Two Test Days, One Telephoto and a new ‘Tog

Report by David Harbey 

27 March 2022

We’ve passed the Spring Equinox and the days are longer than the nights. The blossom is on the trees, the daffodils are in full bloom – and the sound of racing engines fills the air ! Well, it does if you are getting out and about to the test days around the country.

Two Test Days ? Two wheels at Mallory Park for EMRA – four wheels at Donington Park for the Masters Historic Racing series.

With a total outlay of £7 to get in, we had a full day of action at both venues, although numbers on track thinned out as the day wore on – no doubt a combination of completing the testing programme and mechanical woes that can’t be fixed at the time.

The Telephoto ? Donington is one of those tracks that really benefits from using both a medium (70-200mm) and long (200-500mm) zoom lens depending on where you are.

I decided to borrow Mrs H’s Sigma 100-400mm zoom lens to cover both ranges and to keep the baggage down. It also proved to be a good range for Mallory. I did though pack the 28-70mm zoom for the pitlane work.

Mallory Park first, though. A pleasant day with sunshine and, of course, deep shadows if you were shooting from the wrong place. Checking out the LightTrac app confirmed that the inside of the Esses was the place to start and soon enough those close up shots were being added to the data card.

Fortunately, TSL were providing timing to give me half a chance to know who was who and what time they were doing. Various liveries were on show from full-on Lucky Strike Suzuki to plain black.

Occasionally a bike had different numbers on show, so it’s E&OE (Errors and Omissions Excluded) as far as any riders names are concerned. This should be Alan Moreton on the Suzuki #57 and Jamie Ingham on Suzuki #4 …

There were some familiar names (I’m learning them slowly) – Danny Kent #52, Charlie Nesbitt #86 and Leon Jeacock #55 -all of whom had been at Silverstone the previous day for the No Limits Endurance race.

As I have reported previously, the Sigma performs well, but does not have the instant snap to focus of the Nikon 70-200mm zoom; mind you it is significantly cheaper and provided a decent number of good shots even when I slowed down the shutter speed. These are both taken at 1/100 second

While I was at the Esses, I swapped to the 28-70mm zoom for a few shots to get the wider view. It’s almost possible to touch the riders as they pass but please don’t try!

Pick your spot on a quiet day and you can get a neat panning shot without cars or people in the background.

Over the lunch break, I drove round to the outside of the track at Edwina’s – another plus point for Mallory – where the sun was just about right for panning shots.

Head on was not so good into the sunlight without a lot of editing, but the rear shot seemed to work well. The full range of the Sigma was called into action.

I changed my normal approach and finished the day at the Hairpin and the Bus Stop chicane; this is normally my first stop on visits to Mallory. Again, the 100-400mm range was really useful.

Tuesday morning dawned bright and clear and the usual A5 / M1 journey to Donington beckoned. Regular readers will know that the PistonClick recommendation for Donington is a 200-500mm superzoom, but I’d decided to travel light and use the Sigma again, with the 28-70mm zoom in the backpack. In the event, the 100-400mm range worked pretty well.

As I arrived, Chris was taking shots of the red kites circling above the car park, but I soon dragged him off to the inside of the Craner Curves for some four wheeled action.

The format of the day was a rotation of Sports Cars, Single Seaters and GT & Touring Cars. There’s no guarantee what you will see on a test day, who will be driving and how long they will run for.

The GT & Touring Cars were out as we got trackside. Inspecting the photos when I got home, I noticed some coaching for the driver of the Cobra ….

The sports cars followed – everything from a 60’s Lotus 23B to a 2015 Le Mans BR 01. The idea of the latter car being historic plays with the mind – but they look and sound great in the same way that a Lola T70 or Chevron B8 look and sound great.

By the time we had got down to the Old Hairpin, the Single Seaters were out – almost all of which were F1 cars. Now I’m going to sound like an old fogey now, but didn’t they look better in the old days ?

Indeed they did, although we only had a Lotus 72 rather than the all time standout Lotus 79. The Benetton Tyrrells looked superb and perhaps it was right that the Saudia sponsored Williams had a huge expanse of desert (aka gravel trap) as a backdrop.

A quick stop at the Esses provided a different shot for Donington – of the rear of the cars through the National Circuit chicane. You can just get a shot to the left of the fence, but you need to be quick.

After lunch, I took advantage of the chance to get into the pitlane having swapped to the 28-70mm zoom. There’s a chance to get a very different set of images – making sure that you keep out of the way of cars and team personnel.

Then it was off to one of my favourite corners at Donington – the inside of Coppice – via the Esses where I found a Morgan having a moment !

I hadn’t got my trusty step to hand so Coppice didn’t work quite so well with the wall in view, so I walked down the hill towards McLeans.

I’m a sucker for a slower shutter speed panning shot and this is a superb spot for this in the afternoon when the sun has come round. Add in a flaming exhaust from the Viper and I’m in heaven !

To round out the day, the F1s were out again. A DFV at speed sounds superb. I got chatting to a chap at Coppice – he was, apparently, in the area for a week and had been woken by the cars and popped in to see what was going off. Aural advertising clearly works !

To round out this report, here’s a few photos from Chris. I’ve challenged him to come back and do bikes with his new all-singing, all-dancing camera ….

Test and track days are regular features at a number of tracks around the country; you can find what is on at MSV tracks on their website and it’s a great chance to practice your photography. They are often free to get in, too. This is the Donington page.

There are also Facebook pages for a number of UK circuits where there are regular posts from track days to give you an idea of what cars or bikes turn up. Search for “Personal photos for Donington Park Motorsport” or “Oulton Park Racing” for example.