The new Suzuki Jimny launched in the UK in January 2019. This marks 20 years of production of the third generation of this global success, and Iceland was arguably the perfect territory to experience one.
​With the help of car hire company Go Iceland we took the tough little off-roader on and off the well- beaten track.

Hoping for a sweet spot for cold crisp clean air, hopes of seeing the Aurora Borealis and to travel with relative ease, we chose October for our journey.

It was a chance to rekindle an interest in Geology from my 'A' Level days and a chance to enjoy one of the best motoring experiences, the hire car, but on both gravel and tarmac! On this adventure we fell in love with a country and our able four-wheeled adventurer.

We picked up our Jimny at Go Iceland's Reykjavik Airport depot greeted with a warm welcome at the desk and encouragement  to make the most of the island. After a quick brief on the Jimny's easy to engage 4wd system we headed out to the nearby peninsular with no particular route planned and only a destination for our first night stay. Eyes wide open, Iceland's thermal activity bellowed in front of us. Shortly after leaving the airport making for our first stop at a geothermal vent on the Reykjanes Peninsular. And so it continued chasing Iceland's ever enticing landscape.

You can experience the incredible geology, dramatic backdrops, weather-beaten coastline & welcoming people just from the Main N1 route, but you can't immerse yourself fully without getting beyond the booming tourist trail and take the 'F' roads to the highlands. I can't recommend this highly enough. The 'F' roads are meant for 4x4s only, that's not to say we didn't encounter the odd oblivious, family filled people carrier barrelling along the gravel like they'd happen upon a Nando's at any moment. This isn't recommended/legal and any hire company will know straight away why there's 'a strange vibration' and that it was towed out of a river. Don't scrimp, tick the 4x4 option. Then you will feel like a pioneer and unlock Iceland.

People underestimate the Jimny, I know I used to as a naive teen dismissing it as a chunky jacked up shopping car, but I was wrong. It’s a proper off roader and now a modern classic and for many of those that own them, a way of life. Resale values are higher than you'd think and those videos you see of them pulling Jeeps and Land Rovers out of sand and mud are real!

'Our' Jimny in Ice White with chunky arches, bonnet scoop and perfectly purposeful steel wheels looked ready for anything and perfectly at home. It was a classic 4 cylinder version with 80hp from 1300cc with 5 speed manual transmission, 2 and 4wd modes with low range all switched at the touch of a dash mounted button. The numbers might not be the stuff of automotive dreams, but for a lightweight, faithful go anywhere companion, most definitely. The perfect sized companion for two with luggage, outdoor gear and food for on the go. Grab a map and set your sights on a landmark or pick one from the horizon, point the Jimny at them and go!

Iceland is attracting tourists from all over the globe. For good or bad its influence on the economy is vast. Sustainable, ecological and responsible tourism are hard words to reconcile when I'm advocating sending little 4x4s out about the place in such unspoilt lands, but at least the droves are mostly on buses being ferried to and from the main tourist sites and maybe that means the real adventurers who might respect the landscape more are the ones to get beyond the Circular N1 road and in to the heart of Iceland. There you will be greeted by table top views and active geology.

Taking the 35 South to North takes you to Iceland's famous Geysers, a must on the 'Golden Circle' tourist trail and on to Gullfoss, a magnificent, two stage waterfall that plummets 32 metres fed from the Hvita River.

Push further on and road 35 becomes the F35. Time to revel in the Jimny's surefooted abilities.

We made it to the highlands, well at least as high as the F35 route takes you. This incredible bulldozer sat awaiting the winter ready to move snow, but rested patiently aside the road acting as a waypoint for those equipped to scramble this incredible route.

The gravel road snakes and undulates. Clusters of glacial capped mountains line the horizon. look behind you and the Hvita river draws your eye through the lowland plains back to peaks near the coast. 
The air clarity that day allowed for a huge feeling of panorama.

