04/09/2012
NEWS STORY
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Red Bull Racing's chief technical officer Adrian Newey is a man renowned for designing not just the fastest cars in the history of Formula 1 but some of the sleekest. Therefore it comes as a bit of a surprise see his name mentioned in connection with the picture of the old banger above. But connected he is and it is no exaggeration to say that it is his latest creation.
The photo is Newey's contribution to the upcoming Zoom auction of signed photos taken by every F1 driver and team boss in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital. Whilst Newey is neither a team boss nor a driver he is one of the most important figures in the sport so it makes a lot of sense that he is involved and the auction is all the better for it
Newey's picture is one of those curve-ball images which only someone as talented as him could even think of. You are surely wondering why he took a photo of a tractor so let's hand over to the man himself for the explanation.
"This picture of a tractor was taken in India last year. I took some holiday with my family after the Grand Prix and travelled round. Towards the end of the trip we stayed in a wilderness camp in Rajasthan and toured round some of the surrounding villages. Life there is humble with no televisions and simple homes. The people are happy, friendly but have a tough existence off the land, I thought this tractor epitomises those characteristics."
It says a great deal about Newey's mind and character and that is the unique strength of the auction. Zoom is the first ever auction of photos taken by the stars of any sport and they really do give fans a glimpse into the personal lives and minds of their heroes. The live auction takes place in London's Wyndham Grand Hotel on 14 September from 18.45 and fans will get a chance to bid online from next week.
Newey's picture is a little bit more left field than the one taken by his boss, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. Like his driver Mark Webber, and Sauber's Sergio Perez, Horner's photo is of his pets.
As he explains, "this picture is of the back of my Land Rover Defender, which our dogs love to ride around in." He adds that "Hugo, the Airedale in the back is particularly excited as you can see from his wagging tail even though he doesn't know he's going for a haircut! Poppy, who is sitting in the front seat on the left unfortunately died in January this year but we still have her two boys Bernie and Flavio who get particularly car sick especially when Beverley drives!"
The idea of Horner putting Bernie and Flavio on a lead and throwing them a bone or two really does make the mind boggle.
Next up is Williams driver Pastor Maldonado who has taken a stunning shot of a waterfall in his home country of Venezuela. "This picture is of the Sapo Falls, or Frog Falls, in the Canaima National Park in Venezuela," he says, adding "I am a proud Venezuelan and it is a beautiful country - something this photo clearly shows."
This photo too can be found in the Pitpass gallery and it is one of the 50 in the Zoom auction. Fans who want to bid for them should keep an eye on the Zoom website as well as its Twitter and Facebook pages.
As Zoom's official media partner we will be publishing more of the photos over the next week and readers should email the editor if they would like to see the photo taken by any specific driver.
Check out our Zoom gallery, which is updated on a regular basis, here.