British Historic Racing Club

In this report, I will review the British Historic Racing meeting at Cadwell Park from the viewpoint of a spectator and motorsports photographer. All of the images are taken from the public viewing areas. A photographic guide to taking photos at Cadwell Park can be found here. 

British Historic Racing Club

British Historic Racing returned to the picturesque Cadwell Park last weekend, 13-14 September 2025. The event showcased a wide array of vintage, classic, and more modern machines from the rich heritage of British motorcycle racing. The undulating Cadwell Park circuit, which has been hosting racing for 91 years, provided a perfect backdrop for this spirited competition.

The British Historic Racing Club (BHRC) is a confusing title as you would expect the racing to revolve around British motorcycles; it doesn’t. Out on track were just about every manufacturer you could think of, and then some you have probably never heard of. The BHRC celebrates historic motorcycle racing in all its guises, from tiny single-cylinder BSA Bantams to multi-cylinder Japanese Superbikes. The range of machines on track covers from the dawn of motorcycles to the mid-1990s. So if you like your bikes black and oily or multi-coloured and multi-cylinder, there was something for everyone.

This was the second and final visit this year to Cadwell for the BHRC. The six meetings of 12 rounds sound like a standard season but didn’t elude to what I was going to experience at Cadwell. There was a lot of track action and I mean a lot. Racing had been delayed on the Saturday but was at full throttle when I visited on Sunday.

British Historic Racing Club Racing

You would expect the BHRC to have lots of historic British motorcycles assembled in the paddock ready for racing and you would not be wrong. Visiting the paddock I found it was packed, overflowing to the grass field when spectators parked. I had a quick look around and headed for the track. To be honest, I could have spent most of the morning in the paddock but I had come to watch and photograph the bikes in action on track.

Sidecars

The Sunday timetable had advertised practice from nine with racing to follow. However, with the delays on Saturday, we were straight into racing. First out were the sidecars followed by a few Morgans, mostly three-wheelers. From my viewpoint at Hall bends, there was not a lot of overtaking action. Hall’s is way too narrow for any overtaking, so a procession of sidecars of all shapes and sizes roared past. Which is great for the amateur photographers who had gathered in this complex set of bends.

Scooters 

Up next and quite unexpected, the online timetable just said racing; it didn’t break down the classes, which were scooters. I should really buy a programme. Once the green flag lap was dispensed with, the sounds and smells of two strokes reverberated around the track. There were some fast riders aboard the traditional Italian commuter bikes, some putting on a show for the spectators.

British Historic Racing Club Racing Classes

The next set of motorcycles were a mixed bunch. Bantams mixed in with much more powerful machines. I presumed that there were a number of classes racing together, I really should buy a program. The BSA Bantam was probably the equivalent of the Italian commuter scooters at the time so it should be no surprise that someone would want to race them. That’s what men in sheds have been doing since the motorcycle was invented, let’s make that faster. 

Chatting to one of the parents of a Bantam racer track side he explained that their bike could do 100mph. However, the margins on hitting that speed are very fine on such a small machine. Tweaking the carburettor a fraction too much will seize the engine. There were quite a lot of retirements during the day, not surprising considering the age of the machines racing and the competitive nature of the racers. 

Delivered back to the paddock by the efficient recovery team the bikes were patched up and sent out again, and again and again. It appeared to me that quite a few of the bikes could compete in multiple classes. I could be mistaken as looking round the paddock some riders had numerous different bikes with the same number. I should really buy a program.

British Historic Racing Club Parade Laps

One aspect of the meeting that is different to other events is the parading motorcycles. At a lot of events you will get a parade lap over lunch. At this meeting parade laps were programmed into the race schedule. These laps are non-competitive and just for owners to take period correct machines back to where they belong, on the track. If you were to attend this event in the future as a photographer these laps are great to practice your photography skills. The riders are not racing so they come past at a steady pace allowing you to take your time and compose your shots. 

Photographic Postscript 

So how can I sum up the British Historic Racing Club from the viewpoint of a spectator photographer. I would recommend this event, it has a diverse set of machines a hectic race schedule. This allows you plenty of opportunities to capture some nice images of very different motorcycles over the two days. The friendly packed paddock is a welcome bonus if you like to take static shots. 

Photographic Postscript Technical bit. 

For the past few reports I have been using my much neglected Nikon x2 teleconverter to assess its capabilities. I have spent some time setting up all of my lenses with FoCal, a software lens calibration system. This has resulted in many different AF Fine Tune settings stored on my camera. The D500 stores these settings and auto sets them as you change lenses. Basically you can move the focus point towards you or away from you to fine tune your lens and camera. I have a range of -5 to -11 depending on the lens and converter combination. I will produce a detailed report on FoCal over the winter.

Attached to my Nikon D500 and a 70-200mm lens it gives me super zoom capabilities. This is an attractive option for the photographer who wants to travel light and fill the frame with motorsport action. The only issue I have encountered with the x2 teleconverter is that it performs badly in low light when I have a polarising filter (CPL) attached. The autofocus struggles no matter what setting is selected when the light is low and the CPL is fitted.

Once the CPL is removed we are back to the almost instantaneous auto focus the 70-200mm f2.8 is famous for. As the winter approaches and the light levels drop I will continue to evaluate the x2 teleconverter and report back. For now I’m very impressed with the results with the new calibrations. Can you pick out from the images above which are cropped and which are with the x2 teleconverter?