To experience the sight of a glacier as close as you can, and a great place to get to the foot of one is at Solheimajokull. Here you can also take ice climbing walks of the glaciers and is the only recommended way to get on the ice, without putting you in harms way. Definitely don't try taking your car on to one, even if it is a Jimmy.

For a keen driver there's a lot to be enjoyed from the N1 circular road. It is a joy to drive. Quiet, well sighted with inviting sweeping bends. The coastline constantly changing and leading you further as you pass through ancient lava beds, incredible cliff faces and behind them mountains and volcanoes cradling huge glacial areas.  Invariably you'll find yourself at a waterfall or ‘Foss’, where glacial rivers or melt barrels over and the visitors are sure to gather below.

You could actually arrive in Iceland oblivious to any map or guide book and simply follow the herd. Simply spot the tour buses or schools of hire cars, pull over to see another wonder. So affective is the herd mentality that we could stop for a sandwich or bag of Barbecue Smag (local crisps and new fav phrase) soon be joined by a bunch of other motorists trying to seek out just what we'd pulled over for. I'm not sure two picnickers was what they'd hoped for. Maybe it was the Jimny?

When bored of the crowds, exercise the ability to take another F-road that leads you away.

In October the light gave golden hour tones all day that ached for the camera. The Jimny got us to places we'd not expected to see.

It was Monday night and our 7th wedding anniversary. We'd enjoyed a great meal at the Lindin restaurant at Laugarvatn  and afterwards headed in to the night in hope of seeing the Aurora. 
You don't have to go too far to escape the rare street lights in central Iceland, but we found ourselves with the opportunity to really stretch the Jimny's off road capability. An F road, laden with signs giving stern warnings about what might lie ahead. 
More than just a loose gravel road and more boulder track, it was still a certified 'road', but a steep one. We pointed the Jimny's headlights skyward and climbed. 

Low range engaged, climbing hairpin bends and no real clue of how rugged it could get, we went to find dark skies and a hope to see the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. 
This is another of Iceland's draws. Sitting on the edge of the Arctic Circle Iceland is perfectly positioned and with the right conditions and right amount of solar flare activity you might just see them.  If it all came together this would be the perfect way to end a days exploring and our anniversary. 

We wrangled up the track and found a place to pull aside. We couldn't imagine anyone else needing, (maybe even ever) to trek the route we'd just made, but pulled aside the track just in case and set up camp  for a while hoping to stay warm and wait it out. Kate got a hunch that what she could see out the window was more that just a cloud as the evening light turned to night. Acting on this she set the camera for a long exposure. A faint green hue appeared on the screen. It was happening! We set the Jimny to face the glow and waited, firing off more test shots. 

Soon we'd not need the camera to show us the way. Our night sight set in and Aurora filled the sky. 

It grew more intense and our want to capture it on the camera pushed our bravery to leave the warmth of the Suzuki and set up a makeshift tripod on the rocks that strew the area.

​With resistance to the cold waning we returned to the Jimny and descended the hill. Low range engaged we crawled down, the Jimmy supurbly controlling  the descent. Sure footed and confident, our appreciation of the Jimny's ability grew more and more. What a little mate, without it we'd have never experienced that view and had it all to our selves! 

Back at our cabin base the Aurora continued reaching upward with more than just the green we'd seen on the hill, it danced around us. I wonder if you lived here if you'd ever start to take it for granted. To us it was beyond words.

The road heads onward towards Hof. This will take you to the Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon where icebergs departed from the Breiðamerkurjökull Glacier float mesmerisingly. It's an incredibly relaxing scene. Some are the most intense jewel blue, others bare dark bands, layers of ash from volcanic eruptions. As they drift, they also are prone to breaking up creating dramatic crashes that happen without warning. The rain was taking hold so we raced back to the Jimny perfectly adept at getting back out of the steep pull in exit and we traced the lagoon's exit to find the icebergs that make it out to the sea.

