Press photographer Tim Keeton has scooped a top award and with it a VIP trip to Valencia and a camera worth £3,500 in an international photography competition.

The 39-year-old lensman won over the judges at the Federation Internationale De Motorcyclisme's Centenary Photo Contest with a dramatic shot he took covering the British Superbikes at Oulton Park in Cheshire.

Tim, who works for Raymonds Press Agency, captured the moment when Vince Whittle's Ducati burst into flames on the warm-up lap of the British Superbike championship.

The series of pictures Tim took as other riders swerved to avoid the fireball was used prominently on many of the British nationals' news pages and across the world.

And it also won unanimous backing from judges, who said that Tim's picture, taken on a Canon EOS 1D with a Canon 400mm F2.8 lens, was head and shoulders above hundreds of other entries.

One of the judges, Akito Mizutani, president of the Japanese Journalists and Photographers Association, said: "It was an outstanding picture and was unaminously voted the best."

Tim's reward was a five star weekend in Valencia for the final round of the MotoGP where he was presented with his award live on Spanish television alongside the world's top racing motorcylists such as MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi.

Tim, who was also presented with a Canon EOS 1D Mk11 from FIM chief executive officer Guy Maitre (below), said: "It was a real honour and a weekend I will never forget.

"The pictures were only taken during the warm-up lap but as soon as I took them I knew they were special."

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