By Ludek
Don’t miss part one of this series by Ludek right here ➡️ Lowlands Crew goes to Rad Race Last Wo/Man standing Part.2/2
The race day
Awoken on a grey morning, we packed all the photography gear and left for the go-kart track. After a short ride we reached the venue and started helping Witek get his bike ready for the race by stripping the brakes, lights and putting on the race plates as well as the tracker.
We then established that Jakub sticks with Witek and covers his perspective on the race and I try to catch as much of the general scenery before Lauri and Daan arrive.
After a few laps Daan rolled into the pits grinning and terrified in equal measure. Lauri described every corner as a controlled two-wheel slide. Watching from the trackside, I finally understood how demanding this race really was and how exciting this spectacle will be. Crashes happened even during practice, and the medics were already busy before the heats even started.
As practice time ran out, people rolled into the pits tucked in between the walls and tire barriers of the track. Last tweaks were made, and people who were to start in the first heats got onto the rollers as the atmosphere started boiling.
For the first heat I decided to try and experiment with positions and a risky (due to quality of gear limitations) move of setting up a remotely triggered flash in the hairpin corner of the track, to “freeze” the racers as they raced by. From that point onwards everything becomes a blur of moving between positions, switching cameras, trying new angles, and trying to feel out where I can not worry about blinding the racers.
In the meantime, Jakub, the staff member stationed on the corner, as well as the medics, started running to assess the damage as Daan rested onto me, holding his left shoulder. The Race was paused, and the racer he came in contact with, came to apologize. After a while Daan stood up and walked off the track with his own strength.
Later during the race, we got news he had his collarbone broken in 3 places, but neither a concussion nor any other major damage. He was back in the building before the finals.
The Heats continued, and with them I started getting over the initial shock of seeing a friend of mine having such a serious crash. But I held to that thought as Witek got off to a good start, hovering around the 5th place locked in battle with 3 other racers. Unfortunately, due to a crash, he got eliminated later…
The person who held out the longest was Lauri. In his first heat he placed 3rd but unfortunately in the next round, after, yes, another crash, in front of him and battling against people who ended up being mostly the finalists, he finished his run in the quarter finals in 5th place.
As the men's quarter finals finished, the women's races began, bringing some amazing action and levels of technique and style I could only see at this level of sport. 3rd,
Soon I reached into my camera bag, and my stomach dropped as I realized I had maybe 2 rolls left until the end of the event, and I didn’t even see the man’s semifinals. Thankfully, a good Samaritan saved my ass and volunteered to get me more film in the name of getting some fresh air (Eternally grateful, Rommy!).
Unfortunately, by that time I had film to spare. I was only able to catch a couple of shots, and most of them didn’t come out due to my flash slowly running out of battery.
The man’s quarter finals were right after and followed with an adrenaline-fueled fight for the shot at victory. Due to exhaustion with the intensity of the day, it ended being quite a crash fest as racers tried to push past their own limits and the limits of physics. Finally, the time came for the woman’s finals.
Finals
I sprinted into the tires at the hairpin, knowing exactly what shot I should take, considering I only get one.
There were four frames left for both the man's and woman's final, and then I had the spare black and white roll in my backpack, so I would lose at least a lap or two while switching to it in case I do have to do that. As I sat in the tire, the lights went down, and suddenly only the strobe lights lit up the arena. We all waited in anticipation for what was about to happen.
After a lengthy silence, each racer was introduced. The lights were cut on, and the crowd cheered, ready to watch the gladiators of the fixed-gear world arena it out on the go-kart track for fame and glory.
The race began, and racers came rushing into the chicane. I took the shot and joined the crowd with cheering until the last lap.
Long-awaited man’s finals began with the same cinematic reveal of the finalists. After that came the announcement that this is the last edition of the race held on this track, as the building is going to be brought down to make space for more apartment buildings.
The crowd booed, as everyone felt the effects of expansionist grasps of the landlords these days.
But finally the lights went up and the countdown begun. The last year’s winner shot off putting a two-meter gap between himself and the other racers, and as the laps went by, the gap only began growing. Amidst the chaos, I loaded the half-finished black and white roll back into the camera and continued shooting.
The battles grew even more heated, and after a crash and an unsportsmanlike push between two racers, the race was stopped and restarted from the starting line, bunching the entire field together again.
Alec Briggs shot out again, leaving the other racers at a safe distance behind him, after which he began slowing down to play around with the second-place rider, Thibault Dupont.
Alec waved him through, thinking it would be an easy task to take the first place back, but to his own disbelief, Thibault put up more than a good fight. After a heated battle between Thibault Dupont and Alec Briggs, Thibault came in first place.
The crowd poured onto the track to celebrate the victory, and along with them, I, armed with my last two frames between both cameras.
I ran right through the gap between other photographers and videographers, where I noticed a champagne bottle being brought in from my left side. I waited for the bottle to pop, and as soon as it did, I took the picture.
With that last press of the shutter the camera started rewinding the precious roll back into the canister, and I felt like a boulder just fell off my shoulders as well as euphoria of getting the shot I came all the way to Berlin for.
I moved out of the way of other photographers and screamed in triumph from all the adrenaline and excitement the finals brought.
Everyone went for the award ceremony, but as I couldn’t shoot anymore, I just started collecting my gear and packing, as I knew it would take me a while. Jakub, Witek, and I finally rode back to the apartment, and after having some tea to regain some of our voices taken by all the cheering, we went to sleep.
Last shot of the last roll
The next morning while packing, I found the camera I brought in case it was raining, still loaded with exactly 4 frames. I gathered all the racers from the Lowlands community for personal portraits.
To fully feel how lucky I was from the running theme of shooting too much and not bringing enough film, I had to nearly force out of the canister that last frame, and it still was a little bit cut off.
Finishing this article even after such a long time was possible with how easy these memories are for me to recall. These four days were truly an unforgettable experience for me. I made new friends, I took some of the best photos I ever did, and I had a blast while doing it.
I truly hope I can experience this again next year. Hopefully as a less trigger-happy and more prepared photographer.
✍️: @_ludography
📸: @_ludography
🎞: Kodak Portra 400/800 / Kodak Ultramax 400
📷: Nikkormat FT2/Canon EOS 30/Nikonos 3
📍: Berlin