Another epic post, in what has been an epic year for my photography!
Much like the event itself, for me the hype of the event, even months ahead, is simply huge!
The lure of this event is following along online and watching the cars be built and predictions made about the result. The engineering that goes into many of the cars is simply stunning. As is the amount of photographers covering the event!
This is my third year covering the event, and with a raft of brand new (and untested- gulp!) gear strapped to my back, in the lead-up I planned nothing short of complete revolution.
You can make up your own mind about whether I achieved this, but for me I was happy regardless, as I tried to approach the event with a much more professional bent than normal and despite a mountain of technical dramas in getting the shots online, I feel like I am beginning to achieve this!
First up is the Westfield launch of the event:
The next lot of photos belong to the lower categories on track, my aim this year, rather than gunning for that one EPIC photo was to grab one publishable photo of each car, something I think I came damn close to achieving! Here are some of my own favourites (cars and photos):
One of my own highlights of the WTAC format is when the Classics of the Turbo Era get to go for a few laps in anger. Make no mistakes, this year, they went at the track with serious intent!
Three years ago, at my first WTAC (aka Superlap), I had my first experience of drift and this sparked my slow transition into a whole new car culture I hadn’t ever been aware of previously. Happy to say that since then, I grown to love this sport- I have a whole new level of respect for these drivers, and I find their often ragged looking cars particularly appealing!
The drift racing carried on after the lights went down:
Anyone who has tried their hand at photography would have an idea of how hard it can be to take photos in low light and at high-speed, my new camera body and a VERY special lense let me have a good crack at it this year (for comparison, have a look at my shots from last year!), still coming to grips with this sort of work for sure, but I was happy with my first attempt!
Next some off-track action:
I am personally gutted that I didn’t get to see Mad Mike (above) take to the track in his Bad Bull (below) this year, after it dropped a Rotor during the Friday session. Still Rotary fans got their fix else where this year- see Panspeed RX8 below…
Finally, I suppose I should share some pics of the Pro class cars that everyone came to see?
No dice this year for the charismatic Eiji ‘Tarzan’ Yamada and Cyber Racing- the returning champ failed to set a time all weekend! Not even that could dampen his spirits though!
Still photos will never, ever do the Panspeed RX8 justice. If you like cars, even just a little bit, watch this video– and experience the sound that this triple-rotored monster made. This noise echoed around the hills of Eastern Creek and could be heard throughout the lap from where-ever you happened to be standing. In fact the only time it was a little quieter, was when it was heading down the main straight towards you- because the sonic boom followed behind it!
As a patriotic Australian petrol head myself, I must say I was particularly proud to see Australians on all steps of the podium this year! A big congratulations to Nemo Racing for keeping the trophy on its home soil for once! And looking like that (above) how could it not win??
As always, my favourite shot is last. This year it’s the second placed Tilton Interiors Evo spitting flames on an angry warm up lap. I love drama, and this event never fails to produce that. I’m already getting psyched up for next year!
Petrol heads- more event coverage coming soon, from the JDM scene and something a little bit further afield…
See you soon!
-Jimmy