Yes, it has been three years…..
December 2021 was a case of yes or no, will I cover the 2022 Australian GP or will I give it a miss, I made the decision and here I am.
Image Above;
Friday morning back in 2020, the day the GP got cancelled.
I hadn’t thought of the time frame but three years not shooting much at all is bad enough, but not shooting motorsport or sport in general is a long time. With football, after that long of a break, you find yourself a little bit behind the action, and doing the mundane tasks, which you never even had to think about become arduous.
Wednesday, prepare and pack my kit, head into the city to pick up my accreditation and then head into the track to the media centre to get my desk and locker for the next four days but as I found out, I was not the only one not quite ready, no parking sorted and very limited spaces, I had a massive walk with all my gear, great start I thought.
When I finally arrived, cursing and out of breath, the photographers media centre was not even open, but thanks to Rob at AusGP Corporation, he stored my gear, Mark’s (F1 Sutton) gear and a few others in his office overnight, so thanks for that.
My desk for the weekend, gear at the ready, wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
Doing all races is out of the question, but from Australia, I could manage the Asian races...
This was going to be a weird Thursday and Friday due to the fact that it wasn’t the first race of the season, so not much happening on Thursday but Press conference’s from 9.00 am until 11.30 on the Friday much to Alonso’s disappointment at having to get up early to attend.
Friday came and went, maybe I was trying to do too much and was rushing and not taking my time, I feel I missed some opportunities but there is only so much one person can do, covering the presser’s is all well and good but I like to capture the drivers in the paddock in a more relaxed atmosphere with no constraints, by the time that was done, images downloaded I was getting ready for FP1, where to go? My usual place for fp1, turn 5, fast corner, over the rumble strip and into the shadows, but this year to my frustration the hole for the photographers had been moved slightly, not much but I could tell.
Looking at my images I could tell I needed to get up to speed, and fast, things were not coming naturally.
Fp2 I went for turn 9 and along the back straight, a fast part of the track now especially with all the changes, I thought I’d go there to catch the afternoon light behind the cars, but, best layed plans, the sun went in, where I was hoping to go there was no hole and it wasn’t a good shot so I walked back up the track trying to catch them coming straight at me, worked out well, would have been better with some bright sun.
After that straight back to the fridge also known as the media centre, jeez it was cold in there.
Saturday, early start as always so I can beat the traffic, Fp3, didn’t get the pit lane this time which was annoying, my bag, protocols where changed and I was late putting my name down. This will not happen again, so, where to go, Turn 1 and 2, needed to get the shots as I feel I wasted Friday, maybe too hard on myself but you do not get second chances here. I also got the drivers arriving and walking down the Melbourne Walk, a good place for the fans but I am not keen, with photographers, journo’s and broadcasters all trying to get a piece of the action it can get a little fraught.
You can get some nice shots capturing the atmosphere.
Quali 1 and 2 opted for the back straight again, the sun was out so that worked out pretty well, didn’t do Quali 3 as I needed to get back to the pit lane to get the pole, 2nd and 3rd place images.
While waiting to enter the pit lane, another colleague realised he had not got a camera photo sticker on one of his camera’s, so a walk back to the media centre and maybe missing out on getting back on time, but being an ex-boy scout, I was prepared, I always have spares so I saved his bacon, could not thank me enough, let’s hope Karma plays a part now, I need a bit of luck.
Redeemed myself and my confidence is coming back.
A long day and a cold one in the fridge again……
Race Day.
Turn 1 and 2 or risk going down to turn 11 as a long shot, didn’t want to risk it so decided to play it safe and decided on turn 1 and 2.
Again, another early start and then covering Melbourne Walk again, so over this, I need to get my good friend fia accredited so I can off load it onto him, hope you are reading this Mark, you would love it........
Drivers parade was a non-starter for me, wrong place, did not get what I wanted, again, always go with your gut instinct, this is where being out of it for a while really shows.
Back to the fridge to get ready for the race, double checking everything and then panic hit, my loaned D5 from NPS, died 5 minutes before leaving to go trackside, Julie and the team at Nikon Professional Services sorted me out with another and lent me a new card that went with it, I only have CF cards, a big thank you guys…
Good position for the start, and at least nothing happened at turn 11, which was a relief.
A pretty normal and clean start to the race, nothing much happened at turn 1 so just fluctuated with different angles and up the tower.
Nothing much was happening down at turn 1 and 2 but then on lap 39, Max Verstappen was told to stop his car due to a technical failure, right in front of us, so I managed to get a few images of Max and his stricken Red Bull.
The photographer from the previous day came up to me after, ‘that’s Karma for you’.
All in all a busy but great weekend, caught up with old friends and made some new ones, weather was great and with a record attendance of 420,000 over the four days a real success.
Until the next time..
