Interview: Mick Phillips Photos & captions: Geoff Nickless

Kenny Roberts at Laguna Seca, 1979. The Ferrari 308 GTS was a gift from Yamaha for winning the 500cc World title

S SOON AS we spotted the photography of Geoff Nickless on Instagram, we loved it. Here was this rich seam of petrolhead porn in saturated ’70s colours and crisp black and white, with grand prix bikes and cars; early AMA Superbikes; motocross; close-up, dirt-in-the-teeth flat track action... Then there were the candid pit shots on the shoulder of great riders and drivers. Not just classic stuff, but modern as well. Oh, and lots of Kenny Roberts – riding, chatting, holding court... But something was missing. Well, a couple of decades seemed to be missing. We decided we needed to talk to Geoff Nickless. ‘I had to put my passion for photography on hold while I worked in the architectural field. After retiring in 2016, I realised that I missed going to the races. I finally had the time and means to begin attending again.’ So let’s get back to the beginning. Born and raised in Sacramento Valley, California, Geoff first got interested in photography after graduating from high school in 1972. He took all the classes available at Sacramento City College, from a beginners’ course in shooting black and white to advanced colour photography and printing. ‘I got my first SLR camera in 1974, a Minolta SR-T 101 with a 50 f/1.7. Next was a Vivitar 75-260 f/4.5, because I wanted to photograph racing in Northern California (Sacramento Mile, Sears Point in Sonoma County, and Laguna Seca in Monterey). I then progressed to a Canon F1 and a couple of years later I bought another F1 so I could load one with Ilford FP4 ASA 125 black and white film and the other with Kodak Kodachrome 64 transparency film.’

(above) Roberts in the pits at the 1974 Golden Gate Fields Mile, Albany, California. He won the main; (below left) Freddie Spencer on the Honda NS500 checking on his competition, in Turn 9 at Laguna Seca, 1982 Geoff first made his mark in 1975. He’d set himself up at Laguna Seca’s Turn 8 for a round of the AMA Grand National Championship, back when road racing was still an integral part of the series. ‘I captured a really good shot of Kenny Roberts, when he was the AMA Grand National Champion. I photographed an 8x10 print that I had made, with Kodak high contrast copy film. I then printed that negative on 16x20 Agfa print paper, with a contrast rating of 6, their highest contrast paper, and mounted it on matt board. I finally got the nerve to offer it to Kenny in 1977 at Sears Point Raceway. He really liked it and said, “Wow! That is really neat, I haven’t seen anything like that.” He asked, “How much do you want for it?” I told him he was my favourite rider and if he would take it that would make my day. He then said, “I see you get press passes.” I told him I wished I did, but that the shot was taken standing on an oil drum to get up over the fence. He then said, “Come and see me next time, I’ll get you a press pass.” ‘The next time I saw Kenny was in 1978 at Laguna Seca, he remembered me and gave me a press pass. At Sears Point in

(above) Eddie Wirth in Turn 1 on his XR750 at the 1975 Sacramento Mile, during time trials. He went on to be a very accomplished sprint car driver, winning the California Racing Association Championship in 1985; (right) Brandon Robinson gets into Turn 3 a little hot during practice at the 2019 Sac Mile. No, he didn’t save it. He slid under the air fence and laid motionless for nearly a minute. Thankfully, he was uninjured and raced in the main

