#100 Neil Hodgson...Thank You for the memories

#100

During my tenure shooting and covering the AMA Superbike series I was fortunate enough to be involved. For me, it was truly international. It had many fans both here in the USA and abroad. Race tracks were full of fans, really full. The racers were all characters, good (Ben Spies) and bad (Matt Mladin) guys, and then some other crazy characters. It was a great time to be a photographer and in simplicity just being there. One person during those AMA days that truly made it me for was Neil Hodgson. Who announced his retirement today following another accident in the UK which re-injured an old injury caused during some down time here in the US. I always enjoyed covering Neil, mainly for Motorcycle Racer in the UK and for that I am grateful to have been a part of his journey here. I was always thrilled to meetup with Neil and the Ducati gang, and then the Honda gang during a race weekend. Neil's sense of humour, with and courtesy were always countered by his stylish and aggressive riding on track. A joy to chat with and a thrill to photograph. Thank you and good luck Neil!

Beer, Wine, Racing and Good Company

Sorry for the delay in the updating. I guess the price of fame has it's downside (there goes that British self deprecating humour again...) and I think it's my mind. There's nothing worse than getting to your hotel after an awkward 120 mile from the Central Coast, only to find that early onset of senility has set in and in fact you booked your hotel for the same weekend that you were at Fontana. "No really" I said to Sarah on the front desk, I have the confirmation here (after running out to the parking lot to get my laptop), only to be shot down in flames when my wife pointed out that indeed Mr Organised here had booked this hotel for the same weekend as Fontana. Oh well.

Anyways, this weekend was a lot of fun, in part because my wife comes with me on this trip and this time I even gave her a camera (a 1DMK2N and 70-200f2.8) and after some brief instruction just said take some pictures of what you see, have fun. She did and this was one of her shots. I think it's pretty impressive for a first time out, even with the hay bales!Infineon is always a good weekend. The vibe within the media centre is good. John Cardinale, Diana and Chuckie the Chief Track Photographer work hard to make sure everyone can do their job, so thank you. What no one was prepared for was the heat on Friday. Oh my, the week before all of us were being mildly roasted and blow dried in Fontana. Friday, in Sonoma, we were being broiled. On Saturday, following the Superbike race, Mat Mladin actually said what many folks had been thinking about the possible outcome of next year, to which many folks clapped and whooped, but so much has been said elsewhere I don't need to re-iterate. Sunday arrives, and everything, and everyone is a lot cooler (including Mat...).One thing I would like to say is a big congratulations to Danny Eslick,who came in third during Sunday's Supersport race. Nice work mate. We'll see everyone in Utah. World Superbike and the AMA Superbike series are coming together. It's going to be a very busy weekend.

Ridiculous To The Sublime - Fontana to Monza

I'll be updating my site and this blog with some imagery from the AMA Superbike races at the California Speedway in Fontana in due course and if I have time I'll post an image or two from last weekends sojourn to the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay where I covered the Legends of the Motorcycle event. In the meantime, I'm kinda thrilled to have found out that the rider aboard #60, Michael Beck....... will be substituting for injured rider David Checa (brother of former MotoGP and current WSBK rider Carlos Checa) and riding a Yamaha R1 in this weekends World Superbike race at Monza, Italy, for the French GMT94i Racing Team.

All I want to add is safe travels and good luck to you Michael!