I don't even where to start talking about this team, their the legendary status in Baja is well-known, the fact that they are from the same city where my parents are from adds a personal attachment to the equation but whatever is it, Vildósola's racing has been one of the teams that represent the tip of the off-road racing spear.
But you can be at the edge of off-road tech and not perform, however, in my opinion, Tavo is one of the very few drivers that actually drives a trophy-truck® the way it should be driven, hard.
Easy to say that some of my most iconic photographs have the #21 truck as the focus in the composition, proof is with the very first photo you'll see when visiting my portfolio. "Storm-breaker" i called it...
I don't think I have another photograph that evokes, in such rawness, the expression of the trophy-truck emotion & power.
This photograph was taken during a private shoot for a client I don't even remember, in that day, the stars just aligned in my favor...
In fact, that twirl of dust in the background was created because of the helicopter flying next to the trophy-truck® just outside of the frame on the right side. But that doesn't matter, what does matter it's what's inside the frame, the magic of photography letting the composition and the elements in the photo dance with each other creating something that gives you the chills...
Below, a never-seen photo of the same moment in time, just off by fractions of a second. Adding a dash of creativity with the b/w treatment...
During a race, when 'Tavo' is next on the parade of Baja action, I know the chances of getting an eye-candy will increase so I always make sure to have the best composition of the day, rolling the dice, all-in.
Tavo jumping over enough people over 'Borrego jump' is testament of a good dice roll.
That is the photo I show when somebody asks, 'what off-road racing all about?'
Another fun fact about Vildósola's team and my career, they were my first 'professional' assignment, hired by SCORE's media team at the time, I went on chasing what it was my first peninsular coverage ever, the 2012 Baja 1000, I was there...
However, they asked me to shoot video so I don't have any photos to show here... My biggest lesson on that assignment was to focus entirely on photography rather anything else.
Below, a photo from same year, Baja 500 2012, bruised up by km77.
So yeah, the Vildósola's team is probably one of my favorite teams to shoot at any race.
Adding the cherry on top, the VDC-1 truck is my favorite trophy-truck® of the modern era of off-road racing.
2wd forever.
Thank you for stopping by.
E.
