I was at Le Mans 2009 endurance car race during the official test runs of last week. I brought back a few photos (despite the considerable problem of shooting pictures under the rain).

Peugeot 908 HDI team - Pit stop (Le Mans 2009)

Peugeot 908 HDI (Le Mans 2009)

The whole gallery and the mini-site to buy posters.

 
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After looking at these images I shot myself, I advise you to visit the excellent web site of Thomas Baekdal about Le Mans.

24 heures du Mans, 2008.

Here is a good example of a photographic opportunity caught at the right time. I am going to the first qualification runs of the 24h of Le Mans (endurance car race in the West of France). Of course, I did not forget to bring some photo hardware with me, even if I was told that the wire meshes are everywhere on auto race tracks.

And, while the weather seemed crappy for most of the day, we have an early evening with a superb light. I grab my brand new second-hand Minolta APO G 400mm tele-lens in order to move back and shoot over the metal obstacles (sometimes, under the up-turned corner of a metal net). Here is the result caught by my Sony Alpha 700, the best images I could catch in the stands: A place where there is always something happening -at least before the race itself.

 

 
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Some of these images can be acquired as posters or as laminated prints on RedBubble.

24 heures du Mans, 2008.

 
Click on the thumbnails image to enlarge them

24 heures du Mans, 2008.

I was yesterday evening at the qualification for Le Mans 2008 endurance race. Luckily (as a photographer), I was in the right place to cacth a glimpse of the crash of the Lola Mazda car that went flying in the last minutes of the tests (unlucky for the team).

I was at 1/40s and f/2.8 (on my Minolta APO G 200mm tele-lens), so the image is a little blurry… Usually, I wouldn’t let such low quality out, but the accident is still quite spectacular.

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