Great work, George - your customary blend of action and scene-setting. I've taken shots from the same angle as number 14, but usually the background is but an empty meadow. The packed car park makes the whole thing much more dynamic.

The raised platforms are mostly for TV cameras, Mike. Photographers are generally at ground level or shooting panoramas from sponsors' hotel balconies (not an angle to which I've ever had access). There are a few lens holes in the fences, though some of these are also for TV and you have to shoot over the camera operator's shoulder...

Some very nice shots there, Joe, but I'm most drawn to the second image, Three flowers. Lovely composition and processing.

Glad you enjoyed it, Mike. Monaco has the slowest average lap speed of the F1 season, but from trackside it looks like the fastest, because proximity embellishes the impression of speed.

I do sympathise about the fences - and realise how fortunate I am to be able to access some of the locations I get to.

There are very few F1 venues that allow spectators a wire-free view - there are a couple of grandstands in Barcelona that do the trick, likewise at Silverstone, but there aren't many.

This is a shot I took (Spotmatic, Takumar 250mm, probably Tri-X) at my first Grand Prix, standing on the bank at Club Corner, Silverstone, in 1977: Rupert Keegan leads rookie Gilles Villeneuve. There was absolutely no debris fencing back then (nor much of a crowd on a practice day), but when I returned two years later there was chicken wire everywhere. This Sunday I'm planning to attend the VSCC meeting at Cadwell Park, which is one of the finest UK venues in terms of clear photo access from the spectator areas. I thoroughly recommend it.

I was in Scotland on Friday, so Plan A was to stop at Oulton Park and capture some motorcycle racing during the return leg. Mrs A wasn't too keen on that, for reasons science is powerless to explain, so I set co-ordinates for home and went instead to Brands Hatch. As you do.


1 - Digital Camaro (K-3, Tamron 17-50, 1/250)


2 - Year of the cats (K-5 IIs, DA300)


3 - "Bollocks..." (K-5 IIs, Tamron 70-200)


4 - Sky sports (K-3, Sigma 10-20)


5 - British Racing Green (K-3, DA300)


6 - British Racin g Lime (K-3, Tamron 17-50)


7 - Sunbeam rapier (K-5 IIs, Tamron 70-200)


8 - The Ford Capri, still a great invention (K-5 IIs, Tamron 70-200)


9 - The race programme claims we're n 2015, but I'm not so sure... (K-5 IIs, Tamron 70-200)

Completing a slightly unexpected weekend triptych - Barcelona, Nürburgring, Indianapolis - I received an unexpected invitation to attend the Indy 500. I've worked at the venue before, when it hosted the United States GP from 2000-2007, but have never previously attended the 500. A fantastic privilege, then, although I didn't have full media access and obtaining decent action shots was tricky. Here, though, are a few snaps...


1 - Winner Juan Pablo Montoya crosses the famous yard of bricks that constitues the finishing line. Unfortunately, I missed the chequered flag shot on the final lap - attempted an upright but captured only half the car. Tricky at 240mph, so I should probably have gone against my instincts and used the machine-gun technique (K-5 IIs, Tamron 70-200)


2 - Detail from static 1960s Lotus (K-5 IIs, 70-200)


3 - How Indy looked before Lotus reinvented the wheel in 1963 (K-5 IIs, 70-200)


4 - Things you don't see in the merchandising area at UK circuits... (K-3, Tamron 17-50)


5 - 1914 French GP winning Mercedes, identical to the 1915 Indy 500 winner (K-3, 17-50)


6 - Justin Wilson: born in Sheffield, racing in America (K-5 IIs, 70-200)


7 - Where are we again? (K-5 IIs, 70-200)


8 - Fully absorbed with 30 laps remaining (K-5 IIs, 70-200)


9 - That winning feeling (K-5 IIs, 70-200)

This is an absolutely wonderful event - and only about four hours from Calais. Getting around the 15.5 mile circuit is not the work of a moment, so I could have done with arriving a day or two earlier to seek out more atmosphere shots. It would also have helped if I'd been able to squeeze my bicycle in the car, but no amount of metallic origami seemed to work...


1 - Before the main event, older cars had their own three-hour enduro on the Friday (K-5 IIs, Tamron 17-50)...


2 - ...and the 189-strong field (yes, really) was quite diverse (K-5 IIs, DA300)


3 - Racing in the real world (K-5 IIs, Tamron 17-50)


4 - Chevy chased (K-5 IIs, DA300)


5 - "It's behind you..." (K-3, DA300)


6 - German fans being German fans (K-3, Tamron 70-200)


7 - A trip into the countryside. The pipework to the top left is the Ring Racer roller coaster, which was supposed to commence operations in 2009 (with F1-style acceleration) but has been plagued by faults and has never been open to the public. As far as I know, there are no immediate plans to fix it (K-3, Tamron 70-200)


8 - WTCC leader José María López explains how it feels to win the first world championship-status event at the Nürburgring Nordschleife for 32 years. I wasn't able to get trackside for the two WTCC races (three laps apiece), because I was busy elsewhere. Next time... (K-3, Tamron 70-200)


9 - To whoever let off those fireworks, Vielen Dank. The sparks are slightly cropped at the top, but it was pure fluke that they happened to erupt while I was tinkering with long exposures - 30 seconds, in this instance (K-5 IIs, Tamron 17-50)

No F1 cars involved this coming weekend, John - I'll be focusing on saloons and GTs, ancient and modern, at the Nürburgring. I'll try to incorporate people and a sense of place, though - I always do, when time and circumstance permit...

Thanks, all, for the kind words. Much appreciated.

On the road again tomorrow in the general direction of more motor racing nonsense. Photos quite likely to follow...

Most of these look great, Simon, and illustrate a particularly fine panning technique.

#3 doesn't quite work for me, possibly because there's a bit too much clutter and no crisp focal point to draw my eye, but I like the idea.

As others have mentioned, I think #6 would be improved by a little more space betwixt car and the frame's lower edge, but it's still a fine shot.

I think the 'still' shots work, too, because they have room to breathe and provide context.

I look forward to seeing more as and when - and also to joining you at Croft later in the season (not sure when, but I'll get there at some stage).