#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!

One last thing. Valentino Rossi and one from me!

I never cease to be amazed...I have had many images used by Yamaha over the last 7 years I have been working in the motorcycle racing world, however, this is the first time an image of Valentino Rossi shot by yours truly has been used...Actually I'm thrilled. More to come in 2010.

Rossi, Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Hayden and Spies. Arabian Knights part two, departure..watch out for the camels..

Weird. The night racing was cool, a lot of fun.However, for me it made me feel like I was being forced to live through real time jet lag. I knew it would be weird, however, for someone who really does have a hard time grasping time and continuum it threw me a wobbly.I had a a great week exploring, going shopping, dealing with the worlds hottest parking lot (in the mall that contained Carrefour) and meeting some really really kind, and courteous, locals. On Thursday we headed to the track early afternoon so that I could pick up my credentials. It is always a thrill to go and pick up my "official pass" as I have never taken any of this for granted. This year however, I do not have to ask for the "vest" at each race. I have been given my own personal bright orange "MotoGP" vest to take to each round as I travel. I am officially photographer 058. Back to Thursday. It's pretty much a day of re-acquaintance, snagging a locker for your gear and making sure you get the desk that'll be your office for the weekend. Thursday afternoon is the 125 and Moto2 team shoot and then we're done.
Friday starts late with the group shot of the MotoGP riders as the sun goes down, then it's kicking tyres for a couple of hours before we get some track action. With the 125's heading out with it just getting dark, we're treated to really nice comfortable working conditions. Moto2 and MotoGP bikes hit the track and then we're done. Time to drive back to Andrew's Arabian Palace and call it a day with a nice can of non alcoholic Moussey..Saturday rolls around and I have already decided that we need to visit the Islamic Museum of Art (image above shot at night). What a trip! If anyone goes to Doha to cover MotoGP you must, I insist must, visit this fantastic museum. Chock full of truly interesting artifacts, books, sculptures and just about everything that takes your breath away. For me, the only sadness I has was the fact that Emily wasn't with me. So much stuff to see and absorb. We could've stayed longer but we had sandwiches and food for later on that night to purchase. So we headed off to the City Centre Mall, and the worlds hottest parking lot and bought food.Did I mention you really have to visit the museum?Saturday was the usual race deal, with of course Casey Stoner snagging pole position, and the usual suspects being up front. Ben Spies managed 11th in qualifying but that would eventually change as the race on Sunday progressed and he'd make up 6 places to finish fifth. Casey would crash out giving Rossi the win. Nicky Hayden did a bang up job to finish fourth battling with Dovizioso who would finish third after the man who likes to hurt himself, Jorge Lorenzo. Ben battled with Pedrosa and passed him up the inside right in front of me at the first corner. Not your usual Qatar race to be honest. So fortunately Casey wasn't hurt by crashing, but it did mean we didn't really have a snore fest race from Qatar with someone running away in the lead. Valentino Rossi ran out of gas on the cool down lap and made a local super happy as he rode his scooter back to parc ferme. I almost got annihilated by Dovizioso's crew as they became crazy dudes over his third place finish...With that, hours of editing took place and we left the media centre as some ungodly hour after 4am. Watching the sky, daybreak happen made me feel sort of panicky. Weird I know, but I had been up since 9am the morning before because I really cannot sleep past 8am and so being awake for over 18 hours (we still had to get back to "The Palace") was making me feel a little freaky. Insomnia freaky.Monday rolled around and so we thought we'd visit "the souq" during the day, have some lunch and wrap up our Arabian adventure....I walked around the souq during it's "siesta time" so most places were closed. I decided to have some lunch. For me it was Couscous Royal, semolina, steamed vegetables, mutton, chicken and merquez sausages. Yummy. Whilst we were sat eating we saw Arabian horse mounted police and a little while after were joined by Gordon Howell of Pole Position Travel for a Turkish coffee. We sat around and had a chinwag before deciding we need to head back to base, finish packing and get ready to leave. As we walked through the souq taking our final photos we were invited to sit with two local Qatari's to have our photo taken. I'm still amazed at the courtesy and kindness I have witnessed during my week here. Needless to say I haven't felt so sad about leaving a destination since leaving Spain, which happens every time I leave Spain...I did mention to my wife Emily how much fun I had in Qatar, to which she answered, we're not living there..but she is coming with me next year!!I simply cannot wait to come back. Contrary to what others said about going to Qatar I found the extra day or two to be helpful (even allowing me the time to replace my power supply for my laptop that decided to go "phht" and give up the ghost!) but it also allowed me to get some sort of feel or insight into the people and culture.I can't wait to catch up with the museum in 2011. Oh and the camels...? Whist we were heading back to our car in the souq, Gordon Howell shouted out "watch out for the camels!!" to which I went yeah yeah.....! Low and behold...Next race for me. MotoGP from Jerez...

