Shuttleworth & Nuffield Trophies: VSCC at Cadwell Park 2013

After enjoying my first visit to Cadwell Park for the VSCC in 2012, I returned to the Lincolnshire track to photograph the action on behalf of the Frazer Nash Car Club.

A classic selection of equipment for motorsport photography

For this event, I took both the Canon 5D Mk III and the Mamiya C330F to photograph the event. The lenses for the Canon included the 400mm f/5.6 prime, 70-200mm f/2.8 IS II and the 24-105mm L lens, which is my standard setup for shooting on the digital at these kinds of events. With the Mamiya, I only used the 80mm f/2.8 lens, despite also taking the 55mm f/4.7 too.

Inside and outside of the track

With my media tabard, I had great access to both the inside and outside of the track. This allowed me to get really close to the action, especially as cars entered the Mountain section of the track. Despite the length of the 400mm lens, I could still get two cars in shot as they raced through the first left hander. The excellent sharpness of the optics on this lens and great background blur for the second car in shot.

Paul Waine races through the hall bends in the Frazer Nash, as an Austin 7 follows. The 400mm lens produces great, contrasty photographs, ideal for this type of shot.

Drama in practice for Sue Darbyshire

As I was photographing on the exit of The Mountain chicane, Morgan driver Sue Darbyshire’s car had a mishap when the front right suspension collapsed as she turned left into the complex. I managed to photograph the car as the suspension broke, and the three wheeler glided across the grass.

Sue Darbyshire’s Morgan careered across the grass after the front right suspension collapsed into The Mountain.

Luckily for Sue and her passenger Maggie Bridge, there is a lot of space to run off on this section of the track. Both were perfectly fine, but obviously disappointed that their practice had been cut short in such dramatic fashion.

Bugatti Superblur

One of my favourite shots from last year was a superblur style shot of a Bugatti, and with a huge field of these beautiful French cars to photograph at this year’s event, I wanted to capture a similar style shot this year.

A Bugatti racing over the mountain at Cadwell Park, with a shutter speed of 1/15s creating a stylish, blurred shot

For me, these shots are evocative of the posters designed in the 1930s to promote races, where cars would be blurred and distorted by the Artist’s brushwork.

Working the wheel

Due to the nature of the chain drive system in the Frazer-Nash cars, sideways moments are very common in tight, slow speed corners as the rear axle struggles to fight the direct torque from the transmission. The Hairpin corner of the Cadwell Park circuit was the ideal place to see this in action as the ‘chain gangers’ raced in the afternoon.

Jonathan Cobb’s Frazer-Nash getting sideways into the Hairpin section of the Cadwell Park circuit

Photographs from the Mamiya

The Mamiya C330F once again produced some superb shots, mainly around the paddock and assembly area of the track. A lineup of the distinctive Bugatti noses in the paddock was a great opportunity to produce a depth of field based shot, showing the detail of these vintage French racers.

Excellent background blur, and great foreground detail of the distinctive Bugatti emblem.

Photographing drivers waiting to go out has produced some great results in the past, and the assembly area provided more opportunities to capture these kind of shots on the Mamiya.

The GN Parker driver Justin Maeers waiting to head out on track, taken on the Mamiya C330F.

I think that these photographs capture the building tension as drivers prepare to race in these spectacular vintage cars. The detail captured by the medium format 6×6 Mamiya of the overalls, textures on the gloves and driver’s face create a very tactile, human look to the photographs produced, much more than I seem to get with 35mm digital pictures.

Summing up and further viewing

This year’s VSCC event was again fantastic, and despite the overcast conditions at the track, the photographs I took captured the spirit of the Lincolnshire track. To I have a full set of photographs in my Cadwell Park 2013 set on Flickr, and my writeup and images should be printed in the next Chain Gang Gazette magazine by the Frazer Nash Car Club.

Posted in: 6x6, Film Photography, Magazines, Medium Format, Motorsport, Press, VSCC