Photographing the British GT
Photographing the British GT

Silverstone 

By David Harbey.

The British GT race at Silverstone has been a fixture in my diary for the last five years. Regarded as the blue riband event of the season, the three hour Silverstone 500 is the longest race on the calendar. With three pitstops mandated, it allows for strategy to play a part should safety cars and weather intervene.

I have captured my photographic journey, and that of the championship, in the following photos. All feature the Jon Minshaw / Phil Keen driver partnership in iconic Demon Tweeks colours. For 2019, Jon has decided to focus on historic racing and Phil is racing alongside Adam Balon in the Barwell run Huracan so the livery is not to be seen this year.
Having been at Silverstone for the Blancpain GT race just a few weeks ago, I decided to try out both some new and old locations. I headed first to the exit of Becketts where there used to be two windows in the fence that spectator snappers could use. 
The better one of these has since been closed. With the zoom set at 500mm, dramatic early laps photos can be achieved. A little judicious cropping, some Dutch Tilt and kerb hopping from the #15 Mustang can provide a good shot.
Switching to the 70-200mm lens set at 85mm focal length and 1/160 illustrates both the cars and the window in the fence.
The Race #23 Performance Mustang didn’t, however, make it past Chapel Curve …
Heading down to Stowe on the outside of the track, I saw that new fencing has been installed on the inside of the Hangar Straight. This takes away a superb, clean shot. However, remaining on the outside, there is a tight shot of the cars heading into Stowe – these two are both taken at 480mm focal length just by the access point for emergency vehicles.
Walking round the back of the grandstands at Stowe to the exit gives a head on shot. A step is vital to clear the fence unless you are an NBA star ! Focal length 500mm here.
You can also see the Snodome in the centre of Milton Keynes from Stowe …
As I headed down to Vale, it was time for some experimentation before the PistonClick visit to the Silverstone Classic next month. 
At the corner of the fence there is a gate that you can, with care, shoot through to get cars on the apex of Vale. This is at 300mm focal length.
Above the exit of Vale there is a view back to the corner unhindered by fences (it’s also fairly popular with snappers). This is at 500mm focal length.
To a new spot next – through the fence at Club. This is a long wide corner with various lines and many a cry of “track limits” at the exit. 
Heading up behind the grandstand (and partially completed new hotel), brings us to Abbey. When I first came to Silverstone many years ago this was a fast left hander back to Woodcote. 

These days it turns right to head to the Complex and is no less fast. The window here has gone, but shooting through the fence gives a decent rear shot. 1/2000 and 500mm focal length
For the last portion of the race I returned to the familiar Brooklands and Luffield corners. The exit of Brooklands demonstrates the various lines available. Focal length 440-500mm.
There is also, with a long zoom, an interesting shot from the terracing across to Brooklands using the full 500mm zoom.
An interesting day – a lot of 500mm focal length and through the fence images – not my preferred approach but at Silverstone needs must. As you will see from the PistonClick guide there are many more locations at Silverstone that do not require a long zoom but do need a step.

In any event, sometimes it is good to show the context of the photo – although at Silverstone that more often than not that means fences, scaffolding for the grandstands and armco !

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