored boar (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4, DA 1.4 TC)


4 - Pretty flamingo? Not particularly... (K-5, Sigma 100-300mm f4, DA 1.4 TC - K-5 IIs had temporarily stopped working)


5 - Greensleeves (K-5, Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro)


6 - This penguin was nudged into the pool by one of the others... and they all then stood around watching it try to get out - and in some cases wilfully obstructing it. It eventually escaped by swimming to the far bank, where egress was simpler. Not sure whether this counts as pelagic humour... or possibly straightforward bullying (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4, DA 1.4 TC)


7 Ring-tailed intensity (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4, DA 1.4 TC)

I've been lucky to work at racetracks on six continents - and Antarctica is unlikely to host a grand prix any time soon - but until last weekend Croft was one of two UK mainland circuits I had still to visit. I thought my chance had gone when it closed late in 1981 (I was a university student at the time, and didn't own a car), but it reopened in 1994 and it has still taken me 20 years to get there. Better later than never, I guess. This fresh conquest just leaves Pembrey, in South Wales...


1 - A pity there are no Triumph Spitfires in the foreground, for the eagle-eyed might spot a Supermarine version lurking in the background (K-5, DA 17-70mm f4)


2 - You go to all this trouble exhibiting your car control in a 1958 Ford Anglia... and the local marshal can't even be bothered to watch (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


3 - Study in concentration (K-5, Sigma 50-150mm f2.8 at 1/250)


4 - Understeer as an art form. The chasing Mini driver is AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


5 - Lotus Seven plus optimism equals... (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


6 - Elan driven with élan (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


7 - Anybody spot a changing weather pattern? (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


8 - Changing weather pattern confirmed. Within a lap, two Minis vanquished the Cortinas and Mustangs then ran away to finish first and second, several millennia clear of rivals (K-5 IIs, Sigma 100-300mm f4)


9 - Do I really have to go out in this? (K-5, DA 17-70mm f4)

Some nice details there, Paul. I know it can be hard to get clean action shots from behind the debris fencing at Silverstone - other UK circuits are better in this respect - but at least the Classic allows decent access to cars and drivers.

I'm also interested to note your use of a Sigma 100-300mm f4, my lens of choice for pretty much everything nowadays: it means there were two Pentax-fit examples being used in the same place on the same weekend, which is probably some kind of record...