1978, I gave him four 11x14 black and white prints mounted on matt board, to show my appreciation. He gave me another press pass. I never thought that would happen! This continued until 1985 when he retired.’ Geoff was strictly amateur, so his day job couldn’t be allowed to suffer, and what with Kenny’s absence from the paddock, plus increased pressure at work, he stepped back from photography until 2005. ‘My wife, Barb, and I went to the 2005 MotoGP at Laguna Seca. I shot film with my F1 and 80-200 and it was very difficult to get any good shots, so I started putting together new kit. Last year, a friend we met through Kenny Roberts at his annual charity dinner, Andy Johnson, Senior Director of Business Development for Cycle Gear, who is a fan of my work, offered us photo passes. Barb and I now go and photograph as many races as we can for Cycle Gear. She’s learning to shoot with the extra camera. Andy doesn’t put any restrictions on our work and we’re not paid, so that still makes me an amateur photographer!’ All that time away from the tracks has given Geoff a clear perspective on the way racing has changed over the years. ‘The rules now are much stricter than they used to be. Kenny would just pull a press pass out of his pocket and give it to me. Now, you have to work for a magazine, a website, an official company or have your photos published before you can get a photographer’s pass. I would have my pass pinned to my camera bag, now I have to sign a waiver, wear an official photographer’s vest and attend a safety meeting. It’s very restrictive and sometimes you just aren’t allowed to get to that location to get the shot you have in mind. ‘Years ago, I could go pretty much where I wanted and just use some common safety sense. I have photos from the 1975 Sacramento Mile where the track entrance for time trials was on the outside of turn one, with hay bales as the only protection for the officials and riders on their bikes waiting to go out. There were even riders watching, sitting on those hay bales with their legs unprotected, getting roosted when someone would ride the cushion.’ And, of course, the kit has changed significantly since the 1970s and ’80s (see separate box over the page). The distancing of fans and photographers, especially in grand prix racing, has been one of the more negative changes over the years, but 40 years ago things were pretty different.

(above) Roberts being introduced before the 25-lap main at the 1977 San Jose Mile. He designed and built Kenny Roberts Racing Frames chassis for his Yamaha OW72 dirt tracker. The bored-out Yamaha XS650 engine was built by Shell Thuet Racing Specialties ‘I was walking past Kenny’s 1979 YZR500 (OW45) grand prix bike and actually got a couple shots with the heads removed after it was inspected for after-race tech, right down into the cylinders – piston crowns and cylinder walls. That would not happen today. I have not printed them and nobody has ever seen them. Now it’s almost impossible to get a good photograph of the MotoGP bikes when they are not on track. Someday, I really would like to get a photo of that snaking upper titanium exhaust of a Honda RC213V.’ One thing that hasn’t changed much is that you can rely on the flat track community to be far more accessible, even at the highest levels of the sport. ‘The dirt trackers are whole different story. In 2017, I asked if I would be allowed to take

(above) Yamaha factory team-mates Gene Romero (3) and Kenny Roberts get ‘under the paint’ exiting Turn 4 during morning practice at the 1974 Golden Gate Fields Mile. (below) Kyle Wyman in Laguna Seca’s Turn 8, the top of the Corkscrew, on his Ducati Panigale V4R in 2019

Wayne Rainey exiting Laguna Seca’s Corkscrew in 1983 on his Kawasaki GPz750 superbike. I gave Wayne a print of this last year. He said, ‘1983, that was one of my favourite championships.’

My equipment is so much better today than it was years ago. I had good equipment, but my longest lens was a Canon FD 80-200 f/4. Now I shoot with a Canon 5D MkIII and a Canon FE 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 L, a Canon FE 400 f/4 DO and Canon tele-converters (1.4x and 2x) for track shots. My paddock lens is a Canon 24-70 f/2.8 L. Barb shoots with a Canon 7D MkII, Canon 70200 f/2.8 L and a Canon 16-35 f/2.8 L when in the paddock. GN

some photos of the new Indian FTR750. One of the Indian team said, “Sure, come on around the barriers and shoot whatever you want.” Then he started pointing out items that I may be interested in. There was so much carbonfibre and titanium, I was amazed. ‘I remember my instructors from school telling me that everybody sees things at eye level, five to six feet above the ground. If it will work with your subject, try to shoot higher or lower than at what most people see things. This will make people take a longer look at your photograph, because there is something different about it. ‘Always try to fill your frame with the subject. It doesn’t always matter if the front or the back of your subject is cut off, it can have a very dramatic effect. And passion for your subject matter and patience are things you need.’ And passion this is. Geoff is definitely not in it for the money. ‘I have always been an amateur. I have never sold a photograph, just given them away to friends, riders... and recently to Kenny Roberts’ annual charity auction for returning veterans.’