You used to be able to drive to the  Sólheimasandur plane wreck on the black beach, now you'll trek 3 miles each way from the car park (that I think exists just for tourists to get to the plane, its a pretty bleak open expanse otherwise). Grab some wind proofs and endure. If you climb all over it you can be like Justin Beiber, but I kind of felt sorry for the old bird left to erode and so stood back, slightly amazed at what peoples 'natural’(?) reaction to a plane wreck is...

In the UK you'll often find Jimnys travelling well below the speed limit, usually on A and B roads with dog blanket permanently on the back seat, ambling between the home farm and the paddock. I loved being able to prove that it they can be an able road car that can keep pace with traffic.  The new Jimmy is set to attract a whole bigger audience, with its new retro modern styling.

So now we are left wanting a chance to return and explore the north of the island perhaps and maybe this time in the new Jimny. Maybe one day we will. I certainly hope so. What’s left now is a new reverence for a captivating island and Suzuki’s triumphant little off roader and a dream to travel with one again.

Image from Suzuki.co.uk
The design of the new one is going to attract a new breed of ownership, I love the design and at the time of writing its pre-release demand is looking strong. There could even be a waiting list, I think they've nailed it.

Fortunately, for those of us who love classic motorsport there are some well-off folks out there who keep our most loved eras of motor racing alive.
 
The historic calendar is looking healthy with events like the Goodwood Revival, Silverstone Classic and this cracking Donington Historic event.

I went up on the Sunday  to get some shots and soak up the aroma that only old race cars can provide.

For those of you who want to get some paddock photos, get to an event early. I know it hurts to hear that alarm, but the morning light and lack of crowds makes it all worth it.

Turning up early meant I was treated to a lot of early morning preparation going on, and some good chats with mechanics about the machines.

One car that caught my eye was this particularly wide 240z, converted from a road car in the 90's.

You can’t fail to see  E-Type Jaguars at historic motorsport events,  and  there are some beauts out there. I think I’d be nervous to race these iconic machines.

If I had to pick a favourite, the No. 91 car would be it. I loved the form and function of the bodywork lined with fixings and rivets.  Someone had the vision to park it up posing in the paddock. There was no need to park it sat at this angle, but I appreciated it!

I’m going to find out  about this beast and bring you more on it soon!

Similarly to the No. 91 E-Type,  this Austin Healey looked like no Healey I’d seen before. It was all in the vision to paint it   grey with accented black details.  I purposely sought this one out on the track.

The Healey ran in the Club Woodcote Trophy for Pre 56 Sportscars.

I get a feeling of nervous excitement when I spot cars like 90's era Touring Cars from the BTCC. Nervous, because I don’t want to fail in capturing shots of them; excited, as it’s my favourite period of Touring Cars. These, along with the WRC, were my weekend motorsport watching growing up.

They were just about to head out for qualifying, so I legged it from the pits to the track, quickly trying to remember where the tunnel to the infield at Donington was.  I bagged some panning shots and was feeling happy to be back out on the event circuit.

Club stands filled the infield. They’re a great addition to any show. I loved spending some time getting these shots, made easier as the event isn’t overly crowded and has great content.

Back on track, the pre '66 GT and Sportscar race was on!

Late in the day I went on a photo mission to capture the Pre-War era cars before they were packed away. They're cars that look like they love a good wrestle around a track.

Please enjoy these images of this fantastic and varied celebration of historic motorsport.

So you know the Gumball 3000 Rally by now, 100+ cars take on 3000 miles of road trip stopping for celebrity hosted parties. It’s not subtle, but when was supercar driving ever about being shy and retiring?

Gathering huge crowds wherever they stop, you are guaranteed that the drivers won’t be shy of making some noise in and out of the cars.

The Gumball Foundation supports youth based projects that are close to it’s heart and links in with charities such as the Tony Hawk Foundation. Donations are boosted by the auction for the number one start slot at the start of the event.

This years route took the entries from Dublin to Bucharest. In fact as I write this they’ll be nearing Prague, let's hope they’ve still got some clutch left!

We caught up with the Gumballers in London and found ourselves a gap in the fence on Air Street to get our dose of Supercar sights and sounds. There was some very rare machinery there, like this RUF CTR!

'Rev it! Rev it! Rev it!’

We daren’t try getting to a different spot as the roads were lined with spectators for miles!

For us, the must see cars were a couple of the big rival hybrid hypercars the Porsche 918 and Mclaren P1.

For some, part of attraction is catching a glimpse of the drivers and passenger. Some of these are from popular and growing YouTube channels. It’s interesting to see how a love of car culture, a camera and computer can reach across the world and grow a fan base.

Why wasn’t ‘The Hoff’ in Kit though?

Talking of YouTube, check out this video of Air Street made By LeweyG, sit back and enjoy the sounds! Pick your favourite and look out for the Team Galag Batmobile!

The Gumball might divide opinion. It’s had its fair share of controversy and it is pretty in your face, but I believe that there’s room for all takes on motoring culture. One thing is for sure, and the numbers testify, cars bring people together.

I hope at least you enjoy these few shots.

We had a great bank holiday evening in London. Thank you Gumballers!

About a year ago I had been out of F1 for over three months and had started a fully freelance career. Mixing photography, media, design, and engineering, my areas of work have become broad, and the
Shift-Light.com audience has been growing.
I want to keep on investing time experimenting with new ways to celebrate our shared passion for the automotive world.

I was keen to try a new product for the store and took one of my most popular art work pieces and produced it as a limited run T-shirt design. Our trip to Dubai back in February was a good excuse to pretend to be a model for the new design.
I thought the city back drops would be great for some shots that my wife (also a photographer) helped me out with on our trip to the Burj Khalifa .

A visit to Dubai is a supercar-lovers dream, with busy roads that scream a soundtrack to everyday life. For a car fan you are looking longingly at the roads as much as the buildings. Hunting at the malls and carving up the desert, I managed to sneak in some Shift-light worthy shots for you all.

When we got back I launched the T-shirts and got stuck in to some new artwork. This S1 Lotus Elise became available as prints, canvas and as limited run phone case covers.

Mid February saw our first trip to the Wye Dean Forest Rally. It's pretty close to home, and provided some gravel spitting action. It'd been years since I'd seen a proper rally stage. The day gave me some great chances for some shots, but I should have taken a flash with me! Fortunately it was fun to try and take advantage of the lights and flash units of others who came prepared for low light conditions in the forest.

Next up was Race Retro at Stoneleigh Park, a great event with some lovely machinery. The rally stage outside is a highlight with plenty of sideways showboating and inside there were some rare and immaculate cars.

In the Paddock I spotted one of my favourites, a 240z in Super Samurai livery. I turned this shot into a completely vector based art piece that I hope you enjoy. I'm thinking of producing this as a T-shirt design this year.

Race Retro also had a display of Automotive Artists. One of my favourites that I'd spotted at Silverstone the year before is Fredric Dams, a Bentley designer who produces fantastic artwork in a style that I love. I was inspired to produce the above art piece of an Aston DBR9.

I kept it local with a visit to Waboo Automotive's open day. They're producing quality work restoring classics, mostly from the VW stable with their fabrication and upholstery shop. I wrote a blog about their open day here. Look them up!

Out of the blue I got a call from someone who'd become one of my best clients of the year. MotorsportRecruitment.com does just what the title suggests, their client portfolio is impressive and have served this role for over 20 years. I was excited to help them and was tasked with a re-branding exercise including new logos, stationery and of course photography for use on web and marketing products. They are specialists in recruiting in all sectors of motorsport, but also to automotive companies. Thanks for the work Steve!

About this time the year took a twist and we bought our first house. In time it will be a home, but it's a renovation project that has, for now at least taken over a lot of time. This is my excuse for the lack of posts this year, but I can't apologise. It'll be our new base, we hope, for years to come. This pic is of me and my mate Lewis wrangling some machinery to form the all important driveway!

