NEAR FATAL ACCIDENT at Drift Fury

[Mike Peters]

So he was allowed onto the track without a media vest? I was turned away from the event early that morning because they didnt recieve my credentials in time and they ran out of media stuff.

no , he had a vest. people are posting stuff that is heresay as is often done in the drifting community.

[kidynomite]

before you are so fast to point that finger, ive seen many organizations who will allow cars to run without lugnuts, helmets, seatbelts even, loose items in car, boop suspension, camera people walking ON TO track. i could point a lot of fingers, but one place i definately wouldnt point one in he direction of is dan/tracy. honestly tracy has a reputation for being a safety *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* and very anal at events. she is VERY stringent on everything, from paperwork, to who is on track, in cars, near cars, staffing, inside the gates, she does a very good job at making the events as safe as possible. so before you are so quick to point the finger, you better figure out the rest of your story, because right now you are basing your opinoin off of speculation, which is really f#cking LAME.

I have seen those events too, I can't do much about them. If anyone is reading this and does that please fix that, don't let there be an example. There will be changes made to Drift Fury's photo area now, but not b/c it was the right thing to do from the beginning, but b/c something happened. It shouldnt be that way but selfish people make it that way.

My opinion of these NOPI events mainly comes from video, unless someone was bored and decided to digitally create countless videos of the same announcer sitting in the middle of a skid pad commentating on how he almost got hit, then I think that is good enough evidence. But I guess according to their ways nothing is wrong because an announcer hasn't been hit and if he is its his fault for not running out of the way...

I have yet to mention Tracy and Dan, although I have heard some negative things about them, I don't know if they are the ones who decide the areas allowed, if thats the case then it is their fault.

like what? cars drifting? oh no. they turned away over one hundred media applicants for safety.

See above... Cars drifting into announcers, and now photographers. You can turn away as many broken cars, but that doesn't mean the ones that work aren't going to put others in danger. It doesn't take a broken car to hurt someone...

people almost get hit all over the place. but in this case a photographer , had his BACK TURNED TO THE HOT TRACK, AND WAS NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO ANYTHING AT ALL, THE OTHER TWO PHOTOGRAPHERS STANDING NEXT TO HIM GOT OUT OF THE WAY, WHILE HE STOOD THERE BACK TO THE TRACK, AND WAS HIT[/B]. it sucks horribly it happened, but tracy/dan were on the ball, however as cold hearted as it may seem, the only person you can really blame here in all reality is the photographer for having his back turned to the track and not really watching for his own safety. the spot he was standing in was really not the best place to be in the 1st place, much less to have your back turned to the hot track. as far as it being designated area, im not sure if it was or wasnt. but since you brought it up, and seem to be so intent on tearing into fellow organizers of legal drift events who bust their a55 to make legal places to go with specualation and heresay based opinoins as someone who was there i just wanted to set that straight. as someone who was kicked off staff from a texas organization for "taking safety too seriously and being too anal on safety" ill say tracy has a very similar take on safety in reguards to tech/track/spectator/ride along/tandem/etc beleifs. if there was an organizaion i wanted to scrutinize for safety, it definately wouldnt be drift fury.

It is not his duty to play dodgeball with cars. If his back was turned he was more than likely watching another car trying to take pictures. He was placed in a zone that should have been safe, maybe these events need to enforce a 1 car on the track rule if you want your crew to never get their eyes off of a car.

There is a lot of grey area in this matter that a lot of you guys are using as your argument that it was his fault. The bottom line is as a photographer (a very unimportant part to the completion of a successful event) he should have never been in any position to be able to be hit. Especially if you are having multiple cars. You know what photographers do, they don't point and shoot, they take burst shots, follow cars, look into a lens that blocks their peripheral vision, its hard to think that you expect him to have eyes all over the place and do his job.

i hope i am coming across blunt to you, but you sir are basing your opinions off of heresay. dan and tracy have put a lot of time/work into helping east coast/atlanta area. something terribly sad happened yesterday, and my best wishes to matt, and everyone involved, and it really sucks for everyone. but i will not let you sit here and bash with no real valid reason. matt wasnt quite paying attention in an area he was allowed to be on, at his own risk, and he shoudl have known that. but unfourtunately, and simply, his back was turned to a hot track, in a somewhat unsafe and not exactly designated area, and got hit.

Go call the insurance company and tell them their accusations are based on hearsay. They will flip you the bird and tell you someone got hit, end of story. You yourself don't know the whole story.

