Knockhill Racing Circuit
Address: Dunfermline, Fife, KY12 9TF Scotland
Telephone: +44 (0)1383 723337
Email: enquiries@knockhill.co.uk
Website: https://www.knockhill.com
Where to take photos at Knockhill - Part 1 when the vehicles are going the correct way round, clockwise
Report and images by Darren Oliver-Jones Olithephoto
11 July 2022
I was very excited to head to Knockhill for the first time and to be able to provide a circuit guide for the clockwise set-up to compliment the anti-clockwise guide provided by David previously. So, let’s get into it.
Knockhill is a compact 1.3mile circuit with gradient changes that you won’t really be able to see on TV, but I hope I can convey that with the images I have taken. For the spectator there are some brilliant innovations, which along with the mainly low fencing, enables the general photographer a largely clear and close view of the action. For BSB, car parking was on the hill overlooking the back straight which also housed all the trade stalls, whilst bikes could park in several spots around the track
Knockhill has shelters at McIntyres, Clarkes (two of them here) and Taylor’s on to the main straight. The circuit also has banking around a lot of the circuit and moreover, benches around most of it. I walked the circuit several times over the weekend, including the infield which spans the area from F to G on the map, and gives some different views of the action.
So, starting our track walk at A – Duffers Dip and F - Leslies
This is one of the places where the gradient is really obvious. You are at the pit lane exit here. Looking right, you have a view from the brow of hill up the start-finish straight (but not the start-finish line) and looking left you can watch the hard breaking on to Duffers Dip (side on) and down into Leslie’s and McIntyres from rear.
If you crouch down here you can get a great shot of the rear of bikes, apparently heading into the countryside.
Walking down you come across one of few high fence areas and the first shelter. The fencing is single layer and easy to shoot through. From here you can watch the bikes disappear all the way through to Clarkes – it really is a great little circuit at which to spectate. There is a small section of double fencing where the Marshall post is – keep walking and you will soon be back to single high fencing.
Continuing to walk round the circuit we come to...
Right at the end of double fencing you are back to low fencing and can shoot back to McIntyres and back up to Leslie’s and Duffers Dip head on or into the chicane from behind.
The fencing is low all the way through chicane up until Clarkes, when before the single high fencing, it will be a rear shot but again this really shows elevation into Clarkes (it’s really steep!)
It’s all high fencing and 2 shelters, but the fencing is really easy to shoot through so you can get shots of the bikes heading up from the chicane into Clarkes. If you walk through both shelters you are back to low fencing and from this position you can shoot the bikes coming over the brow of the hill at the apex of the corner. Again, shooting low gives a really good idea of how steep the climb is.
All the way from Clarkes to the hairpin at Taylor’s the fencing is low and shooting is easy, and a good place to see the riders tucking in to power along the back straight (it isn’t straight!!) You will climb above the track here, so you can get some interesting shots. 
It’s fast here, so good panning technique is a must. As you walk down to Taylors and the bikes are breaking hard, you can get some back wheel off the ground shots.
Taylors – the hairpin is again incredibly steep. This has high fencing all around it plus there is an unused bit of road that is only open to emergency vehicles, so sitting here means you are quite a way from the track and personally I didn’t take any shots from this position, but plenty do, and they get good results as you can see the the bikes coming down the back straight, into the hairpin and climb on to the main straight until they vanish over the crest.
At the top of Taylor’s is the latest shelter, and from here you are looking down on the bikes turning. If you walk through the shelter there is a huge expanse of bench seating which takes you up to the pit entrance, and you can get great wheelie shots here as the bikes hit full throttle. Peter Hickman dropped his rear on to the gravel coming out of Taylor’s and slid up the track to the pit entrance, which gave an idea of the speed he was already doing by this point!
The other thing I loved was that the podium is here, and you can get really close to the ceremonies. I tasted the champagne of several classes and it was great fun!
From here, continue walking back to the bridge and cross over into the infield. This gives you a view of most of the circuit depending on where you stand, although you will need a 600mm lens if you plan to shoot from here. For wide shots a 200mm will be adequate.
