Optical Express Donington Classic Motorcycle Festival

Report by David Gowshall of DEEGEE Motorsport Photography

29^th - 30^th July 2023

The Classic Racing Motorcycle Club returned to Donington Park last weekend for its biggest meeting of the year and two days of retro racing celebrations.

The weekend was packed with lots of classic motorcycle action on the 1.98 mile National circuit, with a display of Grand Prix and other historic race bikes parked on the Melbourne Loop.

Unfortunately, my report does not contain any photos of the sidecars in action, which I will take some of the blame for. Arriving slightly late on Sunday morning I was disappointed to have missed the first sidecar outing of the day and by the time the second event took place I was on my way home avoiding the heavy rain that fell from 5pm.

It could reasonably be argued it was my fault I couldn’t catch some sidecar action, but the packed programme over the weekend was very “solo orientated”. With 35 races, 10 parades, 8 practice sessions and two qualifying sessions set aside for the two-wheel competitors. The sidecar crews were restricted to 4 races, and just 1 practice session over the two-day event.



The Sunday schedule featured all of the CRMC Championship races plus two ACU Championship races.  The winner of the ACU Classic 750/1300 race would be presented with the Wheatcroft Trophy, all of this was played out in front of what was a very sparse crowd. 

I have attended the Classic Motorcycle Festival for the last three years which has historically been very popular. But maybe the cost of living crisis and dip in the “jet stream” and the subsequent bad weather are beginning to have an effect on spectator numbers.

Parking was located outside of the circuit and with the weather forecast for sunshine and heavy showers so needing to take all my photographic and wet weather gear with me the trolley I purchased last Summer came in very handy.

As a “spectator” photographer I must admit Donington Park is not my favourite circuit with too many of the ideal locations for good shots being hampered by high safety fencing and long run off areas particularly round the outside of the circuit. This requires a long lens so I usually head infield where uninterrupted views can be found and you are a little closer to the action. 

However, on this occasion armed with my 150-600mm telephoto lens and with Base Camp established on the outside of Hollywood for the family I decided to stay on the outside of the track committing to “through the fence” shots. 



I concentrated my efforts from Redgate all the way down to what is left of Starkeys Bridge. This includes the spectacular downhill Craner Curves (which is surprisingly steep when you are trudging back up it!) and the Old Hairpin, all of which is lined with safety fence.

To prevent accidently focusing on the fence manual focussing is one option but fortunately my superzoom has two auto-focus settings, 6m to infinity and full focus range. By setting it on the 6m – infinity setting it ensures I can’t accidently auto focus on the fence as it “looks” beyond the fence.



Initially as I normally do I got some “keepers” I was happy with and didn’t attempt to try any panning or angled shots.  You can get close to the fence in some locations so my intent was to get the centre of the lens in the middle of the hole formed within the wire. Looking through the fence at 90 degrees to the target to reduce the amount of image softening helped with getting the “keepers”. 

I was also looking to take advantage of the weather utilising the many dull periods during the day when the light was diffused and not shining off the fence. I was also able to put myself between the sun when it briefly appeared and the fence, creating a shadow for the same reason. 

Once I’d got some shots I was happy with I tried some panning.  Some perfectly acceptable results were achieved I’m pleased to say, albeit some slightly “soft focussed” but a little post-processing can remove that. 

Shooting through the fence does place some limitations on the type of shot you can take and you will probably have a few more “write offs” than usual but you shouldn’t simply rule it out.  It provides a bit of a challenge, but follow some basic rules and some perfectly acceptable results can be achieved.

The main race of the day was the Wheatcroft Trophy Race held over twelve laps. Despite the absence of top-flight riders Joe Barton (winner of the event for the last two years) and Mark Cronshaw (a regular CRMC front-runner) it provided plenty of excitement. 



After a bad start Ant Hart (#75) on his Suzuki XR69 settled down behind leader Richard Blunt (#13) on his rapid Minnovation Kawasaki. Blunt took a tumble on the last lap allowing the highly committed Kurtis Butler (#24) and Simon Bastow (#23) to fill the lower steps of the podium.

Pistonclick’s adopted rider Mick Pennell was again in action in what was for him a very mixed weekend.  His 2023 campaign in both the CRMC and British Historic Racing season is being hampered by an acute shortage of 16” diameter front tyres for his Yamaha FZ machine since the closure of the Avon factory earlier this year.

Still in with a very realistic chance of retaining the British Historic Racing Over 50’s title he won last season, Mick is having to use his tyres very sparingly and compromise on his CRMC season. He may be forced to miss the remaining two CRMC meetings at both Anglesey and Croft to ensure he can compete in the final two rounds of the British Historic Racing season.The last meeting will be held at his home circuit Cadwell Park in September.

Coincidentally, Cadwell Park, provided me with a photo opportunity last Thursday evening with the visit of the FHO BMW British Superbike team for a private testing session.

Josh Brookes (#25) and Peter Hickman (#60), spent almost two hours putting their machines through their paces, providing plenty of opportunities to snap them in action on what was a pleasant sunny evening.

Also present were local rider Craig Neve (#6) who now has Batham’s Racing backing after a series of impressive rides at this year’s TT. Jack Nixon (#47) who has ridden for the FHO team in the BSB Superstock class also looked very impressive on Hicky’s TT “Trooper” Triumph.

The mini-Nurburgring nestling in the Lincolnshire Wolds will be like a second home to: DEEGEE: Motorsport Photography during August.

The International Sidecar Revival next weekend followed by a further round of the F2 Sidecar Championship will form part of the Darlington Motor Club’s planned ‘mega mix” meeting for two, three and four wheeled vehicles 19 – 20 August. 

Finally, the month will end with the three day BSB “Party in the Park” over the August Bank Holiday weekend.