First I’d like to thank everyone who has been in touch one way or another, via Facebook, Twitter, email or comments here on these posts. I really appreciate hearing from each of you, and every time someone comments on a photo or a blog post it only makes we want to share something else.
So I thought I’d talk a bit about the past two days of being back to work in MotoGP. We’ve been getting to bed around 2 or 2:30 in the morning, and unlike the first time I came to Qatar, I’ve been having no trouble sleeping. The apartment is quiet and the 4:30 call to prayer can’t penetrate the ear plugs to wake me up. I’m sharing the place with two other photographers, Andrew Wheeler and Den Davies (pronounced Davis), and we we’ve been arriving at the track around 4pm as the first bikes hit the track at 6, just after the sun sets.
The temperature has been COLD, again unlike my first trip here in 2009. The wind is strong, the bikes are getting blown around and some riders are having trouble getting heat in the tires. So I go out with pants instead of shorts, my fleece or wind breaker on under my media vest, and turn my back to the wind between sessions. Marshals around the track shelter behind anything they can find, and one last night had wrapped herself on her green track flag. She did not want her photo taken, as women here generally don’t, so sorry, but I don’t have that image to show you. Must be a good guest and respect local custom!
To keep the day’s, I mean night’s, sessions from running too late, the schedule this year is quite strange, moving the first free practices to Thursday instead of Friday. And instead of hour sessions for MotoGP, they are now 45 minutes, which doesn’t sound like a huge difference but in fact it makes it a challenge to get a variety of shots because that’s 15 minutes less time to work with when it comes to getting from one spot on the track to another. To save costs on freight, teams did not bring scooters to Qatar, so even the team photographers who are accustomed to having transportation during the on track sessions are doing a lot of walking. The track provides Media Shuttle vehicles, but like cops, there’s never one around when you need it. Given the distances between good corners here at Losail, we end up having to pick a spot and work with it, which adds another challenge to the situation of shooting out in the desert, at night, under uneven lighting and in high wind and cold temperatures.
Having done the best I can to get images that tell the story here in Qatar, I walk back to the media center, unless I happen to be able to catch a ride, and start editing images. While sorting those I’ll send out immediately, I’m on the look out for something to share with friends on Facebook when my first responsibilities are met. I’m sitting next to David from MotoMatters.com and Jensen from Asphalt and Rubber, so they can take advantage of the arrangement by asking for specific images to go with what they are writing.
Unlike the test earlier in the week, the media center is now busy and loud with voices speaking in many languages, mainly English, Spanish and Italian, but also French, Russian, German. The Italian is the loudest, no contest. The scene on Thursday afternoon was one of reunion, as people who haven’t seen each other for a few months greet friends they know well from season of camaraderie. This is a small community, and the people who attend each race know each other well. In general they are also warm and welcoming to new comers who are seen somewhat regularly if not yet at each event. I was surprised and pleased by how many people greeted me by name, even though it has been quite a while since we last saw each other.
As hard as I feel I work, I am able to be done for the night by 1:30 or 2 in the morning, which David and Jensen are going strong until 4 writing the content they will post before going back to their hotel. The nice thing about photos is that it only takes a moment to tweak each one and they’re done. It takes a while to write something insightful. As ever, it’s an honor to have my images associated with their fine work.
It’s also a great pleasure and honor to be allowed so close to the teams and riders competing at the top level of motorbike racing. Only a few years ago I never expected to have a photograph published or receive a credential, and thus I’m still sometimes amazed at my luck when I find myself wearing a media vest and standing in pit lane as Rossi mounts his bike only a few feet away.
Working trackside is also a thrilling experience. The noise from the MotoGP bikes is a visceral assault to one’s senses without ear plugs in, and even with earplugs the sound when a bike goes by under acceleration rattles the bones and jars the soul. Sometimes I can’t stop myself from pausing while out on the track to be awed by what I’m seeing. People who do a given thing better than everyone else alive are probably all amazing to some degree. But when the thing they do so well is control the fastest motorcycles in the world, keeping them on track a hair’s breadth away from disaster it is simply awe-inspiring to watch. To go fast they must push the tires as far as they can’t without exceeding the limit of grip and falling. A small mistake, pushing just a tiny bit too far means the tire can’t hold and, as the poet said, things fall apart. When they fall apart at this speed, nothing good is going to happen.
Last night I took a short break to watch the riders fly through Turn 3, which is a high-speed right hander. As the riders approach and tip the bike over onto its side, going perhaps 150 mph, the bikes slide, the riders just barely in control, the tires leaving black marks as they try to hang on. It’s cool on TV, but in person it is something like unbelievable. Lap after lap, the riders trust their kit and their abilities, trying to shave another tenth of a second off their best lap time. Sometimes they push a bit too far and pay the price. Alvaro Bautista broke a femur last night and will be out of action for at least six weeks.
I mention this corner because in talking about my work I should point out that there are always challenges unmet. Last night I really wanted to find a way to show in a photograph what was going on in that corner. I tried different angles, different settings on the camera, everything I could think of. But given what I had to work with and my own personal limitations, the above image is the best I could do, and it definitely comes up short. If I have to describe what’s going on then the photograph is not a success.
Sometimes a photograph works brilliantly to show what’s going on. A still image can reveal something that happens too fast to observe with the naked eye or see on video. I like the above photo because it simultaneously shows the deformation of the front tire under the severe braking load and poses a mysterious question of how one brake rotor could be glowing red hot while the other is not. To my knowledge this is a unique image and I’m glad I was there at the right time to capture it. It was just luck, of course, but if I hadn’t gone to that corner at that moment it would not exist.
All in all I feel I’m doing a pretty good job here this year. That is partially due to the comments I’m getting in the media center and from my Twitter and Facebook fans. To bring this full circle, it really means a lot when someone who just found this website or my Facebook page takes the time to post a comment. Web stats show ever-growing traffic to both, but only a fraction of visitors go to the trouble to say something, and I’m grateful to each one of you who has done so. I hope to continue to bring you images you enjoy. Thank you all for watching and reading!
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Tonight, Qualifying!
