This was not only my first time attending a Gridlife event but also my first time at Laguna Seca with Hot Track Access. I knew it was going to be a crazy day I just didn't realize how epic of a day it was going to be. That is until I stepped through that last fence line and was standing next to the track on one of the most famous corners of any track. The Corkscrew.
Now I've shot trackside before on a circuit and drag strip and there is an intensity that as a car person that just instantly fills your passion meter. It's the smell of fuel and rubber, the volume of the car, the engine, the exhaust, the echo off of the surrounding areas. All these things give you that instant "high" as a car person and make you feel like you're in paradise.
Gridlife had an interesting concept to the whole Time Attack trackday at Laguna Seca. So not only was this a the season closer for the race teams but they turned the whole weekend into a festival of events. They had the Time Attack, Wheel-to-Wheel racing, Drift Demos, a full car show held by SpoCom, Vendors, Music stages and an Arcade along with just stuff to do all day.
For me it was all about the track as I'm normally the one driving on the track it was really cool to see it from a different perspective. I love driving on Laguna, I know the brake zones, the turn-ins and the "feel" of the track. So to see both the very fast through the entry level classes attacking the corners sliding the cars and going flat out for their best times it was really a blast. Now my challenge was to communicate all this that I know is going on but through my lens, to you, both in video and in still photos.
Of course the Corkscrew was my first location to shoot and although I would have been happy just posting up there and shooting all day I knew what the other corners has to offer especially when it came to the drift cars. The Corkscrew was of course my favorite watching the initiate in and slid down through but on the other corners they were able to get super fast entry speeds that allowed them to drift through the double apex corners and then carry the speed and transition through to the next corner. It was amazing how on a track this large they could almost complete a continuous drift throughout the entire track.
There was plenty of battling on the track as each group ran there Time Attack numbers then moved to wheel-to-wheel competition, I really enjoy this format and as much as I love shooting all this from behind the camera, its time to start enjoying things from behind the wheel. I know my GTR is going to be a long project so maybe it's time for another "project car" that I can get out there and start racing.
I did a whole video of the day covering from 630am to 630pm with non-stop running the whole time between from corner to corner of the track and paddock areas. The day was absolutely incredible and I hope that I'll be able to do more shoots like this.
The Youtube Link
Everything Else. Enjoy!!