Valentino Rossi Limited Edition Helmet Print (No Really)

There are only a handful left. Then that'll be it for this image file.If you have been following this blog and my trails and travels over the last few years you'll know that a print on canvas that I donated to the Riders For Health charity raised $8500 at auction during the Friday morning proceedings at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Rider for Health auction just before the racing events got under way. I have only been advertising the print on my Face Book Fan Page but now want to give those who aren't "fans" (I'll admit I'm not a fan of that phrase - gettit...) a last chance opportunity to own their own copy. Check out the link to the Valentino Rossi Helmet Print.

Now onto Arabian Knights, part two, the race and departure...

Rossi, Spies, Stoner, Lorenzo, Edwards, and Hayden. Arabian Knights part one, arrival.

This is my first trip to Qatar. It won't be my last.It's an odd thing how historically societal feelings can affect one's thoughts of going to a "strange land." I'll be honest I was a little nervous about coming here as all the google satellite maps made it look all dusty and even more mysterious. Then I started reading about the people and the history of Qatar. Having never been to the East this was my first trip to Qatar or anywhere on the Arabian Peninsula. The flight via Emirates was one of the most amazing flights, even in economy, I had ever been on. Don't get me started about how good the food was either.Arriving here late Monday night, another emotional twig being thrown into my mind's spoked wheel, I zipped through immigration where I paid my 100 Rials an received my visitor's visa stamp in my passport. Into baggage claim where someone had neatly paired my two suitcases ready to pick up and go. Through the alcohol detector (odd having ones bags x-rayed upon leaving the terminal...) and off to the Hertz counter. Signed all the forms, and then someone pushed my bag cart to the rental car, helped me load it and then walked me out through the gates. With my GPS all ready to go I found my accommodation in the centre of Doha. Being a little bit bothered that it might smell of smoke, I even brought my own Fabreez! What a twit. The apartment is huge. Two bedrooms, marble floors and 12' ceilings. Super comfortable and clean. (As an aside note to other photographers who have come here and said it's boring, can't wait to get out of here etc etc..hint: stop staying in hotels). The hotel security gurad even help me carry my luggage upstairs. Finally got to bed at 3pm. Next day, we'd go exploring and find a fort.I guess not too many people venture out of the city. It's a two hour drive north of Doha, out in the middle of nowhere and it's called Al-Zubarah. Restored back in 1835 on the remains of the original fort it sits out in the scrubland/desert and is "guarded" by a nice little old guy who lives next door. One Rial and you get the whole place to yourself. In fact, it is simply rather nice being there with the only other sound being the woot of pigeons. About an hour spent there, a brief picnic and it was back to Doha to do some food shopping in Carrefour. For Wednesday I had planned to go local. To keep it simple as later on Wednesday night another photographer would be joining me as my partner in crime at Andrew's Arabian Palace, joining me for the weekend's fun and games at "the races". So the plan was to head of to the Waqif souk, a reminder of Doha's heritage as a trading post and a sort of antique mall, no, not a mall that sells antiques just a place where one can eat, smoke sheesh and have a browse looking at gold and other objects. I had also planned to head to the Islamic Museum. This was not to be. My laptop power brick decided to end it's own life so with less than three hours of battery life. I had to go shopping. After five hours of discovering the back roads of Doha, and meeting even more kind helpful people, I found a store that sells Apple products. Oddly enough on the third floor for of the same huge mall that contained Carrefour. It was now getting dark. Time to get back on the plan and try to restart my day's plan of visiting "The Souk"..The first thing that hits you? The smell. It envelopes you. Coddles you. Wraps it's arms around you and makes you feel like you're being hugged. It's aromatic, erotic and sublime. Sandalwood, cumin, allspice and cinnamon waft around in the warm, slightly humid evening air.This isn't justa tourist spot. This is an actual working market, products such as 20lb bags of basmati and other rices stacked 10 bags high wait for their buyers. Fruit, pulses and other goods are being haggled over, "ten for that you must be mad" runs though my mind! Aware that it was getting later and not having Emily here to share this wonderful experience with, I decide it's time to take some pictures of the Doha skyline at night. After getting back onto the Corniche, the coast road and promenade around the inlet around which Doha is built. Doha had a huge pearl industry until oil was found, and the pearl business died out. Where the Corniche starts and near to the Islamic Museum is a massive Mother of Pearl monument, that pays homage to Doha's past. With that being the last shot of the evening, I switch on "Gladys", plot a route for home and join the crazy, but fun, evening traffic back to base.Did I mentioned I'm here because Ben Spies, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden and those other madmen on their two wheeled machines that will be racing on Sunday at some stupid hour of the day? Oh no I didn't! More to come.

