Peak Seven was busy January 22, 23 and 24, 2010 shooting cinema quality footage of YAS Marina Circuit Top Fuel Dragsters, the newest and most innovative drag strip and Formula 1 racing venue in the world, located in Abu Dhabi. With a racing background and extreme knowledge of the industry, Peak Seven was asked to get the first ever video and still photography of YAS's all new two-car Top Fuel Dragster team, which cost five million dollars. It began as documentation for a "behind the scenes" of their team and drag racing in general. The scope of the project grew dramatically, essentially becoming a documentary. From detailed educational aspects such as the car, light tree, track conditions, scoring, hauler, engine and operations, to amazing interviews with the who's who of drag racing, like Don Schumacher, Mike Stewart and Lee Beard of Don Schumacher Racing, 16 hours of incredible raw footage has been collected. Don Schumacher Racing built both teams from the ground up in only two months for YAS. The drivers include Rod "Hot Rod" Fuller and Tommy Johnson who sit behind the wheel of the 8,000 horsepowered dragsters.
"This was quite a task, as we were shooting and maneuvering around the race teams with a sound guy, videographer and photographer, all while the teams were working on the cars and testing them on the track," said Darren Seys, creative director of Peak Seven and director of the shoot. "They may have been 12 hour days, but it was an adrenaline-filled time."
The YAS Teams were vigorously testing their new teams to get them up to speed before getting shipped over to Abu Dhabi in February (it will take a month to get both teams to the track). The agency was there to document and get footage in order to put together promotional marketing materials and commercials prior to the inaugural drag race festival in Abu Dhabi in March 2010.
Learn more at www.yasmarinacircuit.com and be sure to catch excerpts of this amazing footage soon on our Peak Seven blog