Framing Part one – The dark foreground makes the subject stand out well. (Dennis Herzog Yamaha R7 Cup at Automotodrom Brno CZ) – Photo by Tobias Gehrke
Tobias Gehrke is not chasing fake fast. He is chasing the small, honest details that show what riding at the limit really looks like.
Tobias Gehrke is based in Germany, but the better way to picture him is somewhere between circuits, living out of a camper and moving with the season. For the last two years he has been bouncing between Oschersleben and Hockenheimring in Germany and Most in the Czech Republic, shooting track days and races around EuroMoto and the IBPM paddock with a Sony A1, an FX30, and usually a Sony 200-600 lens.
That setup tells you what he uses. It does not quite tell you how he sees. What makes Tobias interesting is not that he can point a camera at a fast motorcycle. It is that he is paying attention to the right things, and he is not trying to dress them up into something they are not.
“A track story isn’t automatically high production. A track story is something true.”
How He Got Pulled In
He did not arrive at motorcycles with a big identity plan. In 2021 he brought a camera to a photography workshop during an endurance race, and that was enough to get him close to the scene. The bigger reason he stayed was the people. He met riders and paddock regulars, stayed in touch, kept showing up, and eventually got pushed to stop just shooting stills and start filming.
Once he started rolling video in 2022, something clicked. Not because it was glamorous, but because it let him slow things down and look harder. He became fascinated by the small details – the way a rider moves under braking, how the motorcycle reacts beneath them, and how much work is hidden inside a lap before the big obvious moment ever happens.
That part feels important now, because too much track media gets flattened into “content.” Tobias is looking for something more useful than that. He is looking for the truth of the lap.
The right lighting and vibrant colors always work, even if the bike is completely black. (Twan Smits at Ciruito de Jerez E) – Photo by Tobias Gehrke
What Makes a Track Story Real
One of the things I like most about his perspective is that he does not need a track story to look polished before he takes it seriously. It does not need a glossy edit or a sponsor-ready finish to matter. Motorcycling is already raw enough. It is hot, rushed, loud, and sometimes messy, and a lot of the truth lives in those conditions.
For Tobias, a meaningful clip might only be a few seconds long. It might just show what a rider is doing with their body, what the bike is doing underneath them, and how much effort that one section of track is actually asking for. That is enough. It does not need fake drama added on top.
That is a good reminder for TrackDNA too. A track story is not automatically the loudest one. Sometimes the real story is in the quiet part before the wheelie, before the slide, before the clip everybody reposts.
“The shot everyone loves often lies.”
The Camera Can Lie
If you ask Tobias for one dead giveaway that someone is really pushing, he will not hand you some perfect formula. He says he often feels it before he can explain it. The more he watches riders, the more he starts recognizing what normal looks like for each of them, and that is what makes the subtle changes stand out.
He sees it in body language. He sees it in how they approach the line and how their timing shifts under braking. Those changes do not always look dramatic, but they are often the honest signs that the rider is already doing real work.
That is also why he draws such a clear line between what looks fast and what is fast. A wheelie looks wild on camera. A big slide grabs attention immediately. But that does not automatically mean that moment reflects the cleanest drive, the most control, or the most repeatable speed. As Tobias sees it, the shot everyone loves can also be the shot that lies.
Yes, a wheelie looks nice. But he could be faster without it. (Sheridan Morais at Autodromo Grobnik, Rijeka CO) – Photo by Tobias Gehrke
Watching More Than the Action
There is more thought behind his work than most people probably notice online. If he can, he checks the track the evening before and starts thinking ahead about where the sun will be, what the background will do, and what a certain part of the circuit might reveal once the bikes are loaded up and moving.
What makes that process even better is that riders often shape where he points the lens. Sometimes they want to understand something about suspension, tires, or the track itself. Other times, the session changes everything. A corner opens up differently than expected, the light lands right, and a spot that looked ordinary suddenly becomes the one place where the truth of the lap shows itself.
He is not only chasing obvious action, either. He likes those moments, but he also loves long sweeping corners that barely seem to move until you really watch them. Those are the shots that make you realize how much commitment can hide inside calm.
“Good track footage isn’t about drama. It’s about being real.”
Framing Part two – Sometimes Tobias goes to events just to test things and be more prepared for the next one.And use unusual things as a framework. (Rider Unknown TT Ciruit Assen NL) – Photo by Tobias Gehrke
The Line He Will Not Cross
This might be the clearest part of Tobias’s approach. He will not put himself in danger, and he will not put anyone else in danger, just to get footage. He also tries not to use accident clips unless the rider has given consent or already published the moment themselves. Even then, he sends the material to the rider first so they can see it and use it if it helps them learn.
That tells you what he is optimizing for. Not chaos. Not hype. Respect, usefulness, and a more honest look at what is really happening around the track.
The full magazine feature goes further into how Tobias reads riders, what sound adds that visuals cannot, when still photography beats video, and the line he thinks every new track-day rider should keep in mind all season.
A slow Session with a riding Coach has to be a boring picture. (Marvin Fritz show the line at Circuito de Jerez E) – Photo by Tobias Gehrke
TrackDNA safety note
Riding on track is risky, and what you see in photos or video can hide how much control, planning, and margin goes into a safe lap. This story is not coaching, and it is not a suggestion to push harder. Ride within your limits, follow your track organization’s rules, and listen to control riders and coaches on site.
Read the full story in our upcoming Issue 02
TrackDNA covers the culture, craft, and community behind motorcycle track riding – the parts that do not always fit in the highlight reel.
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