Revved-Up at Sandown

By gregcromie

Let me begin this little tale by making it absolutely clear that I am not a car guy. I don’t do car races, I don’t do car shoes and I am not a ‘petrol-head’! However, I am a photographer and the opportunity new is always enticing. So on a chilly Sunday morning, my little boy and I joined a mate and his son to the Sandown race event. Sandown is an old race track located out in Melbourne’s east – not far from the suburb of Dandenong.

My friend happened to have tickets for the two of us and the kids were able to enter for free. We arrived late morning and as we walked through the entry gates my mate made us aware of an event happening just near us. It was a pair of guys on motorbikes doing insane crazy jumps off one ramp and landing on top of another positioned on top of their truck. But, what was this strange feeling I was experiencing? Was it exhilaration? Excitement?

From here we made our way around a couple of exhibitions put on by the Australian Army and the kids made the most of the free loot on offer. There was also a kids zone with some skills-tests that the kids enjoyed exploring. We made our way to an area that was located behind the actual pit-lane of the race track. From here we would see the cars in their garages being prepared for the big race a little later on that day. The kids seemed to enjoy this and again there was loot to be had from each of the race teams.

On the big screen, we saw a big car crash in which a car flips over the safety barrier and landed on top of a service truck that had a driver inside. Apparently, no one was hurt but there was lots of damage to the cars and the barrier. As a result, we didn’t get to see any actual races at Sandown as by the time we left they had only just opened up the track again.

We spent the rest of our time walking around and inspecting all the classic cars on shows. I don’t think these were part of a collective but rather just old cars that had been taken care of and loved by their owners. They were located in a big area under the main grandstand of the race and this is where I got most of my shots. I love the way older cars were designed with lots of sweeping shapes and chrome and intensity. From here we made our way home whilst my mate and his boy stayed for a bit longer. My son had a huge bag of loot and now apparently goes for the Red Bull team. Happy shooting.