Having a World Rally Championship event at home means a few things: 1. I don’t have to travel far to cover the event, 2. It’s in an area I am very familiar with & 3. Well there is no 3, they are the positives :) the negatives? It means my workload quadruples, a positive of this though is that I need to bring in a few people to help me with the load, and that means 2 people; Nigel Raynard is someone I work with on the ARC and have done for many years, and the second, you all know him, gun motorsport shooter and wedding photographer Matt Mead, also with the help of one of the best in the world of Rally Photography Andre Lavadinho of @tWorld Agency it made for some of the best coverage of Rally Australia by any team.
Enough Jibber Jabba, onto the event itself; the Volkswagen Team had just about wrapped up the manufacturers title so Australia would be a special event if they could bring home the silver, in terms of the drivers race after the disastrous events of the last round in Germany, Ogier still lead Latvala by the same margin, however coming into the event even with Latvala’s failed result, his confidence was more evident than Ogier who you could say was still a little shaken up after his 200km/ph crash, needless to stay it didn’t take long for both drivers to stamp their authority and show why they are the world’s best.
Coffs Harbour is where the event is held, the roads are generally fast flowing, some say much like New Zealand, some even say like Finland, there are plenty of jumps which made for great for pictures!
For me the event was extremely long, but rewarding all the same, the entire team came through with the goods, and after 4 days of competition Volkswagen had done the same, they won the manufacturers title, and for the first time since joining the WRC had clinched a 1,2,3 podium with Ogier first, Latvala second and Mikkelsen third.
As I finish writing this I am literally on a flight to France to cover the French round of the WRC as well as the Spanish round a few weeks later, so stay tuned to Zen Garage for more of the WRC!
All images by Vettas Media: Nigel Raynard, Matt Mead and Michael Vettas as well as Andre Lavadinho of @tWorld Agency.
