For a certain section of fans, the news that the familiar 6 hour race had been reduced to 4 hours was not welcomed. It was, apparently, on the basis of fans’ feedback, but as we all know, market research can often give you the answer you were looking for. 

The Loop Complex is a favourite spot of mine (and lots of other snappers) at Silverstone providing some clear shots of the cars, sans fence, through various windows. For the WEC weekend, extra advertising hoardings had been added which whilst restricting the view at ground level in front of the Village Grandstand, provides a better background for photos from the Loop.

There’s also a rear shot into Aintree with heat haze above the GT and prototype cars.

Walking to Aintree, there are generally a couple of windows in the fence that can be utilised.

I’d checked out the timetable and second practice for the WEC cars ran through to 18.00 – this meant that I needed to be at Luffield for this session to take advantage of the late afternoon sun. Firstly, I headed to the right hand side of the terracing to get a view back to Brooklands and the BRDC emporium.

Then, using the 200-500mm zoom, the faithful step and attempting to balance the monopod on the edge of said step, I moved to the middle of the terracing to get a shot above the fence at Luffield. Note to self – I need a longer monopod !

Moving a little further round gives a different angle again.

Finally, there’s a panning shot through the fence from the terracing in front of the grandstand.

Sunday morning dawned bright and clear with a promise of a dry race (from the BBC), but we will come back to that ! At the MotoGP, I had headed to the area in front of the Farm Grandstand. 

Walking towards Village (and before the advertising hoardings mentioned above), there was an interesting reverse angle. It’s a far from perfect area to shoot from, but I will be returning.

Another new spot first explored briefly at the MotoGP was the exit of Aintree from ground level behind the Village Grandstand. Evidence of matt black point (to aid shooting through the fence) suggested I would not be alone !

Last season the Aston Martin ran in a weird yellowy green colour which stood out on the grid but not to this snapper’s eyes in a good way. At this race, they debuted a new and much better looking livery with green stripes and dayglo highlights.

These days I rarely shoot from the grandstands at Silverstone (and in any event there is the lottery of which ones are open on any particular day), but Village is an exception. Top row, left hand seat gives a nice overhead shot as the cars head down the Wellington Straight.

Have mainly used the 200-500mm zoom on Friday, I had decided to stick to the 70-200mm lens for race day; these shots are only slightly cropped and give a decent sized image.

Time to head off to the Loop – stopping off on the Wellington Straight for a couple of panning shots. Not strictly ideal with the sun behind the cars, but an interesting experiment.

You recall I said that the forecast was for no rain, yet it was getting blustery with grey skies coming from behind the Wing. Of course, there is no such thing as the wrong weather, except in the absence of the right clothing. No over trousers, no waterproof …. Temporary shelter was provided by the commentary box at the Loop.

The skies brightened and more photos were taken – then it started raining again and it was time to head to the Wing in a somewhat grumpy mood.

However, once dried out, this did allow me to try some shots from a spot I’d not used for a while – the inside of Abbey from the terrace outside the Wing. The cars are a bit quick here and it’s therefore no coincidence that these photos are of GT and P2 cars. #toyotawastoofast

At the other end of the Wing there is a terrace overlooking the Vale and Club and giving a view of the Grand Prix start / finish line.

Time for a walk from Club to Brooklands via the Hangar Straight. As I think we have noted before, the inside of the Hangar Straight now features high fencing taking away a really good panning shot in front of the Porsche Centre. Brooklands, however, rewards with some neat panning shots through the fence.

And so, we were back at Luffield, some 48 hours on. The sunshine was back out and the cars were still racing – only 2 cars failed to make the finish.

For the final few minutes of the race, it was back to the exit of Luffield. You can get close to the fence here to minimise any impact and with some careful editing, can get some good shots. The bonus of the late afternoon is the light on the drivers faces.

There’s more extensive galleries on my Flickr account and I will be adding the supporting European Le Mans Series and Porsche Carrera Cup races in due course.

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