WHERE SPEEEEED AND PASSION MEET
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Bruno's Blog, from a fan for fans!
Welcome back to my Blog, thanks.
This is how it all has started, the beginning of a very long and ongoing journey.
If you had told me 10 years ago, what I do now and where I live, I had accepted every bet with the highest possible wager against you.
But sometimes life surprises you more than you can ever imagine.
Smallest and most unimpressive things or moments can change your life forever.
You randomly meet people who make a huge impact in your life unnoticed. Some people seem to be a once in a lifetime encounter but they change your mind one beautiful day in the future and become best friends.
Sometimes you go somewhere to do something and then you end up somewhere completely different with doing something you have never done before.
Some Happenings seem to be bad at first but when you look back one reflecting moment in the future, these so-called bad moments have turned into something much bigger and therefor better than it looked back then.
All we need to do is to keep our eyes and minds open. As long as we follow our passion, it doesn't really matter which road we take unless it leads to our goals. Once on that road, you can't go wrong anymore. Whatever happens to our left or right, it's part of the adventure. Once our goals are set, the speed isn't relevant anymore. Small or big steps bring you closer but you must make them. As long as you keep on moving, your passion guides you to the right direction even in the darkest times.
Does this sound too philosophical to you? Wasn't my intention, I just summed up my last ten years. Don't worry, my story-telling won't end here. There is plenty more to say. But when you keep all that in mind whenever you read my blog, you'll discover these patterns all the time. I'm convinced you see them even in your life.
At some point, you are full of these little but meaningful stories. Some like to share them, some might think they are too introverted to tell anything. Never mind!
My last 10 years were more or less all about photography, especially motorsport photography of course. Some pictures have gone around the world, some have brought a little joy into a fan's heart, some have made people laugh or wonder and some tell proverbial "more than thousand words".
Behind all these pictures am I. They tell more about me than I admit. But there is always a story about the circumstances, which have led to that picture. And aren't stories just what the doctor ordered? Exactly: Bingo!
I'd like to start now with the very beginning of my passion for motorsport photography.
Sit back, relax, popcorn and something more or less healthy to drink in reaching area of your hands... Okay? Go!
We write the year 1997, it's a quite usual autumn day in middle of October. I had a great summer with friends and my Peugeot 306 convertible. This bordeaux Pininfarina beauty was a birthday present to myself one year ago in exchange with an Opel Calibra Turbo. It was my first convertible car and it offered me a completely new experience of driving. Speed wasn't its main purpose, slowness and detours were the key to amusement. Like on this October day. I was driving towards my new job, a new experience, new faces, new challenges.
After an apprenticeship as car mechanic and a few years working as one I changed to security business. I was one of these security guys you see in football stadiums, ice hockey halls and bigger parties. I was used to work at any time of day and I liked it.
My flexibility to work everywhere and all the time was probably one of the main reasons why my relationship broke up only a few weeks ago. Nothing to lose much words about it, we are still friends. Maybe we just had met too early in our lives.
Anyway, whenever something like this happened in my life, I did always the same: I worked even longer, harder and more. Work seemed to be the best therapy for me and nothing has changes until today. Girls might cut their hair, I changed the workplace to have more work.
My new job offered 3-shift production and I thought it's perfect for me. I couldn't resist the temptation to work mainly at night with free time during the day and a regular income instead of hourly wage.
With all this in mind and pleasant anticipation in my heart, I shook hands with my new boss. A new chapter began. I was introduced to my workmates of the same shift and as always before,
it was very easy for me to find the guy with whom I became friend. The fact that we worked side by side but at two different CNC lathes helped a lot to get to know each other better
quickly.
Weeks went by and with my newly won freedom as single, I spent many evenings home alone (Don't call me Kevin!). Already then consuming TV was too boring for me and wasted time for brainwash. My unbroken love for reading books had filled my shelfs and that's why I was looking for something new to fill that gap. Christmas came closer and with it the annual run for customers money. Usually I can resist these profit-making times quite easily but this year the newly released Nintendo 64 caught my attention. Do you know any healthy hetero guy who was never interested in video games? I don't and I'm no exception, especially after I had played some funny games (which names I don't remember) a few weeks earlier with my former security workmates.
One beautiful day in November, I started to tell my new work mate about my desire. I tried to start the discussion informally because these days, I truly believed video games are something for kids. What would my new friend think about me? Yes, back in these days, I really cared about other people's opinion of me... Luckily I had not only found a new friend, he was also a very good conversationalist. After countless hours of discussing on many days, he convinced me with his belief that the PlayStation was the better console. I had learned that the console stands and falls with its games and the PlayStation games were "more adult". But the killer fact to buy a Sony's grey disc player is to swap games with my friend.
A few days later, all shops in our local shopping center offered 10% discount on everything.
You know already, how the story continues... ;-)
I went to the electronic department and grabbed one box of Sony's best seller. What game shall I buy? I had no clue until I saw the "V-Rally 97" smiling at me... A quick look on the cover and the back told me that this game included "my" Peugeot 306! Within less than a tenth of a second, I had found my future pastime.
The cashier was a young pretty lady and I was still to shy to admit that video games were for adults too. That's why I told her to gift-wrap it for my godson...
At that time, I didn't feel silly but now... ;-)
Long story short: I had my Christmas present and found an entertaining friend for many years.
V-Rally and "my" Peugeot introduced me to a world I didn't know before.
because all the years Formula One was my favorite motorsport, thanks to our Sauber team.
Rally is one of these sports you don't ever see on Swiss TV and rarely on any other international channels. Especially when you don't like watching TV at all and at that time internet wasn't what it is today.
My workmate and friend was right, I liked my grey disc centrifuge, I loved V-Rally and I shared hundreds of hours of thrilling battles with my best friends, fighting for hundreds of a second to drive better stage times.
But on one beautiful day in 1998, V-Rally had lost its attraction.
What had happened?
Find out in my next blog, coming on Friday. Stay tuned!
High octane greetings and Uf Wiederluege!
-Bruno-
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