WSBK without Ben Spies? Oh no! Now what?

I never tire of seeing koala bears. There is a reserve that is run by the state not far from where we stay for the week during the races that has a Koala reserve. Since last year the entrance, and visitors centre has been modernised. The walks around the park have been more clearly designated and overall it looks like it has been spruced up considerably. One of the benefits of arriving early for a race weekend and especially during the early part of the week is the lack of other visitors. I have the entire park to myself. Just me, wallabies and sleeping koala's.This time, I'm house sharing with GB and Eric Malherbe at the All Seasons Eco Resort on Phillip Island. From the main road that heads into Cowes on Phillip Island, it looks like someone has simply decided to place a collection of old red roofed galvanised steel sheds into a field. But these self catered 2 or 3 bedroom chalets are modern, comfortable and have everything you need to make your stay comfortable. They do have internet access, but it's pricey. So beware on over using it. In fact it's ridiculously expensive, my only gripe. That said, it's a lovely place to stay. If you wake early anywhere on this Island, make sure to go for a walk as the sun rises. You'll see Ibis (the bird in the above image) and fields of wallaby and rabbits, all moving, running around getting an early start.This is now the second year in a row where I start my racing year "on the Island". This week it is to cover World Superbike and to interview Roger Hayden and Jason DiSalvo, for a feature in the American Racing Magazine, Road RacerX. With Ben Spies moving onto to MotoGP, World Superbike now has two riders flying the flag for the USA. Roger is back on a Kawasaki Superbike in the Superbike class, and Jason is aboard a Triumph 675 triple in the World Supersport class. The interview, along with images will be in the next edition of Road RacerX which should be out in a few weeks. I wish them both the best of luck. I know Roger is under no illusions that he has a tough job ahead of him, but the interview with him was illuminating and entertaining. Jason, has the benefit of being on factory ride, and has Chaz Davies on the same team. Finishing 8th in his first race during the weekend certainly set the tone for the year, and Roger did equally as well by finishing 18th, making up places and getting faster as the weekend continued.Visiting the Yamaha garage was good as always, Maio and the other crew folks were pleased to see me, and likewise I was too. I love this crowd and yet again, Maio (Massimo) Meregalli went out of his way to make sure I had a scooter for the weekend. Even though the first one died and i had to push it back from Siberia! Only to be given a new scooter that did work! But it did feel a little different insofar as there wasn't Ben, Tom, Mary and Woody in the crew. But like everything changes. There were a lot less photographers at this years event vs last year, but the crowds were bigger than last, possibly because there wasn't the horrible fires that were happening at the same time last year. Leon Haslam would win race one, and Carlos Checa would win race two. Eugene Laverty would win the Supersport race.The next time I will be at Phillip Island will be during the MotoGP race that will be during the latter part of the year. This time we will have Ben, Tom, Woody, Mary. But then we'll not have Maio! Oh well. I do love coming to Phillip Island, let's just hope it's a little cheaper and the US Dollar has a little more oomph vs the Australian Dollar...and oh yes, I must organise some sort of internet access as well.Check back soon! Thanks for reading...and don't forget to become a "Fan" of Andrew Wheeler - AutoMotoPhoto on Facebook!