I have a perfectly valid reason. Someone got hit, thats more than enough reason. Unless you can prove to me without any doubt that this photographer ran out into non-safe zones (that were instructed to all media and crew prior to the event), and while running to this place ignored all staff (which I see plenty of in pics) that told him to get out of there, and that the track was stopped at that point while trying to get him back in a safe zone, then I think you have no argument. Because at this point it seems to be clear that there are no safe zones, and that the photographers are left to their own discretion as to where they can or cannot go.

[markshatchi86]

the cars run nearly 1 at a time, by the time the car is at the end of the track the next car goes.

there is no restricted areas at any drift fury events ive shot at.

with that in mind, there is no reason that a photographer that is paying attention to what is around him to get hit out there.

the tracks are NOT setup for fast speeds.

[Ghost of Duluth]

ughm....*cough*

Hi Everyone,
I was attending Drift Fury and saw most the actions take place.

matt was wearing a vest. he was not on hot track. who are you hearing this 4th person down the chain crap from? thanks.

heresay = heresay. stop giving it more credit than its worth.

Hmm, lets see. Car on track. That = hot track in it's purest form, here you even said it was a hot track.

but unfourtunately, and simply, his back was turned to a hot track, in a somewhat unsafe and not exactly designated area, and got hit.

Thats common sense there superstar, and you said it so I dare say that it is not hearsay. As for the vest, I have it on sources but I wan't there so i'll concede that to you.

But i'll let you explain what happened.

matt has his back turned to the track, and was ina less than optimal, and on the borders of designated area. there were IIRC two cornerworkers in the same corner as him, with radios. a car came off track, everyone else got out of the way well ahead of time, however matt had somewhat segregated himself, and had his back turned to the track. again its extremely unfourtunate,

No it's not extremely unfortunate, it's careless and irresponsible. Everyone else saw what was coming down except the man who was staring through a viewfinder and got hit. He wasnt paying attention to his surroundings and payed the price for it. Therefore, he wasn't taking the sport seriously and giving it the respect that hurtling cars deserve. If he was he would have been paying attention to what was going on and making sure that he got out of the way. I'm not sure how you do not hear a sliding, squealing car coming up on your six but tunnel vision does that to people.

Does this make him any less deserving of prayers to get better, no. But it in no way implicates Drift Fury in running an unsafe event as some people are making it out to seem. Other than restricting photographers any access to the track, there was no other way this could have been prevented without completely cordoning off the entire track area to everyone with fences and barricades.

Media staff are not expected to have eyes in their head but need to understand that zones that are supposed to be safe can VERY quickly become unsafe should someone snap back or understeer unexpectedly so they need to be able to move. But so for someone to crouch down on the very edge of the track, with their back turned to the track and then completely block out all else for a shot means that they are not paying attention. That's like me buying property along side a freeway, ignoring the 25 feet from the roadway rule, building a house 3 inches from the freeway and crying foul when I step out the front door and get run over.

You can make zones all day long for people to stand it, but if they are going to be cattle there and not adapt or move in the face of danger, I say from now on just eradicate the problem and ban all media to the very edge of the paddock area behind a large buffer of competitors cars. Relegate them to large tripods on top of vans for long distance safety. Problem solved.

[Slapshotnerd]

I have seen those events too, I can't do much about them. If anyone is reading this and does that please fix that, don't let there be an example. There will be changes made to Drift Fury's photo area now, but not b/c it was the right thing to do from the beginning, but b/c something happened. It shouldnt be that way but selfish people make it that way.

My opinion of these NOPI events mainly comes from video, unless someone was bored and decided to digitally create countless videos of the same announcer sitting in the middle of a skid pad commentating on how he almost got hit, then I think that is good enough evidence. But I guess according to their ways nothing is wrong because an announcer hasn't been hit and if he is its his fault for not running out of the way...

I have yet to mention Tracy and Dan, although I have heard some negative things about them, I don't know if they are the ones who decide the areas allowed, if thats the case then it is their fault.




See above... Cars drifting into announcers, and now photographers. You can turn away as many broken cars, but that doesn't mean the ones that work aren't going to put others in danger. It doesn't take a broken car to hurt someone...



It is not his duty to play dodgeball with cars. If his back was turned he was more than likely watching another car trying to take pictures. He was placed in a zone that should have been safe, maybe these events need to enforce a 1 car on the track rule if you want your crew to never get their eyes off of a car.

