Photographing the Mablethorpe Beach Racing on a cold January day.

Mablethorpe Beach Racing is one of those events that I do look forward to. Last weekend two of us headed to the East coast to shoot some go fast, turn left beach racing. While the rest of the UK motorsport competitors are mostly tucked away in warm garages preparing for the new season the beach racers are competing in their championship.

Mablethorpe Beach Racing events are only held during the winter months. So it can be hit or miss on whenever the weather is going to be good enough to capture some good motorsports pictures. 

I do have a set of criteria that must be in place before I will entertain a day of motorsport photography at the beach. The most important one is the weather. I have been to the beach at Mablethorpe when the weather has been less than ideal. The racing is the same regardless of the conditions but as a motorsport photographer light is everything. So I pick my visits to the east coast of England carefully.

Last weekend was forecast to be cold but bright. With racing due to start at 10am the weak January sun would be high enough for me to capture some decent images. Start times at Mablethorpe are not set in stone, the tide determines when the racing starts. This can be early or quite late so it’s best to check in at the Mablethorpe Sand Racing website and social media.

Mablethorpe Beach Racing Locations 

Overnight there had been a small but significant snow fall along the coast. I was slightly concerned that the racing would be cancelled. Alternatively I was also looking forward to capturing some racing in the snow if it did go ahead. This would be something different to the usual pictures I have taken at the Mablethorpe Beach Racing. There was no updates on the Mablethorpe Sand Racing social media so we headed out.

I needn’t have worried the beach racing crowd are a hardcore set of racers. Walking towards the promenade I could see that there was a good turnout. Bikes were being warmed up and the first set of riders were preparing to take on the simple oval track. With a predicted wind chill factor of -10 I wasn’t envious of the racers about to tackle the frozen beach.

I continued down the promenade past the slightly smaller crowd than normal. This was to be expected it was bitterly cold with the wind whipping up the waves. The promenade is a good spot to spectate from and take a few pictures. There were a few cafes open doing a roaring trade in hot drinks. Disappointingly the two fish and chip shops were shut, a trip to the seaside is not complete for me without some deep fried potato products. I would return to the promenade later in the day once the sun had moved round. Top tip number one in motorsport photography, follow the sun.

Mablethorpe Beach 

Heading onto the beach noting the safety line to keep the spectators safe, I also noticed the waves were braking spectacularly on the beach. This would make a nice background if I could get the angles right. My shooting buddy for the day seemed more interested in seascape photography than motorsports. He looks close to the waves, he was not it’s the foreshortening of the long lens that I was using that makes it appear this way. Top tip number two in motorsport photography, stay safe, distance from hazards is paramount, if a Marshall tells you to move, move.

I had picked my location well, the light was perfect for head on capture the action shots and panning. Moving up and down the beach I varied my angles to add slightly different shots from the same basic spot. After what seemed a short period, time flys when you are having fun lunch was called. 

Mablethorpe Beach Racing Paddock

I took the break in proceedings to head to the other end of the track past the paddock area. The paddock is out of bounds to the general public. You can get some nice shots from the outside of the paddock of the racers preparing their machines which can add to your portfolio. I took a few shots here before moving on.

Mablethorpe Promenade

I was a little early moving to the next location. The sun was not quite far enough round. A shot that worked two months ago wasn’t going to work today at this time. Top tip number three in motorsport photography, adapt to the environment. I moved back to the promenade, I hadn’t missed anything as we were still on the lunch break. A hot beverage was consumed and I was ready to go again.

The racing was a bit start stop as some of the riders took a few tumbles. There didn’t appear to be any serious injures and hopefully the ones that did fall were ok. 

We were now getting towards the end of the racing and I was determined to get a different set of images. