People
The Stig
Fri Feb 21 2014 21:30:51 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
The "Ultimate Machine" is not always an automobile. Photo by Bill Warner.
A collection of classic motorsport photographs made with the internationally famous Hasselblad camera will comprise a special exhibit at the 19th annual Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.
The special Hasselblad photos are moments from National and World Championship motorsport in the United States from the 1960s through 1979, taken by Concours Founder and Chairman Bill Warner with his Hasselblad, during his tenure as staff photographer for Road & Track Magazine from 1970 to the present.
"Hasselblad is simply the ultimate camera," said Warner. "It's the Mercedes-Benz, the Porsche and the Ferrari of cameras all in one. Hasselblad is not an orthodox choice for motorsport photography. That's because most professional photographers are concerned about getting the action of motorsport, not the art. Hasselblad captures both the action and the art."
Perhaps it was inevitable that Hasselblad's exquisite image reproduction and legendary quality would find a home in motorsport photography.
"Hasselblad introduced their first camera, the 1600F, the same week that Watkins Glen hosted their first Grand Prix, America's first post-war road race, in 1948; the same year Porsche built their first sports car," said Warner. "That's some coincidence. My most memorable shots have one thing in common: they were all made with a Hasselblad."
The Hasselblad was the first camera to offer a large 6X6 cm (2 3/8 inches) negative with interchangeable lenses and viewfinders. In the 1960s, the Hasselblad became the camera of choice for NASA and, in 1969, was the first camera on the moon.
Through the generosity of Hasselblad, a Lunar Olive Wood Luxury Camera, one of just 200 produced, will cross the RM Auction block to benefit Spina Bifida of Jacksonville on Saturday, March 8 at 11:00 a.m. This special, limited edition Hasselblad can be viewed at the RM Auction Sale Preview at the Ritz-Carlton Oceanfront Lawn from 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. on Friday, March 7.
The Stig
Fri Nov 01 2013 14:19:38 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
This video shows the moment a racing driver badly misjudges a corner and sends his beautiful Porsche 964 RSR racing car for an impromptu dunk in a river.
Taking part in the Hellendoorn tarmac rally in the Netherlands, driver Harry Kleinjan is clearly on it. Managing to collect a rather large oversteer moment in the preceding corner, the Dutch maniac wrings his 911 out in an effort to claw back some precious milliseconds.
Approaching the right-hander, Klienjan jumps on the brakes, locking up his wheels. With little control of the car, there is little he can do but brace as the 964 slams into the barrier with such force that it rips two wheels clean off and sends it flying into the air.
The luckless driver's ordeal is not over yet as the car careers straight over a bank, landing on its roof in a rather large body of water next to the track.
Thankfully, and rather surprisingly given the harnesses and rollcage they'd have had to negotiate underwater, both Kleinjan and his co-driver escaped uninjured.