There is a lot of grey area in this matter that a lot of you guys are using as your argument that it was his fault. The bottom line is as a photographer (a very unimportant part to the completion of a successful event) he should have never been in any position to be able to be hit. Especially if you are having multiple cars. You know what photographers do, they don't point and shoot, they take burst shots, follow cars, look into a lens that blocks their peripheral vision, its hard to think that you expect him to have eyes all over the place and do his job.



Go call the insurance company and tell them their accusations are based on hearsay. They will flip you the bird and tell you someone got hit, end of story. You yourself don't know the whole story.

I have a perfectly valid reason. Someone got hit, thats more than enough reason. Unless you can prove to me without any doubt that this photographer ran out into non-safe zones (that were instructed to all media and crew prior to the event), and while running to this place ignored all staff (which I see plenty of in pics) that told him to get out of there, and that the track was stopped at that point while trying to get him back in a safe zone, then I think you have no argument. Because at this point it seems to be clear that there are no safe zones, and that the photographers are left to their own discretion as to where they can or cannot go.

you weren't there. you aren't involved in this in any way / shape / form, and you have no 1st hand information. You have no room to speak. at all. about anything related to this.

No it's not extremely unfortunate, it's careless and irresponsible. Everyone else saw what was coming down except the man who was staring through a viewfinder and got hit. He wasnt paying attention to his surroundings and payed the price for it. Therefore, he wasn't taking the sport seriously and giving it the respect that hurtling cars deserve. If he was he would have been paying attention to what was going on and making sure that he got out of the way. I'm not sure how you do not hear a sliding, squealing car coming up on your six but tunnel vision does that to people.

Does this make him any less deserving of prayers to get better, no. But it in no way implicates Drift Fury in running an unsafe event as some people are making it out to seem. Other than restricting photographers any access to the track, there was no other way this could have been prevented without completely cordoning off the entire track area to everyone with fences and barricades.

Media staff are not expected to have eyes in their head and zones that are supposed to be safe can VERY quickly become unsafe should someone snap back or understeer unexpectedly so for someone to crouch down on the very edge of the track, with their back turned to the track and then completely block out all else for a shot means that they are not paying attention. That's like me buying property along side a freeway, ignoring the 25 feet from the roadway rule, building a house 3 inches from the freeway and crying foul when my house I step out the front door and get run over.

You can make zones all day long for people to stand it, but if they are going to be cattle there and not adapt or move in the face of danger, from now on just eradicate the problem and ban all media to the very edge of the paddock area behind a large buffer of competitors cars. Relegate them to large tripods on top of vans for long distance safety.

Since I wasn't there, I'm going to let those who are directly involved in this (Drift Fury / the driver / the photographer / who knows who else) figure out EXACTLY who was at fault and what the consequences should be on their own.

I DO know that if I'm relegated to a tripod on top of a van, my site will be closed and I will stop shooting grassroots events. I shot the Pro Am nationals in a very very similar circumstance to the event in Atlanta (parking lot event, cones marking the course, no spotter next to me per say, pretty much freedom to shoot from wherever given my best judgement), and it worked out for some great images. I've been able to send those images to at least 3 magazines and 1 other website in addition to our own, and we have several inqueries about high resolution photos for sponsorship proposals / commercial use. I know for a fact that if I was not allowed to be on track, that I would not be able to give these drivers the exposure that they deserve, which would be a huge setback for all of the amateurs who are trying hard to work their way up the ranks of grassroots drifting and into Formula D.

I realize you're trying to be super-safety-warlord and imply that photographers shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a moving car, but there's also a balance between safety and allowing photographers to get the shots that they need to promote the event.

No photographers = no publicity = no interest from sponsors. Say what you will, but photographers are a VITAL part of grassroots drifting.

[MonkeySlide]

there was no other way this could have been prevented without completely cordoning off the entire track area to everyone with fences and barricades.

Yes..there should have been barricades..thats the point I was trying to make earlier. The photo area should have been bordered by some kind of barrier.

Why wasn't there??? It's not right to place the blame on Matt because he was doing his job..if there were spotters and corner workers there then why the heck didn't any of them pull him out of the way?

Of course he wasn't phased by the cars screeching around him..there were cars screeching around him ALL DAY..it was a drifting event!

The simple matter is that a photographer can't take as shot at whats in front of his camera and look at whats going on behind him at the same time. THATS WHAT THE SPOTTERS ARE FOR. If they can't have spotters that will actually warn someone or try to pull someone from impending danger then they should have had barriers around the photo area its as simple as that.

