LSPR Photo Contest Winners Announced
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The Lake Superior Performance Rally marks the end of the 2009 season and the last photo contest of the year. Bright fall leaves and unusually warm weather greeted fans on the upper peninsula of Michigan giving photographers ideal conditions to take pictures.
More than 60 photo entries were submitted for the last contest of the year, and the top 10 highest rated pictures were judged by a photography panel. The judges selected three winners; 1st place receives an annual subscription to Subiesports magazine and a Driving Sports TV DVD, two runners up receive Rally America Store swag.
1st Place:
Similar to many US rally fans, Ryan Schumacher from Houghton, MI was flipping through his television channels when he discovered the World Rally Championships on the Speed Channel years ago. What he saw fascinated him and he started tuning in to watch it regularly. It was not until he started attending Michigan Tech University for Mechanical Engineering that he saw rally cars driving in the city streets. Ryan did not know that rally existed in the U.S. until he saw those cars and started attending LSPR from that point on.
Ryan was determined to snap better pictures after failing to get favorable positions at spectator areas in previous years. Ryan arrived early before the road closed, staked out a spot on the inside corner, and took the winning picture at the first stage of the rally just a few miles from Parc Exposé.
“I like the action in this pic… sliding sideways combined with the gravel spray and people in the background,” said Ryan, “I had other pictures, but Mark Fox’s car was the most gutsy. He even took at out a sign going around this corner. Everything came together and I thought this was the one to win (the contest)!”
2nd Place:
Robert Ananiadis from Stevens Point, WI has always been an automotive enthusiast and was one of the regulars tuning into Speed Channel’s coverage of the World Rally Championship years ago. Robert always thought rally was an incredibly interesting sport, but it was not until he joined the Fox Valley Sports Car Club that he found out rally racing existed in the U.S. His club members attended LSPR every year and Robert joined them for the first time this year.
At LSPR, Robert volunteered as a corner marshal with his club members blocking incoming roads and helping to secure the road for competition. The corner marshal volunteer job not only gave him his own corner to watch rally car action but to also take unique pictures away from spectator areas.
While setting up, Robert heard about a large puddle just beyond his corner and he was able to poke his head around the corner to snap his 2nd place photograph of Matt Bushore making the big splash! Robert liked this particular photo over his other car photos because Matt made the highest water splash of any car that went through the puddle.
3rd Place:
Much like our two other Lake Superior Performance Rally photo contest winners, Jordan Young of Grand Rapids, MI was introduced to rally racing from watching World Rally Championship coverage on the Speed Channel. Being a fan of rally, Jordan drives a 2000 Subaru 2.5rs and has been attending LSPR as a spectator for the last 3 years.
“My cousin is a student at Michigan Tech,” says Jordan, “so I go visit him while I watch LSPR. I love rally in the U.S. It’s a good thing… I enjoy the fan atmosphere and the workers are always nice.”
Jordan’s picture of Jimmy Keeney, the winner of the 2009 Super Production class, was taken at the famous Delaware Mine Stage spectator area. Jordan explains, “I was on the last corner of the delta on the second running of the stage when I saw Keeney powering out of the turn. I chose this photo because it showed the car in a full slide and the lighting was perfect!”
