Mablethorpe Sand Racing - 28th January 2024

Central Promenade, Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, LN12 1RG

Our annual PistonClick visit to the East coast of Lincolnshire to photograph the Mablethorpe sand races turned out to be a good one.

The weather was spot on for the end of January, the sun was out and the usual freezing sea breeze was thankfully absent. The weather has never stopped the sand racing at Mablethorpe, frozen, wet or dry, the bikes will always race around the half mile oval track once the tide has gone out.

If you are planning a visit to watch the Mablethorpe sand races it’s a good idea to check out their website to find the start time for the racing. As the racing is dependent on when the tide has gone out this can vary enormously.

Depending on the time of year, racing can start from 8:00 to 11:00 and will finish after the last race. 

Now in its 54th winter racing season the club shows no signs of slowing down. On our visit there was a good turn out of junior to senior racers with a great mixture of motorcycles classes. The tiny 100cc bikes for the juniors to the unlimited cubic capacity class for the older, bolder and quite frankly bonkers racers were all thrown into the first left turn with the same enthusiasm.

The speed difference and skill levels were poles apart in the different classes, which is to be expected, but didn’t diminish the commitment shown from all the racers. Some committed to the first turn more than others with different degrees of success, and a few were bitten by the unforgiving ruts in the cold sand with spectacular results.

One racer got tangled up with his bike, we won’t reproduce the images as we don’t know how badly hurt he was, but it looked bad from my view point.

On the other hand Joshua Malone went full superman flying through the air, but he picked himself, dusted off the sand and raced on for the rest of the day. They’re made of strong stuff these sand racers!

The best place to watch the racing is the roped of viewing area of the promenade, as you can see the whole course from here. This is a free event so it was no surprise that it was packed with spectators who were tucking into bacon butties and cups of tea from the local cafes by the time we arrived for the 11:00 kick off.

The 3,000 plus spectators who usually turn up for this event sounds a lot, but the viewing area is large so there is plenty of room for you to get a great view of the racing from this raised location.

However, we decided to start the day’s shoot at the first corner which is roped off from the racing and some distance from the track, so if you are considering taking a few photos from here you will need a very long lens to get a decent shot.

We chose this location as it was perfect for taking a few photos due to the winter sun being at our back as the beach runs South to North. We will detail the photographic equipment we used at the end of this report.

As the track is a standard turn left oval, either end of the track is great for those dramatic sliding shots with the riders kicking up loads of sand. The best classes to capture this type of shot are the Unlimited Road Bikes, Grass Track/Speedway and the larger capacity Motocross bikes.

However, there is no public address system so it’s a case of waiting for them to appear. The races are quite short and the action comes thick and fast so you won’t have to wait long.

In the Unlimited Road Bikes Classic the riders that have stood out for me are Michael Sharpe and Steve Lomas, both of whom always seem to be racing when we turn up and always put on a good show.

Steve is now in his 70s and an ex-speedway racer, and he is leading the Unlimited Championship, showing that age is just a number! 

The Grass track/Speedway class is the best to watch for massive slides, with the bikes kicking up huge plumes of sand and it is a real crowd pleaser. However, in all of the years I have been going to this event there has never been more than a few riders in this class so there is not that competitive racing element. Great to photograph, but I do like a bit of racing.

The Motocross class especially the larger capacity has it all, big slides, close racing and plenty of competitors. We did enjoy this class as the racing was very close on occasion with lots of elbow out action and riders going for it.

It’s not just two wheels racing on the sand. There is a class for quad bikes - just the four out on the cold sunny Sunday when we went.

There used to be a few side cars turn up a few years ago, but the last time I saw any on the sand was at the Skegness beach race which was unfortunately cancelled last year.

Hopefully they will return and race at Mablethorpe as they are great to watch.

As the racing progressed we moved around the edge of the track keeping behind the rope, grabbing snaps as we moved, ending up at the paddock.

This area is for the racers and support crew only and it should be obvious that dogs must be kept on a lead, the last thing you want is Fenton chasing motorcycles across the sand!

So there you have it, our photographic review of the Mablethorpe sand races. It’s an excellent excuse to head to the beach, watch some racing for free and support the local seaside traders in the off season.

Photographic Post Script 

Both of us shot from the public areas and were using the Nikon D500 for this event, a crop sensor camera that gives you a bit of extra reach, which is needed as you are some distance from the action. I used the Nikon 200-400 f4 VR2 lens with a 1.4 teleconverter giving me a maximum focal length of 825mm, which is more than enough for this race meeting.