Every now and then I head back to where I studied car design for four years, Swansea. Every year they hold the Singleton Park car show and it made for a good excuse to get to the coast and shoot some pics. I thought this MK2 Escort looked pretty cool.

Next up was Japfest 2015 at Castle Coombe.

Great weather and top drifters on show. The track action at Japfest adds so much to the event.

I always enjoy meeting up with one of my racing buddies who is lucky enough to compete in the Pirelli Ferrari Hillclimb Championship. La Vie en Bleu is probably Prescott Hill Climbs most popular events of the year. It's a busy one, but the entrant list always has some gems. This S1 Elise always catches my eye at the Hillclimb meets.

Hearing a F355 at high rpm is one of the best engine noises you'll ever hear, I can't capture that in a photograph though, I'm sorry.

My first trip to Goodwood happened with a last minute call from my friend Chris Hughes offering a chance to  go to the Festival of Speed  courtesy of Audi and Autobant. An offer too good to refuse, and with the new commission from MotorsportRecruitment.com I kept the photography brief in mind. We were blessed with great weather and some privileged views of glorious Goodwood and the Festival of Speed. You've just got to get to this event if you can.

Chris is a real car nut! He'd agree with that I'm sure. The car he is most nutty about his is concourse winning Peugeot 205 Gti. His 1.6 Gti has had some recent love and mechanical restoration work and is looking better than ever for it.  Last year was the star of an XCAR video, where Chris portrays his love of the 205 and his own car.

I met up with Chris at Pugfest 2015 at one of my most frequented and favourite places, Prescott Hill Climb! Chris camped out and we met up with him in the morning for breakfast and to spend some time helping prep for the concourse show. Our efforts weren't wasted as Chris took first place and I know that would have made his day!

Later in the year Chris looked after me again with an invite to Williams F1 for the Cycling Sports Group UK's 2016 product launch. This event showcased some beautiful cycling, MTB and BMX goodies that should be in your UK stores now.

The bonus of this trip was the tour of the Williams F1 Heritage museum. A real treat, that made me reminisce my time in F1.

Retro Rides Gathering falls around the August bank holiday time and you can read my full Blog here. It's a highlight of the year for me. The weather turned badly and a lot of people legged it home, but as it's so local to us, we didn't mind. My favourite car of the show was this Nissan R32 GTS-t.

The summer gave us some lovely light that was perfect for taking shots of a long term family project. The 79' Mini Clubman Estate was bought by my Father-in-law back in the summer of 2009, hoping for a quick turn around. Best intentions and changes of work and life meant that it became a longer project.

The results we achieved between a few enthusiasts, I think, look pretty good! Most of the work has been cosmetic with a lot of new metal and time spent on coaxing out over 30 years of body imperfections. It took time though.

Mechanically, a new rear sub-frame (classic mini problem), and a lot of fettling the brakes into a more efficient state (as far as they can be on an all drum Mini) took the Mini to pass Its first MOT in years. Fortunately there is a local Mini spares company that has helped out on sourcing parts, and the classic Applejack green paint has new life with a complete respray. The results show the hours of prep work have been worth the slog.

The colour isn't to everyone's taste, but I love it and it definitely attracts good attention. When it's put up for sale next year it'll be a sad day as I'd love to take it on some trips after so much work, but life is busy and I have a new project that I'll introduce to you in just a moment. Firstly, there were some more automotive highlights to the year.

I'm blessed with many car-loving friends, and one of those is a serial Italian car owner who decided to compliment his beautiful Alfa Romeo Giulietta with something from a German marque. I love the value second hand car ownership gives and for him to pick up this 2000 model Audi TT for what he did is seriously good value.

What better way to get to know a new car, than to take to great driving roads and head into mid Wales. I took my trusty Celica and camera, and we headed to the Elan valley. The roads stayed dry as we carved our way past stunning welsh scenery, stopping off for some shots along the way. I was really hoping to get some panning shots and compose some with a little more action, but maybe next time! If any of you want to join in on our next run, please get in contact!

