CAPTURING THE SPEED AND CULTURE OF THE TRACK
Behind the Scenes — Team 18 × Snowy River Racing
10–12 JULY 2026 · REID PARK STREET CIRCUIT, TOWNSVILLE
Beyond the Pit Wall: Inside Team 18 at the Townsville 500
I've spent plenty of time photographing motorsport from the grandstands, but standing inside a professional Supercars garage offers an entirely different perspective on racing.At the 2026 NTI Townsville 500, I was fortunate enough to experience that firsthand.
Working as a photographer for Snowy River Caravans, naming rights partner of David Reynolds' #20 Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro, I was given the opportunity to document the team from behind the scenes, with access to the garage, pit lane and race-day activities throughout the weekend.
For someone passionate about both photography and motorsport, it was an opportunity I thoroughly enjoyed.
What struck me was just how much happens away from the cameras and the grandstands. While the spectators see the spectacle of racing, inside the garage there's a constant cycle of preparation, analysis, adjustment and teamwork.
Every person has a specific role, and everything revolves around getting the car onto the circuit in the best possible condition.
As a photographer, this was the side of racing I was particularly interested in documenting.
My background in film and television production has always influenced how I approach photography. I'm drawn to the smaller details and human interactions that help tell a story, rather than concentrating exclusively on the obvious action.
Inside the Team 18 garage, there was no shortage of those moments.
The mechanics working around the Chevrolet Camaro, the activity surrounding the car between sessions, the equipment, tools and constant movement of crew members all presented opportunities to capture the atmosphere of a professional racing operation.
And then there's pit lane.It's one thing to watch a pit stop unfold on television, but being able to photograph the preparation and precision of the crew at close quarters provides a new appreciation for what's involved.Everything is carefully coordinated, and the working environment changes rapidly as the team prepares for the next session or the car returns to the garage.
My priority throughout the assignment was to capture those moments without getting in the way of the people doing their jobs.
Much of my attention was naturally focused on Reynolds' #20 Snowy River Racing Camaro, which carried the striking Camping Under the Stars Indigenous livery during NAIDOC Week.The artwork provided a particularly distinctive photographic subject, with its colours and detailing adding another dimension to the images.
The weekend itself was a mixture of challenges and encouraging performances for Team 18.
Saturday proved the highlight, with Anton De Pasquale producing an impressive drive from 11th to second in the Cub Cadet Racing Camaro. On the other side of the garage, Reynolds recovered from 16th on the grid to secure a top-ten finish for Snowy River Racing.
Sunday was more difficult, with Reynolds finishing 11th and De Pasquale 13th after an incident at the opening corner compromised his race.
Experiencing the weekend from the team's working environment brought a different understanding of those results. What appears on the timing screens is only the final outcome of an enormous collective effort behind the scenes. For me, that was the most interesting part of the assignment.
I wanted my photographs to communicate the dedication, concentration and teamwork that go into running a professional Supercars operation, while also capturing the excitement and atmosphere surrounding the racing.
Being trusted to document the weekend on behalf of Snowy River Caravans was a valuable opportunity to develop my photography in a professional motorsport environment.
It also reinforced the type of work I'm most interested in pursuing: photography that goes beyond the race result and tells the broader story of the people, teams and machinery that make motorsport possible.
Townsville gave me the chance to experience that world from the inside, and it's an experience I'm keen to build upon.
