Gold Cup - Oulton Park

28 - 30 July 2023

The Gold Cup meeting at Oulton Park is an annual event that celebrates historic racing of open and closed modern and classic cars. For the spectator photographer this means you not only have classic open cockpit Historic Grand Prix, Formula 3, Ford and FF2000 but also Historic tintops with Touring cars from the 1960 to the 1980 to photograph.

The entry list for this year’s event was what made the PistonClick team make the not insignificant trip over to Cheshire. I was a very strong list with lots of interesting cars that from previous experience we knew would put on some good racing.

We were not disappointed and the cherry on top was the weather, which has not been kind to the track side spectator recently, played ball with that big yellow thing in the sky making an appearance.

The appearance of the sun was a little disappointing for me as I had chosen to head off to the furthest end of the spectator area at Brittens. If you know Oulton this is not a great area to take pictures in the morning if the sun is out as you are looking directly at it, sort of. I had been hopeful that the predicted overcast weather would hold while I was grabbing a few shots but it didn’t.

This is not too much of an issue as you can still get a few good angles looking away from the sun but it does reduce your options. I carried on, waiting for the intermittent clouds to allow a few shots, looking east knowing that this was only the practice sessions and I would be able to get better shots when the racing started.

First out on track were the Historic Racing Drivers Club qualifying for the ‘Jack Sears Trophy’. Ford Cortinas, Jaguars and Mustangs diced with the smaller more nimble Minis, Austin A series and Rileys in the damp conditions. Nothing too exciting but a few nice shots in the bag and I was now warmed up for what I had personally come to see.

The more modern MRL Historic Touring Car Challenge cars are great to watch, Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500s, Nissan Skyline R32 GT-Rs, Holdens and BMWs were properly going for it in their first qualifying session.

As the air was still a little chilly and damp there wasn’t the usual display of flames from the Cosworths and Skylines, but by the clouds of unburnt fuel being ejected from the exhausts there would be later in the day if it stayed dry and it did. The photos are mostly from the afternoon session.

Next we had the Historic Grand Prix Cars Association qualifying for the feature race, The Historic Gold Cup. With over thirty cars out on track, and I believe some cars on a reserve list, it looks like the Gold Cup will be around for a few years if it stays this popular!

This was not always the case, as back in 1954 when Stirling Moss first won the Cup in a non-championship F1 race, these types of race were competed for regularly but with the F1 race series becoming more expensive the Gold Cup fell off the F1 race calendar.

The Gold Cup has been competed for by many diverse classes of race cars, but for the last two years it has been the Historic Grand Prix Cars that have battled around Oulton’s 2.69 mile undulating circuit for the Cup.

In a a two part race, one on Saturday and one on Sunday, it would be #65 Justin Maeers in his 1964 Brabham BT11A who would take the honours in both races with #12 Rudi Friedrichs in a Cooper T53 second and #59 Charlie Martins Cooper T53 third on Saturday. On Sunday Martin went one better, taking second place, followed by #87 Tony Lees in a Cooper T53.

At just after 10:00am the first of the four races began. Formula 3, Touring Cars, Formula Junior and the Historic Racing Drivers’ Club all came out, and I made my way slowly down the track picking different locations to snap the action. When I arrived at the new bridge that has been erected just past Kinckerbrooke I had a decision to make.

There is not only racing at the Gold Cup but also loads of off track activities, mainly car club displays. As my shooting buddy had said he wanted to shoot the infield attractions and check out the merchandise stalls, I headed off to Druids.

Over lunch there was to be a demonstration lap of a Le Mans Group C Tiga which I wanted to see, and the straight part of Druids would fit the bill nicely to capture it.

I set up and waited as I could hear it warming up on the other side of the track. I’m glad I was ready as it only did one lap, possibly something to do with the smoke coming off the front wheel as it went past, Im no expert but I don’t think it should be doing that!

The afternoon was more of the same with some great racing with on the limit overtaking into Druids where I had stayed as the light was not bad at all.

This part of the track has loads of good shooting locations so as I had got what I wanted from the first few laps it was time to have a play. I then headed to Knickerbrook chicane to catch the special salons and Modsports.

One capture I've not been a fan of is the reverse shot when the car is travelling away but have been practicing recently, and I think it has paid off. This is one aspect of motorsports photography I keep banging on - practice. If you do some thing regularly you will become better at it.

You might never become great at it but self improvement at something you enjoy doing is satisfying.

So there you have it, the Oulton Park Gold Cup. It’s not just a race, it is a whole celebration of Historic and Classic race cars which has something for everyone. As a spectator photographer I would recommend this event, we will be back next year.