A DAY OFF THE SUBIC INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY.....
Gaby dela Merced Takes Time To Be With Us.....
(Thanks Bless for this pic.)
Gaby's Stock Racing Car.....
The Grand Daddy Of Car Racing, Pocholo Ramirez.....
The Backdrop Of The Race Track.....
A Panning Shot.....
After The Race.....
I haven't been to a racetrack to watch, or even to shoot pictures for that matter. I didn't follow car racing that much. I remember one of the agency nurses that I worked with in London, Josie, who claimed of having a boyfriend who works in the embassy (I forgot which foreign embassy) at that time. The guy was into car racing and whenever the Formula 1 season began, he would buy tickets for two people and would pick the races held in Germany or France for him and Josie to go to. One can say that because of the way Josie told me what one experiences when watching a car race LIVE, I decided to head to the pub and watch the race unfold one Sunday evening. It was the closest experience that I can get to seeing it LIVE! And I watched with an open mind. The battling for position at the start of the race; the planning of what kind of tactics during the race to employ; the maneuvering of the cars by the drivers against one another, the chaos at the pit lanes; the "eeeeooooooong" sound of the cars as it runs and the addicting smell of petrol; I must say that I was hooked from that time on.
Locally, the only person I knew who was a race car driver during my youth was Dante Silverio and Pocholo Ramirez. Mike Poetenciano (whose family owns BLTB) and Jody Coseteng were names I often read in the sports pages around the 80's. Now, the most prominent name is Tyson Sy. I was also surprised to find out that female drivers abound too. Pia Boren, Michelle Bumgarner and Gaby de la Merced are like the Danica Patrick (she races with the big boys at the Indy Car Races in the USA) of Pinoy car racing, the lone female driver in a male dominated sport in their respective events.
When FPPF posted a contest about car racing, sponsored by the Miata Racing Club, my club mates and I went to the Subic International Speedway to shoot one Saturday morning. It was my first taste of being in a racetrack. And we sort of decided to practice our panning skills too since the cars run at such faster speeds than the vehicles that run at Roxas Boulevard! At some point, I saw some recognizable faces and was more interested in meeting them, to get to know them. In the end, we were more concentrated in taking pictures of other subjects rather than the cars! When it was time to go home, I was happy. Although it wasn't really a Formula One car racing but a stock car racing, it was still great fun!!!