Postcard from the British Superbikes at Silverstone

Report by David Harbey

17 September 2021

For the second Saturday running it was off to see BSB qualifying and races – this time at my local track, known round these parts little sense of irony as Silverfence. 

The reasons are well known – MotoGP and Formula One both demand big run off areas, which combined with extensive fencing, means there are few opportunities to exploit the short zoom lens in your bag or shoot clean images.

Using the fast 1.64 mile National Circuit, confusing referred to on the PA as the International Circuit, means lots of chances to shoot the racing – contrasting markedly with Snetterton’s 3 mile 300 circuit.

I started at my favourite spot on the outside of Luffield and looking back to Brooklands.

It needs a double height step to get to a single layer of fencing and all of your 500mm zoom, but it does then give a good choice of shots. You can also get flames – although this is not the sort we were aiming for as Sam Cox crashed out in Free Practice 3.

Walking up to the inside of Brooklands, there was hardly a soul in sight giving a great chance to get shots before or after the corner.

Gino Rea and Peter Hickman were both comfortably in the top ten ahead of the two part Qualifying sessions.

There’s a small hole in the fence at just the right height to give much cleaner shots of the Supersport / GP2 contenders at the entrance to Brooklands – hurrah !

To get the riders on the exit of the corner is through the fence and at an angle – thus the shots are softer but no less dramatic.

And so to our first “no fence” shots on the Luffield terracing - remember there is a locked gate halfway along the terrace – no, I don’t know either, its something to do with the Silverstone Experience. 

On the step (or tiptoes if you are tall) there is a clean shot of the riders as they roll into Luffield.

The lunch break beckoned so it was off to the inside of Copse. I have a framed shot of Rossi by Jonny Henchman (check him out on Flickr) on my office wall which I am pretty sure was taken there.

Sadly, advertising hoardings (for the TV coverage) meant this was a no go. So, it was head down towards Maggotts, set up the step and shoot over the fence.

Here’s Keith Farmer on his return to Superbikes. (Editor, but not for long Im sad too say. Watch out for a PistonClick report on the man from Clogher coming soon.)

Walking on past the Silverstone Six grandstand gives a shot in the braking area for Becketts where the riders turn right for the run back to Brooklands on the Wellington Straight.

The advertising here makes a great back-drop to photos especially at slower shutter speeds and are not so high as to stop you watching from the outside of the track (of which more later).

Time for some racing with the Honda British Talent Cup. I’d seen these guys at Donington and knew that there would be plenty of slipstreaming action – I wasn’t to be disappointed as the field headed out onto the Wellington Straight.

I was shooting through fencing - no change there, then !

Back to the previous location in front of the grandstand and there’s a great long shot or panning shot into the braking and (sometimes) overtaking area.

Those shots were repeated for the National Superstocks where Tim Neave took the honours in race 1.

More walking …. Back to Copse, through the tunnel and turn right. From my four-wheel experience, there’s a shot over the fence (again step required), as the riders exit the corner. Here’s the Ducati Tri-Options Cup nicely advertising the BMW M range …

And so to the spot on the track the experts all say you should go to watch from, especially if it is quick stuff on two, three or four wheels flying through Maggotts and on to Becketts.

I was there partly to just experience it and perhaps try for some rear shots as the bikes headed into Becketts – a long right remember on the National Circuit. You are shooting through the fence but you can get fairly close.

Anyway, we were having a flamin’ great time as not only Dan Linfoot (based on Donington experience) but also Brian McCormack put on a show.

Less spectacular but more successful was Glenn Irwin on his way to the win – although only as a result of the unfortunate coming together between Mackenzie and O’Halloran.

Time to start heading back towards the car park; next up was the Supersport / GP2 race. On the way, I tried a couple of shots on the National Pits Straight.

Not sure it really works but worth a try.

To close out the day, it was back to Luffield – firstly shooting through the fence at the exit of the corner and then above the fence.

I’m really enjoying shooting bikes and I think I am getting the hang of it - but you the viewer should be the judge of that .

Now, I’ve not been to Cadwell yet in 2021 especially now the Hall Bends section is open again – must put that right soon.

Thanks to David Harbey for the Images and report, you can see more of his work by following the links below.

Photographic Post Script - The Showdown explained

Last weekend’s Silverstone round of this year's British Superbikes Championship was arguably the most important three races so far.

The showdown places had not been fully decided as the Friday practice started, but come Sunday afternoon we had our eight contenders, up from six in previous years that would be battling for the title BSB Champion 2021.

If you are not up to speed on how the showdown affects the final three rounds, let me explain. Up to and including the Silverstone round the riders were trying to gain as many championship points as possible, 25 for a win down to 1 point for 15th place. 

After the final Silverstone race the top eight riders had all of their scores wiped out and given 1000 points each. Added to this total were the podium points they had picked up from the previous 24 races, 5 for a win, 3 for second and 1 for third.

Jason O’Halloran is now leading the championship with 1071 points from his teammate Tarren MacKenzie who is 30 points behind on 1041. So why do this? Well it keeps the championship interesting right up to the wire.

There are quite a few automotive race championships where the champion has been decided early due to one team running away and winning everything. This can reduce interest from the fans.

It also benefits the teams that have made a slow start to the season. Is it fair? If you are running away with the championship I’m sure you would say it isn't, but if you are on a roll coming into the final races I’m sure you would say it is fair.

Regardless of the fairness of the system, one thing is assured and that is very competitive racing. We saw loads of this last weekend at Silverstone, especially from the riders sitting just above and below that all important line drawn under the number 8 position.

But what do the rest of the pack have to fight for now? It’s the title of the riders' Champion and that will be decided by, in ninth place Bradly Ray then Lee Jackson, Ryan Vickers, Rory Skinner and in 13th place Andrew Irwin. The rest have an outside chance as you never know what is going to happen. Gino Rea is certainly on a roll two sixth places finishes at Silverstone.   

The top five riders, O’Halloran, MacKenzie,  Bridewell, Iddon and Hickman had claimed their places in the Showdown so it was down to Irwin, Buchan, Jackson and Brookes to claim the last three places. 

The first race was absolute carnage and with the majority of the showdown rides not finishing the race. Buchan took out Vickers, Hickman ended up in the kitty litter, Jackson who’s has been doing so well had his second race in a row with zero points after his bike broke down.

On the last lap MacKenzie high sided in front of championship leader and teammate O’Halloran who ran straight into him. The accident, which was a racing incident, looked bad but both riders were classed fit to ride after medical check-ups.

Race two and three had fewer incidents but were no less exciting to watch. Josh Brookes who came in fourth behind Irwin, Iddon and Bridewell in race one was on it again, coming in third behind MacKenzie and O’Halloran who managed not to crash into each other this time out.

In the final race it was more of the same with O’Halloran beating MacKenzie and Brookes in third again. So after the dust had settled the showdown standings are as follows: 

1. Jason O’Halloran
2. Tarren MacKenzie
3. Tommy Bridewell
4. Christian Iddon
5. Peter Hickman
6. Glenn Irwin
7. Danny Buckan
8. Josh Brookes 

The next round is at Oulton Park 24 -25 September.