Across to my right is an apricot-hued band of light, sandwiched by the dark clouds above and the darker hills below; the sun is not yet risen and I am driving to my first time photographing at a Supercars event.
My goal was to create some interesting and memorable images of the weekend, meet new people and maybe learn a couple of photography tips, continuing to improve.
Oh boy.
Day 1, Friday for me, was accreditation collection and then up to the media centre to get a brief rundown of the does and don’ts. Gear on the table, cameras from the shoulders, hat and sunblock on and off I go to explore.
Making the fans life easier, all the racers were garaged in the same area as their category; each bay clearly marked with the competitor’s name. There were many different areas for food trucks, (so many types!) and merchandising as well.
I am used to seeing fields of green but with the crowd coming to see the Ford v GM festival, the many chairs, picnic blankets, awnings and corporate covered enclosures, ensured that there was colour and activity all over the viewing areas of the circuit, particularly on the Saturday and Sunday. Wonderful.
Monster car rising under a near-full moon.As much as I wanted to be in all corners at all times of the day, that would be just straight-out nonsense, it was all a case of getting into the mindset of me getting my impressions of this event. It was basically a two-lens setup; a telephoto zoom and a 50mm, with an ND filter or CPL on each, as the sun was so very bright.
Saturday, Day 2, was a bit of the same except hotter and far more crowded. At times it reminded me of walking through a crowed shopping centre at Christmas, but outside in the sun, with racecars, often revving in close-proximity, (note – ear-protection is highly recommended for all nearby).
Apart from the close racing and the celebratory sprays on the podium, the mighty burnouts by the dragcar and the moto-cross action on the hill, another highlight for the crowd (and certainly for me), would have been the single-ship Hawk aerobatic display that the RAAF put on above the crowd. Magnificent. On Sunday there also was a display with one of the RAAF Pilatus PC21 Roulettes, travelling from the east, a few kays, at RAAF Pearce.
Ryan Wood looking down in disbelief that his race ended in that fashion.As much action as there was on Saturday, Sunday found all sorts of drama – Matthew Bowden’s Mini rolling end-for-end at the entry to Turn 6, with several other cars spearing from the road into the dirt further up the hill and around the corner (possibly due to oil spilled earlier); Disaster in the Super-Utes race 3, with the #333 Colorado of Rossi Johnson driven into the wall after Turn 1 (Johnson gesturing “I’m number one” once he was safely on the wall, presumably to the Paul Morris #67 car that “escorted me off the road”); Issues in the last feature race event, Supercars Race 16, where mechanical failures or driver contacts occurred, also ending drivers races before the final checkered-flag had fallen of the weekend.
An early start but the motorsport joy and passion is already on.The event, for me, wasn’t just about the action on the track but the people on and around it who attended; the many people I was able to catch up with while walking around the circuit, people and mates that I have only met and made through my journey in motorsport.
The staff and volunteers who rock up week after week at Carco Raceway; the Targa, Rally and Circuit drivers and crew who I see event after event; the Media and Support teams of same. The people I was fortunate to get introduced to up at the media-centre and see some of their processes in action.
And of course, working with Shane, Mark and Benny the Turn7Media team again. Cheers
Now to prep for the next events – BAR31 2400 Lemons at Carco Raceway and then FleetHire Grimwade Stages down at Kirup.
See you there.