What are Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden doing? Interview with Andrew Wheeler (that's me)

What to do...

It's the off season. Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner are running around in the snow with the new Ducati GP10 as part of Ducati's annual winter romp which can be followed here on RoadRacerX's website . I've just ordered a couple of 1TB hard drives for the "big machine" at home and am currently planning my 2010 as I will be covering just MotoGP. With Moto2 as the new class, MotoGP looks like it's going to be exciting.

I know I posted this waaaay back in July, but seeing as some new people have discovered my work, I thought i may be appropriate to re-visit this wonderful video that those kind folks at OTT - On The Throttle put together.It can be run full screen by clicking on the little "icon" to the left of the volume adjustment on the status bar. Okay, I'm off to find something else to write about. Meanwhile, why not become a fan and join others on my Facebook Fan page.

Oh, and it's been a whiles since I shared a photo of our German Shepherd, Thor

Photos Of The Year. RoadRacerX and Haga. Spies, Lorenzo, Stoner

A few published favourites from this year. By no means everything of course.

For the second time in the five years RoadRacerX magazine has been running this annual feature, one of my images from 2009 has been used as their opening spread for their Photos Of The Year. It is a shot of Ducati rider Noriyuki Haga at the Curva Parabolica, Monza 2009.Closely followed by a cover shot of World Superbike Champion Ben Spies taken at the final round at Portimao and used on the cover of 2010 Parts Unlimited Magazine.One of my favourite shots from the 2009 season of MotoGP was used as an opening spread in CycleWorld's December edition of Race Watch. It is of Jorge Lorenzo at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He had a custom made Captain America helmet, but, the reason why I like this shot is the fact that the clouds are reflected inside the "A".As I have been working with a European agency this year, quite unbeknownst to me one of my images of Ducati rider Casey Stoner, that was taken at Laguna Seca earlier this year, adorned the cover of the programme for the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana!We're almost up to date!

Merry Christmas 2009.....

Hold on..I'm starting my time travel machine...More posts are on their way!

Starting with the Official Andrew Wheeler Christmas Card 2009. A quality collectors item and a big thank you to all who have been a part of the journey through 2009. I'm looking forward to to doing more in 2010. More, that's it!
Next!

The Rossi Print went for $8500. How Much Will A Rossi R1 Raise For Riders For Health?

The print to canvas of Valentino Rossi adjusting his Aldo Drudi designed helmet helmet at Valencia in 2008 was sold at auction at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Riders For Health Auction for $8500.

I attended the press day at the Long Beach Convention Centre in Long Beach California to capture images of the customised Yamaha R1 that publisher, Don Emde had put together with the help of Drudi Performance (the people that designed and painted Valentino Rossi AGV helmet), along with some help from Bob Starr at Yamaha (who donated the bike!), Roland Sands Design and others.The repainted Yamaha R1 is going to be sold for auction at one of the two MotoGP events to be held in 2010, either at Indianapolis or Laguna Seca.Striking as it is pretty, this should raise some well need funds for the Riders For Health charity. Watch out for more information and start saving!

