British Super Bikes Round 3

Brands Hatch

Report and images by Darren Oliver-Jones

23^rd -25^th July 2021

Brands Hatch British Superbike Round 3 was a weekend of weather, incident and superb racing.

Before getting into my report I would like to send my thoughts to Brad Jones, his family, friends, supporters and his team following his terrible accident at the Clark Curve on Saturday during BSB Race 1.

Wishing him a speedy and full recovery.

Superbikes returned to Brands Hatch in the knowledge that, finally, crowd restrictions had been lifted and a sense of normality could return. It was something that the racers and the fans were worried they wouldn’t see for some time.

I hadn’t planned to attend Brands but was very lucky to have won a competition for weekend times and Sunday hospitality which was announced on Thursday, and tickets arrived Friday morning so I missed the Free Practice day on Friday.

As I arrived at the circuit on Saturday morning at 8am the gates were just opening and I was surprised by how empty the roads into the venue and car parks were.

I suspect that had something to do with the dire weather being predicted, and it was raining heavily when we arrived. I took the decision to park in the infield section, since if the rain got really bad I could sit it out in the dry.

Carrying my trusty Sony a99ii and trio of lenses I always carry to race meetings, my Tamron SP 150-600 f5-6.3 Di USD, my Tamron SP 70-200 f2.8 Di USD and my Sony Zeiss 24-70 f2.8, I headed off to the inside of Druids for the morning’s action. Lots of photographers grab this spot as you are both very close to the track and the fencing is low, so no obstacles in the way.

When I arrived there, it was fully loaded so I stood slightly to the exit of Druids and started shooting. It was a packed morning of Warm Up, Free Practice and Qualifying, covering all categories.

This was followed in the afternoon by what was meant to be 6 races, but due to the incident during BSB Race 1 putting timings back by over an hour ,and then a bike throwing oil over the circuit as it expired during the first laps of the Quattro Group British Supersport and GP2 race, the race officials called a halt to the day’s racing and would reschedule both the red flagged race and the Sidecars to Sunday.

All the racing was close and exciting, mainly down to the weather which really could not decide what it was doing. It was raining, then drying, then raining and when the BSB riders hit the track for their racing it was blue sky and burning sun. 

I moved around during the day from inside Druids to outside Druids – there is a very handy hole in the fence which I read about in the track photo guide section of Pistonclick’s website (if you haven’t read it it’s incredibly helpful!).

I also walked over to Pilgrim’s drop but the fences were too high to get any decent shots, a step or ladder would easily resolve that and I would recommend it as I was kicking myself as I watched other more organised photographers do just that, and being rewarded with fantastic power wheelies as the riders accelerated out of Surtees and up the hill.

Lesson learnt for next time I visit!

Another good spot to photograph from is on the outside of the track as the bikes come under the bridge and into Clearways, as the fence in low and you can get unobstructed views.

This area doesn’t provide the most interesting shots but if you are looking for close images it’s very good.

The final place I visited was Paddock Hill grandstand, and sitting right at the back you get a good view of the main straight all the way around to Surtees.

You have to sit at the back as there are two layers of high fencing here which means it’s near impossible to shoot through, but I got some nice shots of the opening lap as the bikes exited Druids and headed down to Graham Hill Bend – you can really sense the track elevation from that position.

All my track shots were taken on the Saturday as I saved Sunday for my usual walk around the paddock where I love getting images of the bikes either stripped down, or sitting fully resplendent ready to race.

I also really enjoy talking to the riders who are always very friendly and very happy that someone is interested in what they are doing. The support classes do tend to be forgotten over the glitz and glamour of the BSB teams.

With the layout of Brands you couldn’t access the Pit area without a pass, so no shots of the BSB bikes in the garages unfortunately – I hope this isn’t the case at Thruxton.

The phrase that nearly everyone in the paddock used, which couldn’t have been more accurate, was “the only thing we are sure of is that the conditions will remain changeable!”

It was so great having fans trackside. It certainly wasn’t as busy as I thought it was going be (although Sunday was definitely busier than Saturday), but compared to the four thousand at Oulton Park for round 1 where it felt very sparse, the track looked really good with people lining it.



The Grandstands were no where near full but I think that was because most people are still very covid sensitive and felt they could stick to the space rules by finding their own spots.

I love Brands Hatch both as a race track but also as a photographic venue. It’s been far too long since I last visited and I wasn’t doing photography then, so without the wonderful Pistonclick guide I would have been winging it more than I ended up doing!

Next up I go to Thruxton for the full 3 days experience from Fri 30^th July – Sun 01^st Aug, so looking forward to doing it all again there.