Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe - Round 2 - Brands Hatch

Report and Images by David Nairne

4 - 5 May 2024

I have always had a soft spot for Brands Hatch ever since the 1000k Group C race in 1984 that saw Derek Warwick and John Fitzpatrick take on and beat the works Porsche and Lancia temas with their privately entered, J David sponsored, Porsche 956. Those were the days ……..

Fortunately, for the spectator photographer, Brands Hatch hasn’t changed that much! Yes there are more fences than back in the day, but due to the compact nature of the circuit, you can still get very close to the action. The atmosphere has always been friendly and welcoming - so much different to the ‘we don’t really want you here’ attitude of Silverstone the weekend before.

The Fanatec GT Sprint round has always been one of my ‘go to’ events, attending every round other than those affected by COVID and so I decided to make a weekend of it and attend both practice and race day.

Saturday dawned bright, warm and so for FP1 decided to look at some of the prime spots around Druids. The light was superb and with majority of the crowd yet to arrive, finding suitable shooting spots was fairly easy. On the outside of the circuit, you are shooting through fences (especially as I left my steps in the garage!) but due to the tight nature of circuit, it is fairly easy to get your lens close to the fence and then losing it with the wide aperture. 

In bright sunlight, using shutter priority, this can cause a few issues with the fence being brightly lit and still being viable but with judicious use of exposure compensation it is possible to ensure that the aperture stays wide enough without over exposing.

One of the downsides of the tight confines of Brands, is that the circuit furniture (bins, marshal posts, TV crews, Pro photographers etc) can become somewhat frustrating as they seem to appear in almost every shot! Some selective framing and creative editing can still ensure that some good shots are achievable (although my wife did ask ‘where is the red bin removal button on the D500!)

So, spent the first hour trying as many varied positions as possible on both outside and inside of Druids. The trees that line the outside of the circuit provided some interesting shaded track areas that confused the camera settings occasionally, but again, with a little creativity this can be minimised and used to your advantage.

Many of the trees on the inside of Druids appear to have either been cut down or lost to storms giving better sight lines - this does provide more access to panning shots both on the climb up Hailwoods Hill and the decent down to Graham Hill Bend. Tried some lower shutter speeds here - down to 100th sec with the 24-120 f4 with the D3s and between 160th and 320th with the 200-400 f4 attached to the D500.

One of the interesting aspects of spectating here is that you really can see how the different cars develop their power. The normally aspirated V8s appear to be fairly linear in their power delivery and coming out of Druids feed the power in gradually, whilst with the turbo powered cars it is quite visable that as the turbo spools up they get a surge of power that just launches them off the corner.

One big improvement for this year is the replacement of the old, bright red Audi banners on the tyre walls with black Squadra Corse Lamborghini signs! For Pre Qualifying, I decided to cram in as many alternative shooting spots as possible. It is so easy to get dragged into staying in one spot too long and coming away with lots of images all the same, so with this in mind, I set five minute alarms on my phone which encouraged me to keep moving.

Started off at the bridge at the end of Clearways looking back up towards Stirlings. Last time I was there it was possible to easily shoot over the fence if you climbed the bank and leaned against the wooden fence that protect the road over the bridge. This year, there was a scaffolding structure that looks like it was intended to be used as a TV tower positioned right in the corner of the banking, with loads of ’No entry’ signs placed around it. With no one about and the nearest marshalls somedistance away, I managed to sneak up behind the structure and shoot through it successfully but I would advise that you probably don’t want to draw too much attention to yourself by staying there too long.

By this time the sun had disappered behind some increasingly threating looking clouds and with Clearways being boardered by trees it made for some very different light from the morning.

Next, I started to walk back along Clearways to Stirlings. Firstly, there is a shot of the rear of the cars as they disappear under the bridge. You can also shoot through the fence here looking back towards Stirlings - not an easy shot as the fence is at a fairly oblique angle and therefore can be a little difficult to ensure that it is not visable. This is one of the fastest parts of the circuit and it is where you can see just how fast these GT3 cars are - and the noise is just awesome. I will never, ever get into Formula E!

Walking back through the trees it is possible to reach the fence line at Stirlings. Those that know the Brands Hatch of old will realise that this is one of the areas that used to be fence free. Unfortunately, following a massive crash in a SEAT race a number of years ago and subsequent insurance issues for the return of DTM, MSV has been forced to make some of this area a complete ’no go’ area and also erect substantial fencing.

It is possible to get close enough to shoot through this but it has reduced some of the angles that used to be available and made panning with a shorter lens very nearly impossible.

Having exhasted all of the ‘easy’ shots from Stirlings, I considered going in search of some different angles around the GP loop. The problem with this is that it is a substantial walk to the next available position, as the stright between Sheen Curve and Stirlings is now completely out of bounds, so instead I walked back through the trees to just before the bridge at Pilgrims Drop. Here it is possible to get a head on shot over the fence and also a rear end shot as the drop down under the bridge.