To call Matt irresponsible because he was doing his job is an insult.

Just because you may be friends with the organizers of Drift Fury doesn't mean that it's suddenly this guy's fault.

If an accident like this happens at an event it's always going to be reflected on the event organizers/track workers.

I'll assume Matt signed a waver, but if he didn't then Drift Fury would be held legally liable for what happend and here is why...

Photo areas are designated by the EVENT ORGANIZERS not the photgraphers..

Therefore it is WITHIN REASON TO ASSUME THAT IF THE ORGANIZER SETS THAT AREA ASIDE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS THAT IT IS A SAFE ZONE.

From what has been said Matt NEVER left the designated zone and did not make any unreasonable actions that would put him in harms way. He was simply in the area that he believed without a reasonable doubt to be safe as per the desgination of the organizers.

If Matt happend to have a lawyer, the only thing saving Drift Fury from a lawsuit is a waiver.

Look I'm sure Tracy and Dan are nice people..and who knows..they probably weren't the ones who actually picked the photo areas...but someone in their organization did.. and as the owners of the Drift Fury organization..it reflects on them professionally.

I have a feeling that they are going to take extreme measures to make sure that this doesn't happen again..but people need to stop putting the blame on Matt...its ridiculous.

[akuma S14]

"No photographers = no publicity = no interest from sponsors. Say what you will, but photographers are a VITAL part of grassroots drifting."

Jacob - that is an excellent point but if it came down to you getting run over or me getting no pub....I'll pass on the pub. Never want to see anyone get hurt.

[markshatchi86]

in addition, not saying this guy is inexperienced, but media credentials in the sport of drifting needs to be regulated better. Drifting events are the only sort of motorsports i see people with point n shoots out there getting shots, and this goes for formula D as well. if you arent a creditable photographer that cannot provide an online resume of past experiences, they shouldnt be let out there.

hell when i go shoot events like long beach grand prix, when im out there with my rinky dink $1700 70-200 2.8L IS Canon lens, i feel like a POS next to all these guys with $4000+ 300-500mms

[Slapshotnerd]

"No photographers = no publicity = no interest from sponsors. Say what you will, but photographers are a VITAL part of grassroots drifting."

Jacob - that is an excellent point but if it came down to you getting run over or me getting no pub....I'll pass on the pub. Never want to see anyone get hurt.

don't get me wrong, I definately agree!! I'm all for the safety of everyone involved at events. That's why I think there is a balance. I think saying "no photographers anywhere on course, you have to shoot from atop a van" is a drastic reaction to the situation. 1 or 2 photo pits with a barrier (k-rail / water barrier) isn't too much to ask, IMO.

in addition, not saying this guy is inexperienced, but media credentials in the sport of drifting needs to be regulated better. Drifting events are the only sort of motorsports i see people with point n shoots out there getting shots, and this goes for formula D as well. if you arent a creditable photographer that cannot provide an online resume of past experiences, they shouldnt be let out there.

hell when i go shoot events like long beach grand prix, when im out there with my rinky dink $1700 70-200 2.8L IS Canon lens, i feel like a POS next to all these guys with $4000+ 300-500mms

didn't you shoot formula D last year with a $150 75-300 lens?

[Slapshotnerd]

ok, enough BS, here are the facts.

#1 A photographer was hit by a car and majorly injured, in the hospitol right now.

#2 I'm sure a lot of people feel like *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored* right now, including the driver. Hard to deal with that, even if it isn't your fault.

#3 safety was not perfect. But similar safety (aka lack of barriers + photographers shooting on the track) has been in effect for YEARS at a variety of events.

#4 Insurance and Lawyers and the family of Matt will decide what happens to those who WERE directly involved. Not the members of drifting.com, not me, not anyone in this thread.

To Matt - Get well soon, buddy! Stay in there!

To Matt's Family - if you need anything (money, support, etc), please don't be afraid to reach out to the community.

To Drift Fury - I hope this isn't the end. You guys were doing a great job running events, and hope that this is just a bump in the road.

To everyone else - keep it safe, and keep it sideways

[andysapp]

Cars drifting into announcers

For the record... as a driver in those demos, Ernie (the announcer) was NEVER hit by ANY of us. I am tired of seeing this brought up all over the internet, because it is a false statement.

Back on topic...
I was at Drift Fury on Saturday... however, since I did not physically see the incident... I don't feel it is my place to add anything about what may or may not have happened.