Now on to something I'm really excited about. I became the owner of a car that I hope will become a rolling feature for Shift-Light. I have some plans for it in mind that should give good blog material.

So what is it? Well that's easier to describe than to give you it's name, but essentially it's a home built 7. Think Caterham/Westfield/Ron Champon book chassis and you are there. For most, this is referred to as a Locost, and I'm fine with that, but somehow it never quite satisfies as a description.

Based on the Ron Champion book chassis, the original builder (another car loving friend) had more than a straight copy in mind. He tailored it to receive genuine Caterham parts and developed it around the RS2000 donor car that gave up its' engine and running gear. The Escort shell they came from was in a pretty sorry state it's sad to say, and it was far from being salvageable. With part of its' life spent rallying, it had a ragged and rotting shell. Sadly this meant it could barely be loaded onto a recovery truck, but the engine and running gear had life remaining and underwent a serious make over.

The years the Escort spent as a rally car meant that it had benefited from a lot of engine development. The heart of the Escort had a 2.1 Pinto achieved with 2.8 Capri pistons, a heavily worked head, Burton Power rally camshaft, twin Webber 44IDF carbs and Lumenition ignition. Being an RS2000 it has an alloy sump, bell housing and the 'Rocket' 4 speed gearbox. It's a 'classic' kit car in that it has Ford donor pretty much everything, but has also got some lovely uprated parts (but we'll get in to that and more this year.) For now it waits over winter with a split sump  waiting to be repaired. When it's back on the road it should be great fun and I'm hoping for a new set of photo opportunities as we adventure around in it. I'm also hoping for my love of Japanese motoring to rub off on it a little.

Work can seem like play when you get the chance to work on new projects like the one I carried out for H2W Customs. Keeping it automotive and motorsport orientated, this project led me to help H2W with new product photography and website layout. They source and supply rare and classic race helmets along with motorsport memorabilia, but also have a custom shop that can personalise your race helmet and gear. This could be as a replica of a classic livery or a unique one-off design. It's proving to be a very popular resource for collectors and race teams, helped by owner Jono Haliday's knowledge and enthusiasm for his products. He's also very handy in a Kart! Above is one of the images I made for him for the new website and online store.

For years approaching Christmas time I've enjoyed watching the Race of Champions on TV. I love the format and idea of the event. With head-to-head battles in multi-disciplined races, the drivers compete on level terms over two days of racing. The first day decides which nation has the fastest drivers, and the next day it's every driver for themselves in the individuals competition. I'd been longing to see this event for years and in 2015 it returned to the UK, so it was a must for me!

We had seats for the Saturday individuals event, but it was the one day of 2015 we seemed to have winter - it was pretty cold!

From Ariel Atoms and KTM Crossbows to the ROC  buggies and EURONASCAR, drivers do battle in a range of cars that  allows talent and adaptability to shine. I'd intended to do a full blog write up, but things got busy leading up to Christmas.

The 'champions' part of the name has become a bit tenuous, but I guess it's a matter of perspective. I think it should be a mandatory event if you've won a major motorsport series. I also think winners of lower formula and clubman level motorspoprt should be entered into a lottery to compete. Anyway, it's still a highlight of the year and for me is a reminder of Christmas TV of my childhood. For that, I love it.

As the nights drew in and the event season wrapped up, I was left practicing photography with cars at home and tried my first go at light painting. It's a fun technique, but much easier if you've a buddy on board, so next time I'll save my legs a little and enroll some help. I'll also wash the cars first...

So we arrived at Christmas and onward into the new year. We're well underway now, our house has a floor again and the event calendar is about to begin. We hope you have a great one and hopefully I'll see some of you out and about this year. Please keep checking in!

Neil

"What time shall we leave?"

"It’s about two and a half hours away…. I’ve been told get there early, really early."

It was wise advice. We hit the road at 4am for our first FOS experience and arrived at 6:30am with the car parks already filling. I’m already convinced one day here is not nearly enough.