Next was a few minutes spent at the exit of Surtees, where I definately rued the lack of a step. This is one of my favorite shots at Brands, as it does give an idea of the imense power of the cars as you are very close to them and even without a step it is still just about possible to shoot over the top of the fence in a couple of places.

Having spent my ‘five allotted' minutes there, I then walked across the bridge over Pilgrims Drop and took a few shots looking back towards the bridge. Unfortunaely, this is another place where the H&S people appear to have got involved. It used to be possible to walk down the hill to at least the marshalls post - I have spent many a Red Flag moment chatting with them - and occasionally, if there were not too many people there, walking a little bit further towards Hawthorns bend. Now there are barriers preventing you getting within 100 feet of the marshalls post! Shame! Still, managed a few decent shots.

Finally, with time running out I went back to the back on the outside of Druids for the last few minutes. Really tried to pack in as much as I could to get a little variety.

For Qualifying itself, bearing in mind that it is only two 10 minute sessions, I decided on the exit of Clearways and the start of the Brabham Straight. the fence here is a real issue and the number of ‘keepers’ drops accordingly, but I like the position as you can see who is really trying.

Overall, an enjoyable days shooting and qualifying results showed that no one manufacturer was going to stand out. Mercedes, BMW, Aston Martin Audi and McLaren all had cars at the sharp end of the grid and it certainly boded well for Sunday.

The different noises that the cars make is really accentuated by the tight confines of the circuit and, whilst some may say that these cars are getting too big and fast for Brands, the spectacle that they provide is both visually and aurally awesome. Long may it continue!

Sunday 5 May 2024 - Race Day.

The day dawned with bright sunshine and warm temperatures which encouraged a decent sized crowd for race day. This increase in spectator numbers around the tight confines, does limit the possibility of changing shooting positions regularly as many of the good spots are taken and I don’t like to force myself through the crowds.

With this in mind, following a rather decent breakfast in The Kentagon, we decided that we would set ourselves up on the banking on the drop down from Druids to Graham Hill Bend with the intention of watching the race unfold and shooting the occasional image as and when available.

One of the shots that I really like, that goes against all the 'rules’, is shooting into the early morning sun during this first race. Don’t know why, just like the different editing opportunities it provides and, actually, just because I can! Maybe a bit ‘marmite’ but there you go! As for the race, following an excellent pit stop, the No 32 WRT BMW ran out easy winners.

In the end, after a fairly tiring two days, we also ended up standing around the Druids area for race 2 which, once again, produced a few more decent shots to add to the library. Under a cloudy sky, with the threat of rain, the second race was a little more processional than the morning’s offering, although the rain never materialised, but the Winwood Racing Mercedes of Lucas Auer and Maro Engel dominated and were never really threatened. 

From a spectator point of view, the second Winwood car No 57 of Reece Barr and Magnus Gustavsen provided the entertainment, after being pushed into a half spin on the second lap, they then proceeded to chase back up to the rear of the pack and recived a warm round of applause when they started to pass people.

Evidenced by the large amount of 'No 46' T Shirts, Caps etc on show, it was fairly obvious who a large majority of the crowd had come to see - THE DOCTOR! It’s great to see this level of interest in just one driver - most unusual in sportscar/GT racing where more often than not it is the cars that are the stars and most of the drivers could walk among us and not many people would recognise them.

Although the WRT BMW M4 No 32 of Vanthoor and Weerts won the first race by a much faster pit stop, the BMW M4s did not appear to be completely happy around the tight nature of Brands. Valentino Rossi and Maxime Martin especially seemed to have an ‘off’ day - not qualifying particularly well in either race with Valentino dropping it into the gravel in FP1.

They also had a number of trips across the gravel at Paddock Hill, on the exit of Druids and also at Clearways in qualifying, before retiring in the second race with steering damage after not being able to hold off their teammates in No 32 - not one of their best weekends overall.

I thought that there were a number of standout performances over the weekend. In qualifying, Mattia Drudi putting the ‘007 Comtoyou' Aston Martin on the front row was pretty spectacular - he looked quick all weekend - new car, new team and new team mate! Can't keep the quick guys down!

In race 1 ….. WRT’s pit stop won them the race and once in front, no one is going to pass No 32! The Boutson VDS Team for getting their recalecrant No 9 Mercedes GT3 Evo into the second race after engine issues meant that they didn’t even start race 1. The speed of the No 71 Ferrari in the hands of silver drivers Eliseo Donno and Brit, Thomas Fleming ….. two names I was unfamiliar with but very quick all weekend.

All in all, a great weekend, at a very enjoyable, spectator/photographer friendly venue that has been updated by MSV over the last few years without completely ruining the atmosphere and accessibility. Yes there are a few places that you now cannot shoot through the new fences, but in reality, if we are honest, the last time I shot the GT3 cars out on the GP loop, it was starting to feel a tad dangerous and I think that MSV had no choice but to add the fences. With a little more thought, they could probably have achieved this with more appreciation of the spectator photographer, but ultimately, safely is paramount and therefore I do feel that they have achieved a sensible solution.



SILVERSTONE ……… TAKE NOTE!

Previous Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe PistonClick reports can be found below