Bicester Motion Scramble
Report by Alan Buckley Photography
13 January 2026
Recently I went along to the Bicester Motion Scramble. The Scramble has now become a firmly established car culture event with regular fixtures throughout the year. The event has grown rapidly since its inception in June 2018 and has become a mainstay to showcase historic motorsport.
Located at the former Royal Air Force Bicester site in the U.K. There are many supporting automotive technology and vintage vehicle specialists on the old airfield site that complement the Bicester Motion Scramble.
The Scramble is spread out over tree-lined avenues and aircraft hangars. The avenues are lined with classic, vintage, and modern collector cars. While the hangars are reserved for the event theme, mostly historic race cars. It was refreshing to be able to get up close to all the hypercars that had been driven there by their owners. I really appreciate that they had arrived covered in all the mud and salt on the winter roads, instead of being left pristine for dry summer days.
Tom Walkinshaw Racing
This iteration of the Bicester Motion Scramble celebrated 50 years of TWR racing. This culminated in Le Mans successes with Jaguar in the 80s and 90s. I personally saw the XJR 12 in 1991 at The 24 Hours, although it was beaten by the Mazda with its wailing rotary engine. The cars looked terrific in the main hangar with the unmistakable Silk Cut livery.
The other main stand-out for me were the charismatic Group B Rally cars. Located in their native environment the Rally cars were outside on the Orchard Lawn. Audi Quattros and Ford RS200 were always well worth a second look.
The atmosphere is very relaxed and jovial and it’s possible to get round everything in a few hours. Which is fortunate as the Scramble closes to the public at 2pm. Old hangars and workshops on site have been restored to a high standard. This provides a unique backdrop – especially to some of the classic racers like the Jaguar D-Type. Cutting edge companies like Academy 55 which utilises driving simulators to cultivate the next generation of racing drivers were also exhibiting.
The main Hangar featured guest interviews with John Watson. Racing in Formula One from 1973 to 1985 for Brabham, Surtees, Lotus and Penske. Johns most successful year in F1 was with McLaren, finishing third in the 1982 drivers championships. Competing for the TWR Silk Cut Jaguar team in the World Sportscar Championship he was runner up in 1987, winning three races. Now retired form competitive motorsport John is now a pundit and motorsports commentator.
Bicester Motion Scramble Summery
The Scramble has now gathered sponsorship from Top Gear and many other partners. I fully expect it to sell out again when it returns for a slightly longer day on 26th April. With no ticket sales on the gate it is recommended to book online early. With the absence of any mainstream racing it provides a well needed motorsport photography fix. If you’ve never been to the Bicester Motion Scramble, I thoroughly recommend it.
For this report Alan used a Sony a7R Mk5 camera with Sony 50mm F1.2 GM, 70-200mm F2.8 GM Mk2, and 24-70mm GM Mk2 lenses. You can contact Alan Buckley Photography via the links below.
