Formula Photographic - Action, Adventure, and Automotive Photography & Video

On the hunt for a classic Mini

I'm on the hunt for a classic mini project car...keep your eyes peeled!

Mini Cooper en action
by Minno02

Rallye Baie-des-Chaleurs 2008 Photos

I've been super busy and also working on a new site, thus the lack of updates.  Here's a link to some photos from this weekend's Rallye Baie-des-Chaleurs.

Rallye BDC on Flickr

Colin McRae (1968 - 2007)

Flatovercrest Rally Video Magazine - Episode 1: Antoine L'Estage

I just realized I hadn't cross-posted this video into my personal blog.  Here's the first installment of my season-long rally video series I'm doing over on Flatovercrest.com.

Click To Play

Interview with 2006 Canadian Rally Champion, Antoine L'Estage.

Link: Flatovercrest.com

Thunderbird Rally 2007

This past weekend was the 50th Anniversary of the Thunderbird Rally.  This year's route went from Merritt to Vernon, and back again on Sunday.  The roads were fairly muddy and rough because of the rapid snow melt that occurred last week, but there were a few roads that made it all worthwhile.  High up in the hills surrounding Falkland, Kelowna, Merritt and the area, we came across some beautifully snowy, flowing roads.  As usual, the stories were flying at the finish, and the bench racing was still going strong by the time I left for home.  I've posted more than 180 photos from the event on my Flickr.

McRae Roll at X Games - Alternate Angle

A second angle of McRae's rally car roll at X Games - look at how fast he's back on the gas!

Flatovercrest X Games Coverage

ESPN X Games kicks off today with the first portion of the rally competition (yes, rally cars are in X Games this year!).  I'm supposed to be down there in LA shooting the event, but the US customs agent turned me back at the border due to all my photo gear (and many faulty assumptions on his part...long story).  Anyways, Andrew Harvey is down there covering it, and I'm here doing all the backend updating and posting.  Check out the coverage on our website - www.flatovercrest.com

This is the biggest show that North American rally has ever seen!  A $115,000 prize purse up for grabs, and 12 of the best rally drivers in North America, including Squamish's Pat Richard, motocross turned rally star Travis Pastrana, and the legend himself, Colin McRae.

Link: Flatovercrest - North American Rally Online - X Games 12 Live Coverage.

Unedited Travis Pastrana Rally Crash

I just stumbled across these videos of Travis Pastrana's big rally crash on YouTube.  I've seen the edited versions, but these are the full footage from two different angles.  It's amazing to see his reaction inside the car ("are you alive?") before the car has even stopped rolling.  I guess that comes from years of growing up crashing his moto!  It's also very scary to see how close he comes to losing an arm during the roll - as his arm is flung out the window and only just comes back inside in time before the roof hits the ground.

Outside view (run Morgan run!):

Inside View:

Living Vicariously Through Dave

So, now that Dave has his rally car in the garage, he's been plugging away at various projects - replacing the rear glass with lexan, cleaning out the interior, ripping out the wiring and dash, etc.  The car is clearly enjoying the TLC.  Today he started to take the radiator out so he could use it as a donor for his street car which is leaking coolant.  That left a bit of a hole in the engine bay, and I don't think I helped matters when I suggested he should clean up the engine and engine bay before he replaced the radiator.  He seemed to think that was a good idea, but mentioned that, to do it properly, the engine needs to be removed.  Of course, I did nothing to discourage him, and also mentioned that we could stitch weld all the sheet metal once the engine is removed too.  Dave then made the mistake of saying there is a 20V Audi engine sitting in Vancouver that he could buy to replace the current 10V motor.  Right, it's decided then!  I hereby declare that Dave is doing an engine swap. 

I'm enjoying the fact that Dave is working on his rally car, because it's allowing me to build my own rally car vicariously through him!  "Oh, if it was my car, I would totally pull the motor and clean it all up, and I would definately get a 20V motor to replace this hunk of iron."  I'm just glad I don't have to pay for all the parts vicariously too ;)