Double top for ‘Qnigan’ in Photo of the Year contest

Jakub Nitka – popularly known in the FIA World Rallycross Championship as ‘Qnigan’ – is the winner of the 2022 ‘Photo of the Year’ competition, after dominating the fans’ poll in both the ‘Action’ and ‘Behind-the-Scenes’ contests.

A shortlist of ten shots was compiled in each category, with thousands of votes cast. Ultimately, it was Nitka’s dramatic ‘Gravel Storm’ image of five-time world champion Johan Kristoffersson and the ‘Raw Emotion’ of Oliver Solberg’s Euro RX1 celebration at Höljes that impressed you the most.

“The 2022 season was a bit special for me,” revealed ‘Qnigan’, a familiar face in the dual-surface discipline. “It marked my 15-year anniversary as a professional rallycross photographer – and I’ve never won any competitions before!

“The first photo was taken at Spa track from the grandstand. Some tracks are even for us photographers a big challenge because of restrictions and no-go areas, so I decided to go to the public area and take photos from there with my tele-lens. I remember some fans started following me there and even asked about things like camera settings. The dust and Johan driving sideways created a really nice effect.

“The second photo captured Oliver Solberg immediately after the final in Sweden. He won for the first time at Höljes and he showed it in my lens with raw emotion – nothing more to add. I would like thank everybody that voted for me. I already can’t wait for next season!”

Last year’s winner Paulo Maria scooped second spot in both the ‘Action’ and ‘Behind-the-Scenes’ categories for his Euro RX3 ‘First Corner Crunch’ in Hell and Klara Andersson’s ‘Champagne Celebration’ after achieving her maiden World RX podium finish in Portugal.

Maintaining the symmetry of the results, Michael Jurtin placed third in both categories, for his ‘Chasing the Champ’ shot of Kristoffersson starting as he meant to go on in Norway and the ‘Mirror Image’ of Kevin Hansen reflected in the door of his Peugeot 208 RX1e as the Swede prepared for battle.