After I was able to shoot the official test day for the VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie at the end of March, just days before the first lockdown, I was absolutely sure: that’s it – the end of a pretty short season. In the end they managed to get going again at the Nürburgring so I was more than lucky to be one of just a few photographers who were allowed to shoot the first VLN races. In the end, I even had the chance to cover my favourite race of the year, the Nürburgring 24 Hours, as well.
Considering these circumstances, the season couldn’t have been any better for me personally, nevertheless I hope for a better 2021 for everyone involved. When we go racing again, I’ll be there, that’s for sure.
Stay healthy!
BEST OF 2020: ERWAN SEITE | JUREK BIEGUS | DOM VINCENT | JP WAGNER
Top photo:
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 2 | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 300mm f/2.8 | 1/640 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 160 | 300mm
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D4s + 300mm f/2.8 | 1/500 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 3200 | 300mm
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D4s + 24mm f/1.4 | 1/5 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 1250 | 24mm
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D4s + 24mm f/1.4 | 1/100 sec. | f/1.4 | ISO 1000 | 24mm
This shot was taken just minutes before the red flag on Saturday evening. I took about ten more photos before I left this spot to drive back to the media center to change into dry clothes after I stayed out the whole evening in the pouring rain to capture the atmosphere at night.
Back in the media center, I saw they had red-flagged the race because of the poor weather conditions. The photo of the Schnitzer BMW above was taken about 15 minutes before, showing the awful Eifel weather. I’m glad I stayed out in the dark and in the rain, because that had been the only opportunity to get these unique shots. I gave it a try and it worked out beautifully.
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 3 | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 24mm f/1.4 | 1/2500 sec. | f/4.5 | ISO 640 | 24mm
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 2 | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 300mm f/2.8 | 1/640 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 160 | 300mm
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 3 | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/25 sec. | f/8 | ISO 50 | 100mm
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D4s + 24mm f/1.4 | 1/1000 sec. | f/6.3 | ISO 1000 | 24mm
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 1 | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 300mm f/2.8 | 1/800 sec. | f/5.6 | ISO 2000 | 600mm
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 5 (6-hour race) | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/1250 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 200 | 140mm
Definitely not one of my best shots in terms of style, technique or action, but this photo is an perfect example of one of my favourite ‘reporting’ photos so far. This photo was taken during the final lap of the six-hour race, showing the first three cars. So far, so good. What makes this photo so special is the story behind it: the Ferrari in the background was leading the two Audis until they went onto the Nordschleife for the penultimate time, looking to come home in P1 beating all the works-supported teams in the last race before the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Unfortunately, the Octane126 Ferrari had to back off and save fuel to make it through the final lap, which allowed the two Audis to take first and second.
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D4s + 24mm f/1.4 | 1/320 sec. | f/1.4 | ISO 100 | 24mm
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D4s + 50mm f/1.4 | 1/200 sec. | f/1.4 | ISO 1000 | 50mm
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D4s + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/400 sec. | f/1.4 | ISO 1600 | 200mm
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D4s + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/13 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 12800 | 200mm
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie pre-season test | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 300mm f/2.8 | 1/2500 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 200 | 300mm
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 5 (6-hour race) | GALLERY
Nikon D3 + 24mm f/1.4 | 1/30 sec. | f/16 | ISO 100 | 24mm
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D4s + 50mm f/1.8 | 1/10 sec. | f/13 | ISO 100 | 50mm
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 1 | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 24mm f/1.4 | 1/2500 sec. | f/5 | ISO 1000 | 24mm
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 2 | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 24mm f/1.4 | 1/15 sec. | f/11 | ISO 50 | 24mm
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 5 (6-hour race) | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/40 sec. | f/11 | ISO 125 | 70mm
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 3 | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 24mm f/1.4 | 1/6400 sec. | f/4.5 | ISO 4000 | 24mm
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D4s + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/6 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 1000 | 105mm
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D4s + 300mm f/2.8 | 1/1250 sec. | f/2.8 | ISO 2000 | 300mm
VLN Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie race 5 (6-hour race) | GALLERY
Nikon D4s + 70-200mm f/2.8 | 1/1600 sec. | f/8 | ISO 100 | 200mm
ADAC TOTAL 24h-Rennen Nürburgring | GALLERY, PT.I | GALLERY, PT.II
Nikon D3 + 50mm f/1.8 | 1/3200 sec. | f/6.3 | ISO 500 | 50mm
Since the Nürburgring 24-hour race was moved into late summer, nearly autumn, I knew I had to look for new spots to capture sunrise and sunset. The weather forecast predicted rain during the race, so we wouldn’t have a chance to get sundown on Saturday nor sunrise on Sunday. This made for only one chance to shoot the low sun.
I had a discussion going on in the media center with another photographer, a friend of mine, about where to go for this one chance. I convinced him and we drove to the spot I had in mind. Getting there with ten minutes to go, the sky was all covered by clouds, but when the first cars arrived the sun came out for just some minutes. As if this wasn’t enough luck, it immediately started to rain like hell after the first two cars passed which made for awesome photos. I never had the chance to photograph in rain while the sun was setting in the background.
This will probably forever be one of my all-time favourite shots.
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