In the coolness of the morning of what would be a very warm day, sleepy car fans wandered around finding their spot for the day. We chose to leisurely enjoy the motorshow part of the festival that gave great access to try the driving positions of a host of new cars.

This part of the day was actually one of my favourites, as the crowds were smaller and the morning sunlight was perfect to get some shots.

At this years show, Mazda had a dominant role in the ‘Flat out and fearless: racing on the edge’ theme, celebrating Mazda’s innovation in engineering and major contribution to world motorsport. 

Central to any Goodwood show is the sculpture in front of Goodwood house; this year featuring spiraling Mazdas 787b and LM55 Vision Gran Turismo concept car.

Seeing my first Goodwood sculpture was an exciting moment as they’ve become so integral to festivals past, being photographed and filmed all day long.

Mazda UK bought along a fantastic Mk1 Miata MX5 with only 4000k on it’s odometer! Even from a distance you could tell it was box fresh. I love seeing these time warp models.

Toyota also drew me in like a magnet to their immaculate standard Supra and then a car I’ve never seen before in the metal, but have illustrated, the beautiful 2000GT.

The light across this BAC Mono was too nice not to get a shot, but it was again a first for me to see one. They didn’t seem to want to let people get up close, but you could still admire the detail and precision.

As well as being celebrated in sculpture, Mazda were represented well in the paddock and on the hillclimb. Maybe the Mazda theme was just an excuse to get Mad Mad Whiddett back to Goodwood. I know it’s not his only build, but the RX7 is my favourite and is a fantastic blend of functional details!

We were definitely spoiled on our visit, possibly too much by Audi UK with access to their pavilion, a fantastic Ploughmans hamper and access to the sponsors pavilion. It was all a real treat, keeping us well fed and gave us some privileged views of the track. Thank you Audi!

If you guys don’t already join in on @Autobant ‘s #WednesdayWant and #SundayScenario on twitter, then get involved! It was great to meet Oli who runs Autobant and get some snaps of a super happy man fulfilling a dream of a ride up the hill in the new RS3 Sportback.

Oli had his chance during the Supercar shootout that brought together amazing sights and sounds from many stables.

Ferrari were very well represented! Getting to see the new Ferrari 488 was a highlight for me. The Fxx sounded mental and the laFerrari was stunning.

Onwards we went to find another section of track, taking in more stands and trying to make sure we didn’t miss out on the track action. This becomes difficult when you’ve got the Red Arrows performing as F1 cars try to keep your attention and offroad buggies jump and scrawl around the off-road course next to you. All this is happening as you try and make your way to the excellent rally stage, with a dream line-up of rally cars.

Five minutes at the rally stage I looked down on to a mottled grey dusty lens hood, feeling that my face felt smoothed out and my sunglasses were pretty much blocked, the dust filling the air. The gaps through the trees let sun pour through, scribing bars of dusty sun beams, leaving atmospheric windows to compose shots through.

Goodwood commands the attendance of some great machinery.

At some point you’re going to be torn between what to see, and will have to catch up with categories missed in the morning in the afternoon sessions.

That is exactly how we missed Ken Block and Mad Mike Whiddett’s morning run up the hill, which due to time lost rebuilding hay bales after accidents was their only run. So gutted!! At least we got to see their machines in the paddock, but I so wanted action shots of these guys. Gladly, later in the day we had great seats to catch BJ Baldwins trophy truck entertain as uniquely as only a trophy truck can!

Later in the afternoon we ventured to the Cartier 'Style et Luxe' concours d'élégance on the Cartier lawn. It’s not your average ‘show and shine.’

This Black F40 in the 200mph club had me dreaming and wanting.

Another first at FOS for me was seeing some of Singer’s amazing Porsche re-imagined art.

Great entertainment watching Terry Grant beat his own record for the fastest mile on two wheels in a car!

Of course we had a fantastic day, and of course we want to come back.

I really want to thank those who made our visit possible, you know who you are. Sincerely, thank you!