I first experienced the unique event that is the Race or Remembrance in 2021; you can find the PistonClick report here - RoR 2021. Well, nothing had fundamentally changed for 2022 with the Act of Remembrance forming the centrepiece of a weekend of Mission Motorsport activity at Anglesey Circuit Trac Mon.

This year saw the biggest ever entry of 55 race teams including two cars from North America, the winners of the last two RoR back going for a hat-trick of wins and, whilst the event is very much one for the clubman, there were a few familiar names from British motorsport.

Of equal importance, was that over 100 beneficiaries of Mission Motorsport participated across the weekend - including 12 US and Canadian veterans thanks to sister organisation Operation Motorsport. With the event live streamed over the weekend, the reach of the Race of Remembrance grows.

A leisurely start on Saturday saw me arrive as the track rides for Mission Motorsport beneficiaries were reaching their conclusion. Stars of the show were an Escort and “Spitfire” showing little regard for their tyres.

Before the RoR, there is a 45 minute Clubsport race - Matthew Bolton in his BMW ran out winner by just 4/10ths second from the shared Ginetta G40 of Modro & Modro.

Best overtake of the day was this precise and carefully judged manoeuvre by the Mini between the two MX5s - well, I hope it was precise and carefully judged rather than eyes tightly shut and go for it !

After a break for lunch, the field assembled which gave me a chance to walk the grid and grab a couple of words with the OpMo team. They had been across for RoR prior to Covid when they had hired a couple of cars. This time, they had brought across a couple of Skip Barber Racing School prepared Honda Civics from North America.

There’s a neat domestic link, too. The livery on both cars was created by Andy Blackmore, an expat Brit now resident in Canada. If you have watched any sportscar or GT racing from across the pond - IMSA or Michelin Pilot Challenge - you will have seen his handiwork. Love the country identification stickers !

Calum Lockie, who is normally seen at the front of historic fields seemed in slightly thoughtful mood standing by his Caterham - perhaps he is thinking “you want me to drive round Anglesey Circuit in that ?”  He was rather good at it !

With the race getting underway, it was Lotus past and present in Caterham and Elise form that dominated the early laps which was to remain the case.  Having watched the start from Target and The Banking, it is worth noting that a short stretch of the spectator area beyond The Banking clockwise was out of bounds again but I am told you will be able to walk round the exterior of the whole circuit again next year. 

The inside of Target, on a good day, has a backdrop of the Welsh mountains and is well suited to a slow shutter speed panning shot …

The exit of pitlane is at Target and there’s a shot back to see pit stops. The race went under safety car and most crews took the chance to make their stop. Given the length of the segments of the race, there are two safety car crews.

During the safety car we walked across the back of the pits to the Bus Stop (the last corner). Here, you can almost reach out and touch the cars especially if they are keeping left to enter the pit lane. We were heading into dusk but were to be denied a good sunset.

After a pitstop for some food at the paddock café it was properly dark and a return to the Bus Stop provided quite different images with a variety of lighting approaches plus various other lights for identification or decoration purposes.

Light pod of the day went to the car entered as an Aygo, badged as a Peugeot that I took to be a Citroen on the day (well they were all built in the same factory).

Technique wise, I was using the 70-200m zoom on 1/200 or 1/250 and typically f2.8 and simply adjusted the ISO up to 800 as it got darker.

One of the benefits of Anglesey is that you can drive up to the top of the circuit and park at Peel. It was dark … time to get creative using the competitors lights and with the ISO topping out at 20000. It can be a bit grainy at the level - and remember to adjust back to daytime settings for the following morning !

Sunday morning dawned bright and clear, but we missed the sunrise over Snowdon posted on Twitter !  We had no rain over the weekend but there was a distinct breeze in exposed areas - which is pretty much everywhere on Anglesey ! 

The safety car led the field round at 09.00 for 90 minutes of action before the Act of Remembrance. We were back up at Peel and I was shooting into the sun which is what you are not supposed to do - I rather liked the almost monochrome effect.

There are also shots with the sea in the background - you would probably have to go to Phillip Island in Australia for anything similar !

The overnight stop is not under parc ferme conditions and it seems there was some midnight oil burned - the Rob Boston Racing Elise had a full engine change to try and resolve problems that had affected and delayed them on Saturday.

With a range of competing cars from humble C1s to very quick Caterhams and a range of drivers from total novices in their first race to the very experienced, there was always something happening and someone overtaking or being overtaken. Driving standards seemed to be pretty good.

At 10.30 the red and while chequered flag brought the second halt to the race and the competitors lined up on the grid. The pitlane filled with drivers, teams, marshals and spectators for the service led by the padre from RAF Valley. We were stood on the pit-wall for the service and two minutes of silence as we all stopped, paid our respects and remembered.

Looking down on the pit-lane was Phil Rainford from PS Images who has kindly allowed us to show a different view of the service.

At the close of the service, Major James Cameron of Mission Motorsport shouted - “Let’s go racing !” and that’s just what we did. Not for long however, for the Caterham that Calum Lockie was driving; I was at the Corkscrew and saw a plume of smoke from a car approaching Rocket. Sadly, it was the formerly front-running Caterham.

As we have seen with the sea and mountains backdrops, Anglesey has many “different” shots and at the Corkscrew, you can look back to the cars coming over the horizon as they exit Peel.

With several Grand Prix worth of racing to go, there was time for some slower shutter speed action …

… and some scenic shots at Rocket …

Soon enough the twelve hours of racing was coming to an end. The Rob Boston Racing Elise had overcome all its challenges and took the win.

We gathered again in the pit-lane as the awards were presented to the winners. The trophy for the overall winners is called Perseverance which seemed appropriate given their race.

We were again blessed with dry, reasonably warm but breezy weather which helps in November.  A bit like the Le Mans 24 Hours, it is not just a race it’s an event - you should try to do both of them once, at least.

Thanks to Phil Rainford / PS Images - you can find them on Facebook under PS Images

Results can be found at tsl-timing, more information about Mission motorsports and the Pistonclick photographic guide to Anglesey Circuit Trac Mon. can be found by following the links below.

Footnote

Near Peel there is a motocross track I hadn’t seen before. On Sunday there was a practice day and I wasn’t the only snapper to stop by and take some shots of the action. I think I want to shoot some more motocross sometime …

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