Valencia. The Final Week. The Final MotoGP Round 2009. Rossi, Lorenzo, Spies et al..

It really doesn't take long to get from Granada to Valencia and is quite a nice drive.So here we are, the last few days of our holidays and we have now arrived in Valencia. We're staying in the same apartment I rented back earlier in the year for the World Superbike Round. The final round of the MotoGP season took place at the same location, and seeing as I already had left sufficient funds to cover for a deposit it made sense to rent the same apartment. It's location is good, it's quiet normally! During this visit there was nothing but high winds all week long and at night it felt like you were on the deck of an aircraft carrier so sleeping was a tricky, if not a noisy affair.Emily and I didn't really have any plans here, simply to visit the old town, find a decent restaurant, and wind down with the end of year party with the GP folks. We stayed pretty close to base. We drove down to the Albufera which is a nature reserve a few miles south of Valencia. It is also near where Bomba rice (the rice used in Paella Valencia) originates and is grown, in huge rice paddy fields that line the small network of narrow two lane roads that crisscross this reserve. With the weekend approaching and the buildup to the final round of GP ahead we head to the track on Thursday to get set up. Alpinestars kindly set us up for hospitality access, and Emily is all set with her passes to allow her into the paddock and media centre (thank you so much for this - you know who you are).With Ben (Spies) being offered a wild card ride for the last round aboard a Sterilgarda liveried Yamaha M1, and his garage that is sandwiched between the Factory Yamaha's of Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo on one side, and the Tech 3 garages of Colin Edwards and James Toseland on the other, it is to me, rather quaint in some odd way. With the big beaming smiles of Massimo Merigalli (Ben's R1 team boss), Tom Houseworth his crew chief and of course Woody, along with a few other former team mates who came along to help out, it feel like we never really left Portimao. Except the bikes are louder and the paddock isn't quite as laid back as the World Superbike paddock. Ben is in good spirits. As his right hand man Geoffrey. Everyone is all smiles and are quite excited to have this head start for the upcoming 2010 season. Ben will take over from James Toseland and will be aboard the Tech3 Yamaha M1 for 2010 (yes I know it's not exactly news anymore...). So the atmosphere in and around this garage is still the same as it was in World Superbike. Next year though, I imagine it'll be a lot more intense though.Tom, is still the master of hand signals. Woody, is on "observation" and pit board duty (apparently the team doesn't let you just dive straight into to work on machines - you have to observe first)...but Ben's garage still has that fresh positive air that existed throughout the World Superbike season.Friday rolls around and everyone is anxious to get out on track to start winding down the season. It's windy. Very windy. Holes are drilled in the fairings of the lightweight 125's and some of the fairing of the 250cc machines.I'm a lucky boy again. Fortunately I'm able to use Ben's scooter for the sessions and thus am able to get around without much difficulty.Saturday, practice in the morning, qualifying in the afternoon. It's still windy. Very windy and quite cool. During the afternoon qualifying went off as normal, but with the Championship having been settled and won by Valentino Rossi at Malaysia, all eyes (in the MotoGP class) were on Ben Spies. Being that he had won the World Superbike Championship in spectacular style in his first year (I'm not a fan of the word "rookie"..no idea way..just seems a little bit twee) this would be the story for the weekend. With James Toseland on his way out, and with Ben moving to Tech3 alongside fellow Texan Colin there was a lot of chatter about whether Ben would finish ahead of James. With Ben qualifying a good 9th (against James' 14th spot) and with Colin up ahead in 5th, and with the usual suspects ahead of Colin Sunday should be interesting. But there is still on more thing to take care of on Saturday. That is the BMW M Award. Valentino Rossi has won this prestigious award for being the fastest rider on the grid during all 17 rounds of MotoGP, not after spending some time "lusting" over the bright orange BMW M3 GTS and taking it for a lap around the circuit (I also heard he took delivery of not long thereafter and gave the M3 sedan he won to his Mum. At least I think that's the story). After returning to the presentation area, he then "hugs" the car he has won and is also presented with a scale model of the same vehicle.One thing that didn't go unnoticed, especially by my wife, was that Valentino Rossi is the expert of scarf tying, or rather, how to make wearing a scarf look totally snug! Sunday rolls around, and yet again, it's windy. Cool, but sunny. Thanks to Mary, Massimo, Geoff and the team, I am fortunate enough to have the scooter for the GP race. The other two races run their course and it's time for the "big boys". I go to the grid, which is (as usual) total madness, with photographers, riders, teams, fans with special passes, tv people and half of Spain all milling around. But that's part of the glamour of GP so you work around it. I tend to work rear of grid towards the front, thus, as everyone dives for the "main attractions" at the front, I'm treated to a free grid, and as everyone works their way to the back, I end up with free-ish access to the front of the grid. Tom (Houseworth) give me a "wave" and I head off the grid, onto Ben's scooter and off to grab the first lap (or two) shots with the pack.As the bikes head off the grid for their warm up lap, we wait for them to come around and most folks take a test shot or two to make sure everything is setup correctly. I'm stood next to Gigi (Soldano) and as all the bikes have passed he asks me "where's Stoner?". It transpires (as we know) that Casey Stoner had a little off on the warm up lap and that was the end of his 2009 race season. Which was a shame. This year has been particularly challenging for Casey and it looks like the last race of the year wasn't going to let him off easy either. The race is under way. I tend to use a race plan of 2 or 3 laps in one spot, them move, thereby giving you the opportunity to amass a wide variety of shots from different locations. Valencia is easy to get around, but with the crowds being a little lighter than past years, I wasn't always afforded the bright colourful pixelated backgrounds so you had to pay extra special attention to your subjects if you wanted to ensure a lot of colour.Well, the race at Valencia can be a little processional but as before, all eyes are on Ben Spies. He didn't disappoint. Finishing a healthy 7th place, ahead of a somewhat disappointed Andrea Dovizioso and of course James Toseland. Inadvertently, Ben also helped his future team mate Colin Edwards. By finishing ahead of Andrea Dovizioso he allowed Colin Edwards to take 5th place. Local lad Dani Pedrosa would win the race, with Valentino Rossi coming in second and Jorge Lorenzo coming in third. One thing that struck me as odd, and I think it was the high winds, was the lack of paella smells this year. Every year I have been coming here it has been a feature of this track. The somewhat fragrant whiff of seafood being cooked swirls around the track, but this year, nothing. After the podium, it's a quick shift into the the presentation for the top three class Champions and that it for the 2009 season.Back to the media centre, sort, edit and upload. By the time we left the media centre it was nearly 11pm. We had been invited to the Dorna end of year party. By the time we got back to the apartment, and then realising that it would be an additional 45 minute down to the Albufera, added to the fact I couldn't keep my eyes open, we called it a day. On reflection I wish we had gone to the awards presentation ceremony at the Aquarium. Maybe we'll do that for 2010. Monday afternoon would be spent back at the track for testing and Ben would be aboard the Tech3 Yamaha and there would be a number of "staff" changes that took place after seasons end.After saying goodbyes to various people that would be it for my year of racing. 19 races in total. 8 World Superbike events, 8 MotoGP's and three AMA Superbike events here in the US. Thank you to the Sterilgarda Yamaha Italia team for helping make life a little easier too. Quite the season. Thank you to my lovely wife for being who you are. I love you. I missed you so much whilst I was away. These three weeks with you were simply the best fun ever.Tuesday, it would be up early, off to the airport and then the trip home back to the USA.