It was a 960 mile round-trip for me, but I have to say that Knockhill is my new favourite circuit. Even though it was a bumper crowd, there was still plenty of space and the racing across all classes was brilliant.
You can see more of Olithephotos work by following these Social Media links.
Where to take photos at Knockhill - Part 2 when the vehicles are going the wrong way round, anti-clockwise.
Report and images by David Harbey
This may yet be the most unhelpful spectator snappers guide you ever read ! The reason is that, with an unexpected opportunity to get to Knockhill for a race meeting, they were going the “wrong” way. More seriously, Knockhill is one of the few circuits with a licence to run clockwise and anti-clockwise which for double header meetings gives additional variety for the competitors. We happened to be there on an anti-clockwise day.
Located just north of Dunfermline and east of Stirling there is plenty of accommodation close by and weekend camping is available at the track for the bigger events. There is also a great view across to the railway and road bridges across the Firth of Forth from the track.
During June 2021 when we visited, we were still in the latter stages of the pandemic and access to the Paddock and the Hairpin was, understandably, denied to us. We will endeavour to get back to Knockhill and update this photographic guide when all of the COVID 19 restrictions have been lifted.
Nevertheless, if you have watched coverage of Touring Cars, BSB or even rallying you will probably guess that there are plenty of spots to shoot from on a circuit of just 1.3 miles.
We drove round to the area around Clark’s and Hislops first of all. Of immediate note is that, in normal times you can drive round the circuit perimeter road to your preferred spot. This may not be as easy for busier meetings. This is some fencing but there are gaps and you can get right up to it to shoot through it.
More importantly, there are benches at the rear of the spectator banking all the way from Duffus Dip to Clark’s. Other tracks should do this !
Even better were the small covered areas to provide shelter in the event of inclement weather (yes, we were able to test them in June).
The racecard was mainly around Legends and Pickups (fantastic) and Clark’s proved challenging for some as a fast downhill left (E).
To start with, I was using the 70-200mm zoom and for many parts of the circuit this is a good focal length range for panning shots as you are not too far from the action.
There’s a head on shot as the cars come through the right at Hislops into the downhill left at Clark’s.
There’s also a great shot from the rear as the cars head into the Chicane.
Walking to the Chicane / Butchers (C), you can’t get the familiar BSB / Touring Car wheels in the air shots as they are going the other way. Nevertheless, there is still a satisfying range of shots available here. For the longer / head on shots, I had swapped to the 200-500mm zoom.
Heading back to McIntyres (B) there’s a great shot up the hill. At about this time, the covered shelter really proved it’s value. Remember the local saying – if you can see the aerials on the hill it’s about to rain; if you can’t see them, it is raining.
There’s a shot back to exit of Butchers – which whilst through fence is OK. As you can see the Junior Saloon car Cup competitors don’t look after their cars very well …
As is often the case, elevation on race tracks looks much steeper in real life than on the TV.
The shot of the cars heading from Duffus Dip to the finish line is probably more exciting when run clockwise !
We then crossed the bridge (H) to the infield and walked down the hill to where they are some great shots from McIntyres to Leslie’s.
Our final location was the area near the commentary tower in the centre of the circuit and looking down on the (out of bounds to us) Taylor’s Hairpin. For the Pickups, spotters are allowed and stand up here with a superb view of pretty much all of the track. There’s shots of the cars heading down to and through Taylor’s
With a length of just under 1.3 miles, Knockhill still packs in loads of elevation change and corners – whichever way you go round it. Just occasionally I visit a circuit and think that it would be really great to drive round it – Knockhill is one of them.
Don’t forget that Knockhill hosts car and bike racing, rallycross and circuit rallies. Oh, and I have just seen that you can do a Legends Experience – it’s not that far back to Scotland is it …?
Of course, if you have a selection of shots from a clockwise event at Knockhill, get in touch and we will do part 2 of the guide.
Thanks to David for this report you can see more of his work by following the links above. You can share this guide with your friends on Social Media.
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