Race of Remembrance 2025

Photographing the 2025 Race of Remembrance at Anglesey Circuit.

A number of events may claim to mark the end of the circuit racing season in the UK. Among them the Birkett Six Hours Relay, the Formula Ford Festival and the Walter Hayes Trophy. However, the Race of Remembrance politely asks you to consider their twelve-hour endurance race around Anglesey’s picturesque and challenging track and all, importantly, wrapped around an Act of Remembrance on or close to November 11th.

My fourth trip to Anglesey for RoR was planned at the very last minute. At the same time, a request was made for media accreditation now I have that all important Public Liability Insurance. Also a PistonClick editor willing to commission this report. My grateful thanks to Anglesey Circuit for granting my request.

As you may know from the previous reports from the Race of Remembrance and the PistonClick circuit guide, there is barely any fence to frustrate the spectator snapper. You can walk all the way round the exterior of the circuit. The main benefit of accreditation is the ability to access the pitlane / pit wall and the marshal’s post at the Corkscrew.

Race of Remembrance – Saturday Morning

The weather for the weekend was as per the forecast. Saturday dawned bright (almost too bright) and sunny (more on Sunday later). In addition to the main race, there is a 45 minute race for the RoR Clubsport Trophy and also Supercar Saturday. Service Leavers, Veterans and their families get to experience a passenger ride round the circuit in a wide range of sporting machinery.

For the Clubsport qualifying and Supercar Saturday, I stood on the inside of the final corner, the Bus Stop. It’s a long, much more than 90 degree, left hand turn. Clubsport pole-sitter Bilimoria seen here lifting the inside rear wheel as he turned in.

A short walk took me to the pitlane and a first chance to shoot from the pit wall. Although the lowish winter sun was already coming round to the “wrong” place – for photographers, at least.

Race of Remembrance warm up followed with half of the 50-car field heading out to do a lap or two. Final checks were being made in the pit lane before the race which started at 3pm.

Meanwhile the Supercars were gathering for their passenger rides in the assembly area by the Bus Stop before giving their guests a taste of Anglesey’s fabulous track!

Race of Remembrance – Supercars

Before the start of the Clubsport race there was a gathering of all the marshals and officials for a group photo or two.

Thereafter I got my first taste of the downhill turn onto the Tom Pryce Straight which provided an interesting set of images. I think it would be good to shoot motorbikes here too. Whether they are heading up the straight or take the left, right of the Corkscrew.

There is also a view of the cars exiting the Bus Stop. Some of the MX5s were getting very friendly early in the race!

Race of Remembrance – Saturday Afternoon

Time for some lunch, and a first chance to review my morning’s work. I had time to load some images to the PistonClick Facebook page. Then back to the assembly area and the grid as the field lined up for the 3pm start. By now the sun had moved round to the “wrong” place again!

Chris Harris was among the drivers taking part. Sharing a car with among others, Allan Farrimond usually one of the Safety Car drivers at RoR. His Senna-esque helmet and love of Haribo had not gone un-noticed !

Pit wall access allows for some different shots of the start as the green flag is waved for the field to set off for the rolling start.

The plan was then to go up to the top of the circuit to Peel and Rocket. The Welsh mountains in the background is an iconic shot. Early hopes of clear blue skies for a spectacular sunset were sadly not fulfilled on this occasion …

There are a whole range of angles available at the end of the track. The mixed field and a best lap time variance of 25 seconds, there was almost always somebody overtaking or being overtaken.

Race of Remembrance – Sunset

With a 3pm start, sunset soon arrived and with the race running to 10pm on Saturday evening, there would be plenty of racing in the dark. There are very few lights on the track at Anglesey – fortunately, modern cameras cope well with low light conditions.

Thereafter, it was back to the pitlane for pitstop action. Jake Hill was sharing a Citroen C1 (yes, BTCC Jake Hill and, yes, a C1) – he said he was loving it!

Chris Harris jumped in to the MX5 and was likewise loving the race and the event as a whole.

The view from the pit wall is, errm, dark – except for a couple of pools of light for the timekeepers and the flag marshals. With the range of speeds and driving abilities – there were a number of novice crosses in evidence – and rain, there were inevitable safety car periods as cars were recovered. The C1s also posed a challenge as their need to maintain momentum meant they were taking different lines through the corners compared with the faster cars.

I rather like this shot from the pit wall of the straight from Church towards Rocket which happens to feature the Mission Motorsport 555 liveried Subaru BRZ equipped with hand controls allowing wheelchair users and those with lower limb disabilities to drive the car.  The image might be a bit marmite for some, but for me it echoes some of the work of artist Frederic Dams (pretentious, moi ?!).

The red and white chequered flag to suspend the race was shown at 10pm and the cars returned to the pits. Unusually, the overnight halt is not under parc ferme conditions, so work, in some cases, very necessary work, can be undertaken on the cars.

Race of Remembrance – Sunday Morning

Sunday morning dawned grey and wet – with a forecast that promised much more of the same for the restart at 9am. A spot on the old pit lane wall on the run from the Hairpin to the Bus Stop, seemed good for some spray and overtaking.

At 10.35, the red and white chequered flag again flew to mark the end of the second part of the race to enable the cars to be lined up on the grid and for the most important part of the weekend – the Act of Remembrance led by the Padre from RAF Valley. For those serving in the forces, it was out of motorsport gear and into uniform for a moving and memorable service with wreathes laid on the safety car.

At the conclusion of the service, Major James Cameron’s familiar command – “Let’s go racing !” – announced the return to the track for the final element of the race.

Race of Remembrance – Sunday Afternoon

The weather had got worse, but with a cover for the camera and enthusiasm to shoot in the rain, I was back up to Peel. I’ve been drier at a race track!

With the finish due at 3pm, I needed a further pitstop to dry out, grab a coffee, review the morning’s work and post to PistonClick again. By the way the café at the track is excellent, including the WiFi.

For the final push to the finish, it was back to the pit lane. With mandatory minimum time pit stops for safety reasons, I wasn’t sure I’d fancy driving an open car and sitting in the rain waiting for the time to elapse before I could get back to the racing.

Grey skies, spray and more rain really soften the images but I think they can be quite effective – especially this Jeff Koons BMW art car tribute livery taken at 1/30^th second !

Race of Remembrance – Result

After twelve hours and one lap the chequered flag flew and the race came to an end. The Lotus of Rob Boston Racing won by a country mile and received the plaudits for their victory. However, the weekend was about so much more than that.

Race of Remembrance – Photographic Post Script

Photographer’s notes – I used my usual Nikon D850 plus a Nikon D780 paired with a 24-70 wide angle, 70-200 telephoto zoom and occasional use of a 1.7 teleconverter. Although the additional access afforded by media accreditation is not as extensive as it is some other UK tracks, it does not need to be. Nevertheless, it does open up new locations usually inaccessible to the spectator photographer.

My thanks to Anglesey Circuit – many, many more photos can be found on my Flickr account …

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