I never fail to get a thrill of excitement when I enter the paddock on race day, and this morning was no exception. I'm not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, but despite having to get up at 5:30am to get in on time, I still got that electric tingle as we arrived at the gate. Here's a few of my (poorly shot) photos to give you an idea of why.
Jerez' "Flying Saucer" VIP restaurant over the main straight. A beautiful sight this early in the morning
Sunrise over Pons corner at Jerez
The second most popular paddock pastime: having your photo taken with umbrella girls
Scooters, the paddock's workhorse. Used to carry absolutely everything around. Sometimes even people.
Welcome to the future: The Red Bull Rookies wander round the paddock.
One of the many charming young ladies taking VIP groups around the paddock
The most nervous people in the paddock. In a few minutes, they are due to go out on ...
Ducati's two-seater, with Randy Mamola.
Another use for a race truck: as the location for a TV interview
Comments
More pics like the first two
Not that I get all gushy over wistful sunrise photos, but the abstract visuals from the weekend are more interesting to me than the run-of-the-mill pics pertaining to the competition or the manufactured atmosphere of the event. Only b/c abstract pics of the GPs are quite rare and difficult to come by.
3rd picture is quite nice as well.
Keep up the good work.
The feel of Jerez
Great pictures.
After all the talk, it helps put the feel of Jerez in perspective. A full paddock is always a wonder.
Now, here's a crazy idea. How about watching the race from the stands with the insane fans in 2011? That will make for more great pictures and tales.
:)
Poorly shot?
The first two photographs are superb. Wish I could shoot as poorly.
More
More photos of everything please.
loving the sunrise ones
Those you barely see (or in case of the flying saucer restaurant NEVER!), feel free to do a few more!
probably the greatest track photo ever
As a photographer i understand the difficulty in anticipating a shot. But you were smart enough to take a picture of the vip restaraunt showing the contents inside which i have NEVER seen in all the years of watching races at that track. The windows are aalways blacked out. Even in my motogp game they are blacked out. i just thought it was a cool bridge where the media gets to set up or maybe race direction. Good shot!
-Hanif-
I wish I had your job ;)
Seriously though, great pics. Especially the first one, completely agree with the comment above.
Refreshing
Another fine example of why motomatters is a breath of fresh air when it comes to MotoGP coverage on the internet. The candid photos really give an insight into paddock life, and the articles/interviews are both insightful and informative. David your articles set a new standard in delivering what the fans want. Keep up the good work mate.
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Click on the photo
If you click on the photo, it will open the full size version, which might scale better as a desktop.
Anyone notice the vacuuming?
Not untill now did I see the cleaners vacuuming that bright red Ducati carpet in the first pic... that is legendary.
Fog
Few years back we went to the Jerez test and camped on top of the hill above the stadium section. Most surreal sight was waking up to low lying fog over the whole circuit but below us. And then the circuit PA kicked in with Kylie Minogue's "I should be so lucky". Glad to hear in the background of the parc ferme shots that they're still playing euro-pop between races.