Dakar Rally 2012

Spain's Nani Roma and co-pilot Michel Perin of France drive their Mini Monster during the 10th stage of the fourth South American edition of the Dakar Rally 2012 from Iquique to Arica January 11, 2012. (Jerome Prevost/Reuters/Pool) 

 My interest in certain areas of motorsport have dwindled over the years. I used to be a huge formula one fan back in the 1990's, but then the interesting characters started to disappear from the sport. The business of Formula One, rather than the sport, seems to be more important these days. I imagine that the partial move to SKY sports in 2012 ( BBC show nine races live and SKY sports nine too) will finally mark the start of Formula One's move to pay to view.

About the only motorsport i've remained keen on is rallying. The sport seems to have a great mix of speed, noise and unpredictability. I've photographed rally events and loved every minute of it. Stages can usually be be easily accessed and are often located in places of great beauty. Best of all, as a spectator experience, rallying offers the sights, sound and smell of motorsport at your finger tips.

The Dakar Rally is one event I'd love to photograph. Although named the Dakar Rally, the events themselves take place in South America, moved from Africa and Europe due to concerns about terrorism. Chile, Peru and Argentina, do however, offer some terrific terrain for rallying. Mountains, deserts and rivers challenge the drivers who can be racing in trucks, cars, quadbikes or motorbikes.

Photographing the event is tricky. As well as the usual photo kit, a helicopter is pretty much essential for keeping up with the action. A number of the big photoblogs have put together great collections of images from this year's Dakar Rally, including InFocus, The Big Picture and The Frame.