Much to my dismay, 2019 sure has been a slow start for car related events. With a month and a half already knocked off the calendar, my loyal Canon 6D has been gathering an increasingly thick layer of dust in a dark corner of my office. Sad but true.

Fortunately, this last weekend was the first real opportunity of 2019 to sharpen my racetrack photography game. The self-named "track junkies" car group were hosting their first outing of the year, and since I'm the self appointed group cameraman, it was time to dust off the 6D and get to work.

As with all these photo heavy articles, this post is predominantly a visual essay, with some descriptions thrown in for context / good measure.

Let's get started

The nice thing about these track days is the massive variety of cars that they attract. One minute you'll see an old Honda come screaming down the main straight, shortly followed by a Ferrari that costs more than a nice house. With that in mind, pictured is a Ferrari that certainly costs more than a nice house - and props to the owner for doing possibly the most laps out of anyone.

Porsche is another brand that the track seems to attract in droves, and they certainly made a presence on the day. I'm guessing at least half the field was full of Stuttgarts finest, with my personal favourite being this recently restored 80's beauty. Fitted with a RSR engine and driven by someone who really knew their car, it was leaving the newer models in the dust.

The JDM market was also represented in a small way with 2 R35 GTR's howling their way around the track through an obvious aftermarket exhaust system. This particular R35 is far from stock, but still ran smoothly all day long - somewhat remarkable for a highly-strung JDM car.

Here's something special for the VW fans - a very limited Clubsport S. With only 400 of these cars worldwide (and 47 in South Africa), it's rarer than most exotics on the roads today. And seeing one on the track is probably an even rarer sight... consider yourselves lucky to spot one in the wild like this.

I took an awful lot of photos of this Ferrari F12 Berlinetta throughout the day as a promise to the owner, as he was kind enough to take me around the track for a few flying laps. Remarkably, this was the first Ferrari I've ever had the opportunity to go in, and what an experience it was. Fortunately, this owner is a regular at the track, so I'm looking forward to hopefully having plenty more passenger-seat time in this Italian stallion.

While it may look unassuming, this Porsche 718 Cayman GTS was by far the loudest car on the day. Fitted with a truly expensive aftermarket exhaust, it was drowning out even the likes of a V8 Aston Martin, as well as a Porsche 996 Cup Car. His neighbors must love him.

Speaking of the Porsche 996 Cup car, here it is. I snapped this photo in an awkward time between a sunburst and rain shower, hence the very bright foreground but menacing background. The rainclouds only hung around for a few minutes, giving the drivers an opportunity for a break.

While waiting for the track to dry, it was a perfect time to examine some of the machinery on offer up closer. It may not be a prominent feature on the car, but something about the GT3 lettering on the rear wing just caught my attention, and I thought it deserved a photo.

Rain gone and track quickly dry thanks to the incredible humidity (it was still over 30 degrees Celsius), playtime resumed. This Porsche GT3RS had been sitting dormant in the pits for most of the morning, as the owner was driving another car, but it eventually saw some track time. What a first world problem to have... having too many Porsches. We can only dream.

Remember how I said these days attract a massive spectrum of cars? Well, here's one from the other end of the scale. Don't be fooled by this little Honda hatchback though, as the owner is a semi-professional racing driver, and was setting some times that even had the most powerful cars checking their rearview mirrors.

The second GTR on the day came in the form of this lava-orange 2018 R35. Mostly stock, aside from a modified exhaust, it didn't see much track time, so I sadly only got a few snaps of it. A pity, as the striking exterior contrasted nicely against the racetrack surroundings.

Let's round these photos off with an equally striking colour combination - the Rubystone Red finish on this Porsche GT3. The owner had only taken delivery of the car less than 24 hours before, and was already blasting around the challenging circuit - a true legend.

And with that, we're at the end of the first 2019 track day. If you're yearning for more photos, fear not - there are still three more of these days scheduled for the year. I may possibly be entering 2 of them, but if not, then the Canon 6D will be my companion for the day.

Thanks for looking!

Equipment setup

Camera	Canon 6D
Lens	24-105 F4 L Series
Processing	Lightroom CC
Location	Marburg, South Africa