2020 Thruxton Historic

A Report by David Harbey

26 August 2020

In 2019, I re-acquainted myself with the fast flowing tarmac of Thruxton for their Historic Festival. The PistonClick guide to the track can be found here - Thruxton Photographic Guide.

As the “new normal” emerged, dates were confirmed for the 2020 Thruxton Historic and a Sunday ticket was booked.

A cloudy day was in prospect with occasional showers in the afternoon. I decided to start out at the Complex – Campbell, Cobb and Seagrave – for the morning and then aimed to spend time around Club Chicane after the lunch break.

There’s a shot back to Seagrave (E and F on the map in the circuit guide) through the fence.

As we have shown, you can shoot through the fence with care and the first shots of the Pre-War qualifying are taken that way. However, I also had my double step and mega monopod to hand and this gave me a shot through the narrow horizontal wires atop the fence.

Pre-War tends to leave me cold at places like Silverstone but at Thruxton they provided some really good images.

The three wheeled Morgans are good value, although there was less two wheeled action at Seagrave. Whilst they are outgunned by the larger engined cars on the straight, they get their own back through the corners.

Purists may rail at modern crash helmets and Go Pro’s, but this class seems to have kept away from the roll cages which some 30’s Grand Prix cars are now featuring. Processing in black and white can help !

Walking back towards Cobb and Campbell gives different angles. Take care with shots against the spectator banks – there can be marshals and cars in the background. Take your radio if you go out that way – there are no loudspeakers and, for this meeting at least, the commentary could be accessed on a local FM frequency.

The final qualifying session was for the Classic Alfa Challenge – a subject close to my heart.

There is a good sequence of shots through Cobb and Seagrave – this is quickest qualifier Richard Merrell.

The final action of the morning was the 90 minute two driver race for the GT and Sports Car Cup. Large numbers of green and red Austin Healeys, the odd Jaguar and Porsche, Lotus, MG and a Lola Mk2 – the only open sports car in the field.

I really like the shot of Cobb where the background is rolling hills and there is no circuit furniture to distract the eye.

There is a great wide angle shot here and despite the perception that Thruxton is flat there is some degree of elevation.

There’s a shot of the inside of Cobb with a chance of some two wheeling – 

- and a reverse angle too.

There’s more shots walking back to the start / finish “straight”.

For the final laps of the race, I was at the Club Chicane. I’d been using the 200-500mm zoom up to this point and decided to leave it on for the afternoon.

The afternoon started with the Historic Touring Car race which included a range of cars from the 60s, 70s and 80s. The gird was not the largest and Ric Wood’s Skyline was noisy but short-lived.

The red Alan Mann Cortina Mk2 with FVA engine was equally noisy and apparently making its return to racing after many years.

There is a shot back down Woodham Hill – this is through fence with the inevitable slight softness to the image. Disappointingly, none of this year’s cars were flaming out on the over-run.

Next race was the Thermex Allstars for pre-66 GT, sports and touring cars which gave us another eclectic mix of cars from the Plymouth Baccaruda (I can’t spell Barracuda, pop-pickers !) of Duncan Ricketts, the winning Cobra Daytona Coupe of David Smithies and various small Spridget type GTs.

By moving around at the Chicane, there’s a variety of angles available – all without fencing. Three or even sometimes two wheeling action can be seen at the Chicane.

There was a sprinkling of rain mid afternoon just before the Pre-War race. Having used Optech Rainsleeves in inclement weather to date, I had decided it was time to get something more permanent – although I hadn’t expected to first use it in August ! 

I’ve gone for a Think Tank Emergency Rain Cover; they aren’t cheap, but over time should be better value than the Rainsleeves. The Think Tank seemed to work well in drizzle, and has a zip and clips to allow for use with a monopod.

David Ayre seemed to have fun in his Bentley Barnato Hassan Special – without damage.

The Morleys’ Bentley was being pushed to its limits.

The Chicane is always a good spot for close action!

Last race of the day was for the Alfa Romeos and there were hints of blue sky and sunshine. Keeping up to date with action elsewhere in the UK on social media indicated that we had by far the best of the weather !

The backdrop at the Chicane reminded me why I will be back to Thruxton for more racing when I can.

I have no doubt that BTCC and BSB will be much busier; there was a reasonable crowd (who seemed to be observing the required distancing) but there was no queuing for space to take photos. If you head to this meeting next year, it is worth noting that car clubs can apply for parking on the banking overlooking Allard – with discounted entry prices.

Equipment – Nikon D850, Nikkor 200-500mm zoom, 3 legged thing Trent monopod

There’s lots more photos from the day on my Flickr account.