This is a tragedy from multiple angles. I think the bottom line is... accidents happen. That is why they are called accidents. It is never anyone's intention for something like this to occur. I think the important thing is to learn from this and take steps forward to prevent it from happening in the future.

My prayers go out to Matt and his family for a safe and speedy recovery.

[Slapshotnerd]

An update for those who are interested:

Got some not so good news on Matt, his MRI came back tonight showing a compressed spine and he's probably going into surgery tonight. He was talking today, was even worried about work, and has been sound asleep tonight while the doctors decide what to do :-\

from here:
http://forums.importatlanta.com/show...3&postcount=28

[Ghost of Duluth]

The simple matter is that a photographer can't take as shot at whats in front of his camera and look at whats going on behind him at the same time. THATS WHAT THE SPOTTERS ARE FOR. If they can't have spotters that will actually warn someone or try to pull someone from impending danger then they should have had barriers around the photo area its as simple as that.

Once again you take attempt to take the responsibility of paying attention off of the guy that got hit. Thinking with your heart, not your head. You attempt to place the responsibility of him staying safe and aware of his surroundings squarely on the shoulders of another person. Sort of like a puppy. And if they had barriers around the photo area, what then? He would be leaning, sitting, standing or any number of combinations having to do with shooting over, around or between the barrier, so had the car hit the barrier, it would have still hit him. See good photos don't have barriers in the way.

[quote] Therefore it is WITHIN REASON TO ASSUME THAT IF THE ORGANIZER SETS THAT AREA ASIDE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS THAT IT IS A SAFE ZONE. [/assume]

I agree with that. So I guess I can just blindly walk around a motorsports event where cars are doing upwards of 60 mph sideways, completely unfocused on what is going on around me? I mean, they told me it was safe right? You can talk all you want about how he was doing his job and all that but the fact remains, had he payed attention, this would have been avoided. He had his back to a hot track and head in a view finder, that spells bad juju no matter how you look at it. The other 3 or 4 people saw it coming, if his back wasn't to the track, he would have too.

As for being friends with Tracy and Drift Fury, you obviously do not read our boards because there you go assuming again. I have zero vested interest in Drift Fury succeeding or failing because personally I can't stand Tracy, but that doesn't change any of the facts here. They run good events, I have attended many of their events, they care about the safety of their people and for you to come on here and pop off at the mouth about all this legal mumbo jumbo and lawyer this and lawyer that just shows where your head is anyway, greed. I think it safe to assume that should you come to any of our events, you will be shooting your photo's from a nicely designated area way away. Better bring a telephoto there turbo.

This is a Motorsport guys, not a day at daycare. Everything that applies to the real world doesn't stop when you enter the event lot. You still have to pay attention, you still have to know your surroundings and you still have to use your head. Yes it's tragic, yes it will bring a new awareness to the use of possible barricades but it could easily have been avoided. EVERYONE at a Drift event is responsible for someones safety, your own. Just because an organization makes a safe event, it does not mean you are not responsible for yourself.

"No photographers = no publicity = no interest from sponsors. Say what you will, but photographers are a VITAL part of grassroots drifting."

As for sponsors, sponsors are not my priority. We don't throw events for sponsors, we throw events for Drifters. If I have 40 people who want to drive and it covers my cost and gives me enough to do the next event, i'm good. If I have 3 sponsors at our events, i'm doing awesome. But I personally like photographers. I like them at our events, as long as they don't get in the way of the Drifters and the running of the event. If they do, then they are gone. Because the event is not about photos, press or TV. It's about sliding.

So quite frankly if you come to one of our events for anything other than seat time, you failed. If you came there hoping someone can see your leet skills and give you product, you failed. You come to our events to hone your skill, learn your car and slide so that you can go to a Drift Fury event or a DG Trials event and have the skills needed to compete. So keeping a couple photographers out of harms way is easy for me, i'll stick them so far back that there is no way they can get hit, especially if they do not pay attention and risk me having an accident.

Either way, as soon as lawyers are brought in, Drifting will suffer. There is only one winner in a lawsuit, the lawyer.

[sweetcarz02]

I kept saying that I would stay out of this and on and on but I cannot take all of this "misinformation" going on in this thread.

Well at our events, we have photographers off the track.

No you don't. If by "our" you mean SEDA this is an untrue statement. I have personally shot on track at a SEDA event on more than one occasion.

Just to be completely fair as Im staying out of this whole thing for the most part and placing facts out there when need be, but Ive shot all the Drift Fury events with the exception of the past two and we were allowed to stand almost anywhere we had wished with the obvious exceptions (on the track, etc).

