GT World Challenge Asia at Mandalika International Circuit, Indonesia

Photographing the GT World Challenge Asia at Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit was a very different experience from shooting a conventional track event. The championship brings GT3 cars and teams from across Asia and beyond to compete at some of the region’s major circuits, and at Mandalika the scale and intensity of the racing are immediately apparent. There is a particular sound that reaches you long before you see the cars, GT3 engines building through the sweeping corners, followed by the sharp smell of hot carbon brakes and burnt rubber as they load up for the next turn. Translating that intensity into a still photograph is one of the challenges of working trackside, but it is also what makes photographing racing so addictive.

Mandalika adds another dimension to it. The circuit runs directly alongside the coastline, so between the tight action frames there are moments where the cars are moving through a landscape of ocean, volcanic hills and palms. Seeing international GT teams operating in that environment creates a contrast that is difficult to find at other circuits.

For this set, I wanted to capture the weekend as I experienced it, the speed and proximity of the racing, the precision of the pit stops, the concentration on the grid and the release of the podium afterwards. The wider frames are just as important as the action shots because they show not only the race, but the place where it was happening.