[Leica] "OK 68 you're in this."

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

Great ride! :-)

OK 68 you're in this one!



The roar of the engine was deafening,  dust from the dirt track making it

difficult to breathe and I'm trying to take pictures.  This was a time long

before mini-cams were installed in racing cars to take pictures. You had to

ride in the car, a somewhat exhilarating but crazy photo position.



The car I'm in was supposed to be a photo car allowing me the opportunity

to photograph the race without the driver concentrating on winning the

competition.  As we left the pits he was informed, "OK 68 your in this!"  My

first reaction was to get out and I yelled to the driver to drop me.  He

just smiled and yelled back, "Don't worry it'll  be a better ride!"



The pit crew had pulled seat and shoulder harnesses firmly; they didn't

want me flying around inside the car if it  turned over or crashed.

Strapped in the seat  so tightly it was impossible to turn in any direction 
to shoot,

all I could see were picture situations flashing by on either side and me

locked in the seat.



In a moment of desperation I unfastened the shoulder harness to escape its'

restraining grip. Getting the picture was all that mattered; everything

else is secondary. Of course this idea is stupid



The driver concentrating on the race had not noticed me sitting un-harnessed

and shooting out the side window.   His moment to gain the lead

occurred on the front straight  as we passed the Official Starter, who with

his various coloured flags controls the race.  Yellow for caution, red to

stop the race if there is a major accident or black to eject a car from the

event.



Safety is upper most in the Starter's mind.  So when we flash by him and he

sees me unbuckled and shooting out the window,  on the next lap he black

flagged the driver.  Who at that moment; is two laps away from winning the

race.



We immediately went into the car pit where both the driver and crew tore a

strip off me a foot wide.  I had just cost them the major prize money of

the day.



I considered it too dangerous to ask for another ride, not from being in

the car; but from the pit crew wrath.