All of them but 2? So you have shot 2 events. Your not allowed anywhere on the track.........regardless of if you thought you were able to. Maybe this explains your next comment....which you say in a post later.

So he was allowed onto the track without a media vest? I was turned away from the event early

Give me a break George. If you really were taking media creds. in that understanding than the promoters of that event should be glad you didn't turn in your creds. in time and you weren't allowed on track. Anywhere on track? No one was allowing you to go stand on the outside of turn 1......
or the many other "high impact" zones of the track. Don't be stupid and go running your mouth.

ive shot two drift fury events now, and yes there are no barriers, but then again i try to place myself away from areas in which im not going to get hit. also, the big thing (in ANY motorsports I shoot) is if I am on a hot track, i pay attention to EVERY car that comes close to me. Ive had a few close calls at various races that have all been avoided by paying attention.

The speed at drift fury isnt that high, so i cannot see being hit without it being user error.

Well I cannot see you knowing what happened either. Mark, PLEASE dude, you are one of the most dangerous on track photographers I have ever seen. I love you and all as a person Mark but come on, don't sit here preaching safety. I have seen you A-leaning over barriers at FD Long Beach to take wide angle shots. And at one of the Drift Fury events I have seen you practically standing on a clipping point cone taking shots. I even said something to you at a Drift Fury event and you got smart with me about it. I don't care how witty and careful you are, standing at a clipping point is reckless and dangerous to everyone at an event. Just the mere fact that you were shooting a grassroots drift event correctly with a 17-40 focal length lens sings to the mis safety of the matter. This is all something I wouldn't even bring up but it's the FACT you are calling yourself a good and safe photographer at an event. Sorry.....just not working for me.

there was no other way this could have been prevented without completely cordoning off the entire track area to everyone with fences and barricades.

Well that is all great keyboard talk but YOUR company doesn't do that at drift events. I think I already brought this up once.

in addition, not saying this guy is inexperienced, but media credentials in the sport of drifting needs to be regulated better. Drifting events are the only sort of motorsports i see people with point n shoots out there getting shots, and this goes for formula D as well. if you arent a creditable photographer that cannot provide an online resume of past experiences, they shouldnt be let out there.

Mark......I don't even know where you are coming from again? I don't know where this elitist attitude your carrying came from. Knock that chip off your shoulder buddy. This was a GRASSROOTS drifting event. Why would they turn down anyone in a realistic sense? How did you learn to shoot? Or are you just a naturally talented drifting photographer?

I know I can speak for myself and several others (including the Formula D staff shooter) that most of us a couple years back were posting threads on a daily basis with our point and shoots on a large web forum. Who were we back then? Nobody. I am having a hard time understanding the point you are trying to make. Practice makes perfect........that is how I started shooting drifting, at grassroots SEDA/DG Trials event's (where I was on track) and learned the general functions of Drifting.

If you really want to knit pick Formula D and try to knock them for media passes you should look at no one else other than yourself. You should be thanking them for your opportunity you have been given the last 2 years. Floridaracing is pretty much a personal site of yours and your not working on assignment. So in theory you are one of these people your referring to at FD events. Yes, I am aware you have made some contacts since shooting at FD and taken up some jobs but that once again goes back to you thanking Formula D for providing you the opportunity when you were working for nothing but your own personal gain.

As for sponsors, sponsors are not my priority. We don't throw events for sponsors, we throw events for Drifters. If I have 40 people who want to drive and it covers my cost and gives me enough to do the next event, i'm good. If I have 3 sponsors at our events, i'm doing awesome. But I personally like photographers. I like them at our events, as long as they don't get in the way of the Drifters and the running of the event. If they do, then they are gone. Because the event is not about photos, press or TV. It's about sliding.

If your really going to argue with Jacob in this sense then "wow" is my only real comment. If no one knows about your sport you just want to embrace then how are you going to have drivers to participate in it? I just hope your not a marketing major.



And aside from all this.........get well Matt.

[markshatchi86]

don't get me wrong, I definately agree!! I'm all for the safety of everyone involved at events. That's why I think there is a balance. I think saying "no photographers anywhere on course, you have to shoot from atop a van" is a drastic reaction to the situation. 1 or 2 photo pits with a barrier (k-rail / water barrier) isn't too much to ask, IMO.



didn't you shoot formula D last year with a $150 75-300 lens?

70-300 IS BEYOTCH!! get it right!

atleast i had an SLR