Mark Urban, a professional motor racing videography and content creator who primarily shoots IMSA and IndyCar in North America as well as sportscar series in Europe, made his first trip to Australia – where he attended his first Supercars event at the Valo Adelaide 500. Here, he shares his first impression of the country’s premiere racing category.

In 2020 one of the teams I worked with at the Rolex 24 hired a driver named ‘Shane van Gisbergen’ to drive for them. I had honestly never heard of him before, so looked up the 2020 Adelaide 500 Top 10 Shootout to see who this ‘SVG’ was – I’ve been a diehard Supercars fan ever since. I was blown away – there’s surely no better way determine pole position for a race (maybe only the Indy 500’s four-lap average is more dramatic.).

I’d wanted to visit Australia since I was a kid, so when the opportunity to attend a Supercars race came up, I figured I might as well try for credentials and shoot the race, even just for my own enjoyment. I’m not usually a big fan of people applying for credentials for that reason, but I had so many social friends in the Supercars space telling me to apply and even offering to help me get credentials. The Aussies are a very kind bunch!

Mark Urban at the 2022 Valo Adelaide 500. Image: Stephen King.

Social media has really helped with my consumption of Supercars media and to meet people involved in the…