MotoGP - 2011 Season In Pictures - AutoMotoPhoto

Happy New Year!

I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who views my blog, follows my ramblings on Twitter @automotophoto  or is a "Liker" on my Facebook page at "Andrew Wheeler-AutoMotoPhoto"...

2011 MOTOGP SEASON AUTOMOTOPHOTO REVIEW - Images by Andrew Wheeler | AutoMotoPhoto

I was going to go on and on about Valencia, the last round of the 2011 season but have since decided that the best way to summarize the year would be to put together the mother of all slideshows. Starting with round 1 in Qatar and ending up with the  final round 18 in Valencia.  You'll see a selection of images from each round that I covered (14/18) that hopefully will tell a story.  Maybe it's more like a novel.  It should hopefully keep you going until at least the season opener at the beginning of April!

If you wish to view the slideshow full screen simply click on the little "expand" button that sits next to "Share" and of couse, should you wish to share feel free to do so. I will let the slide show tell the story as for me, it was a wonderful year tinged with sadness.  2012 hasn't started off in the best of ways, but we'll see what happens and there will be updates as we go forward.

Casey Stoner - World Champion

Casey Stoner atop his motorcycle in parc ferme after winning the race, and the World Championship

A quick update from last weekends MotoGP Round 16 at Phillip Island in Australia..and a simple update at that...with nothing more to say...Casey Stoner really put his stamp on the season and pulled off the race win, the championship and it was his birthday to boot...not bad going I guess.

The trip to Phillip Island was, as it always is, a lot of fun.  I know some wonderful people who visit the island over the race weekend that it almost feel like a family gathering.  So thank you to all who made my visit most enjoyable. Also a big thank you again to those who attended my first seminar and to Paul Stafford of Spice Island for being able to host it.

Images from Phillip Island and previous rounds are online in my AutoMotoPhoto MotoGP Photography searchable archive.

Next up, images and tales from Malaysia....where I am penning this update.

Fontana - From Orange Cones to White Snow Capped Mountains

It's rare, but when you see it, or "them", to some degree they offsets the relative "industrial" feel of Fontana. The Speedway is built on the land once occupied by the Kaiser Steel Works. Thus, it is flat, surrounded by heavy industry and truck stops. Fontana is not Yosemite. It doesn't have the organic and natural ambiance of a racetrack such as Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham in Alabama. But, when the wind has some force behind it (which it did on Tuesday) and it's cold, and following the recent storms and the cool weather that caused snow to drop sometimes below 1500 feet, the San Gabriel Mountains that overshadow the entire valley can add a little moment of beauty. But hold onto that mental snapshot, because in a few months, the smog will make sure they hide for the rest of the year. Here's a shot of our man Neil Hodgson, surrounded by billboards, wire fencing, oranage cones and over shadowed by the snow capped mountains reminding us that nature is still here....More to come..must edit and do some puppy training...

100+17= Hodgson plus Duhamel

Just a short update. Did I mention that I am really looking forward to this season? Both Hodgson and Duhamel are  back.  Miguel Duhamel is fit and ready after his nasty accident during testing at Road Atlanta last year. Neil  Hodgson looks relaxed, focussed and ready to get underway.  Funnily enough, Duhamel looks just as he did when I last saw him (he obviously knows where the fountain of eternal life is located...)...That's all for now.