Gatebil isn’t exclusive. It isn’t about the latest and greatest supercar, or any my-turbo’s-bigger-than-your-turbo posturing. Gatebil actually operates under some very simple objectives: fun; the enjoyment of driving; the celebration of every kind of car. It’s about helping each other out. It’s about passion. All these things make Gatebil so refreshing and enjoyable, and it’s [...]
Approaching the Rudskogen Motorsenter it was clear that there was something unholy going on in the forest. Turning off the main road, smoke was rising over the trees and there was a terrible howling coming from the other side. Something – many things – were screaming in torment. Tortured souls; glowing eyes; wailing banshees. Was [...]
I often think to myself ‘Why must connecting flights have terminals that are so damn far apart?’. I am not complaining, because I have found my dream job – I get to travel the world hunting speed. But sometimes the travel demands can be pretty tough, leaving me in a perpetual state of jet lag and disorientation. That [...]
We are all products of our own environments. It’s our surroundings that shape the decisions we make and the paths we choose, and this notion can be applied to quite a lot of things. Take cars for example. Ever since I was a kid one of the most interesting aspects of traveling was always observing [...]
Nothing is as it seems at Gatebil. One thing you can be certain of however is that pretty much every car there might as well deserve its very own feature. I have never come across an event quite like it and I felt like a child in a candy store when it came to picking [...]
The Speedhunters drift team was kept secret for so long that I never really got used to the idea. I was track-side at Rudskogen Raceway on the last day of the Gatebil festival when suddenly these three amazing drift cars came around the bend. It actually surprised me as I snapped away with my tongue hanging out. For the [...]
It’s quite rare, but every so often you stumble upon a car that is so raw and insane that you can’t help but fall in love with it. I’m talking about the type of car where no two panels are the same color, where aesthetics aren’t just an afterthought but scarcely a thought at all. [...]
Although the Speedhunters Gatebil 2012 drift and media team have now scattered to the corners of the globe, we are all still basking in the afterglow of the experience of a lifetime. The event was simply that great. And while we’d all love to hold on to the immediacy of these memories, it’s soon going to be time to move on to our next projects. But before this happens, I thought to round up Darren, MadMike and Fredric for one last look at their own Gatebil stories.
During my return to Japan I had time to reflect over the mind-blowing experience that Gatebil has been for all that participated. I mean to think that Norway barely has a population of 5-million people, yet more than 50,000 showed for this year’s event is to me one of the most incredible aspects of this [...]
The myth of Gatebil Rudskogen is one I’ve been hearing from friends for quite some time. As a Speedhunters reader I have long been aware of the shenanigans and the completely mental machines but I still never really “got it”. I had this impression that it was a festival comprised of mind bending shed built [...]
On the last day of the Gatebil festival, many of the top drift cars enter a judged single-run competition based around Rudskogen’s last turn. Our entire Speedhunters drift crew of Mad Mike, Fredric and Dmac were in the mix, but unfortunately Fredric Aasbo’s new 86X did not make the start line, due to a rear-end failure. Nonetheless, Speedhunters’ [...]
Most professional photographers spend all our days in a seemingly lifelong pursuit for the perfect image. Personally, I know I’ll never shoot a “perfect image”, but I think the other Speedhunters and I are getting pretty darn close at Gatebil. I’ve spent the better part of today trolling through literally hundreds of photos, only to arrive at the above shot, which [...]
There is no reasoning behind most of the things we saw today at Gatebil. Having never experienced it first hand I was slightly confused as to why people seem to love it so much, but I get it now. I finally comprehend the insanity that is this three-day gathering of Scandinavia’s wildest cars. Initially I [...]
Norway is one of my favorite places in the world to visit. The sun seems to kind of just hang there when the light is just right. The clouds are amazing and the air is so crisp and clear. It’s a photographers dream. After traveling for a grueling 20 hours I met up with Mr. [...]
Yesterday was a very long day. After flying into Norway from Tokyo it was straight to Fredric’s house just outside Oslo for a rendezvous with the soon to be completed 86X. Fredric and his crew have been working literally non stop for the last two and a half weeks putting together this impressive 2JZ-powered 86, [...]
