PaddockTalk Photographer & Photo Editor Iain Shankland Picks His 2007 Fab Photos

2007 was a little different for me – while I didn’t have the opportunity to visit any fly-away race destinations I did have the opportunity to visit two tracks I’d never been to before. Due to our schedule in ‘07 we were only able to attend three races– but each of them was memorable in their own right.

My first race of the season was at Mont Tremblant in Quebec. It’s a track I’ve always wanted to visit, but until 2007 there’d never been a real nagging reason to go - Thank you Champ Car! Switching venues from Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal to beautiful Mont Tremblant was a huge selling feature for me. While I’ve always like the Montreal race, I’d been there a few times and was ready for a change of scenery – and what a change!

If you’ve never been to the Laurentian Mountains then you owe it to yourself to make the trip. The track is beautifully laid out with plenty of elevation changes and the mountains surrounding you. The whole area is beautiful and the people in the area are very nice and accommodating.

When I was sifting through my pictures for the Fab Photos, I was surprised how many from Mont Tremblant were my favourites. Much has to do with the track layout – there really is no bad vantage points – and there are so many positions you don’t traditionally get to shoot from. Case in point:

Normally I don’t bother to shoot the rear of the cars because it’s not that interesting. But this shot of the Champ Car race was special. From my position I could see the starting lights, the flag stand and most of the competitors. As I watched the lights go on one-by-one the tension increased around me. The cars’ engines revved for the start and as soon as the lights went out I fired off a couple of shots. I love this picture because the cars haven’t even moved yet but the lights are out and the heat from the engines distorts a lot of the picture.

My next selection is quite unique because of where the F1X2 pits were located. At Mont Tremblant they were off on their own, away from the hustle and bustle of the garage and paddock area. It was easy enough for them to get out onto the track, but when they were coming back in they had a difficult time turning into the very narrow entrance. As such, they actually had to drive on part of the grass area to get in. This shot is a one-off because they never came into the pits at the same time – at least not in the perfect positions shown in this image.

I love this picture because it was Robert Doornbos’ and Minardi Team USA’s first win in Champ Car. You can just feel the emotion of victory! Doornbos had a terrible start to the race and left the grid second or third last. To see him come storming back and hold Bourdais off ‘til the end was magnificent. I only wish I had a soother to give Doornbos so he could pass it along to Bourdais after the race!

This shot is probably my absolute favorite of the year. The drivers of the F1X2 cars really do get to have fun when they “race” into the chicane at Mont Tremblant, and this is one of those rare shots where they arrive together. The difficulty is that you hear the cars coming and then they suddenly appear… out of nowhere, around the blind corner and up the hill … so you have almost no time to frame the shot. In addition to it being a difficult image to capture, this is a particularly ugly part of the track with the horrible distraction of the support series tents – but in this case I managed to get a pretty clean shot and only had to do a little minor tweak and crop in Photoshop. One other thing that makes this special…. the next day - I was in one of these babies screaming around the track at over 185 mph. My driver, Patrick Friesacher overtook Zoltz Baumgartner - just before the chicane!

My first visit to the famed Mosport Park just outside Toronto was a very memorable one. It’s just less than two hours from my home yet I’d never been there until this year! Once upon a time the Formula One circus raced here … until Montreal – unhappy with getting the race every-other-year - decided they wanted it all for themselves. Oh well, Formula One’s loss, because this track is fantastic. Not quite as picturesque as Mont Tremblant, but certainly right up there with Road America and Watkins Glen for racing, photos and the fans. Speaking of the fans, I have to say the ALMS crowds are a far friendlier crowd than Champ Car and IndyCar fans – weird. If you’ve never been to an ALMS race, you really must go. The fans are invited right onto the starting grid before the race to mingle with the drivers and get close to the cars! Oh, and it doesn’t cost extra either. So why is this picture special? I think it just wraps up how close the racing is in ALMS with Prototypes and GT’s racing side by side for almost three hours. The weather was constantly changing from bright sunlight to deep black skies. I like this shot because the sun comes streaming through the trees for a brief period – highlighting the racecars.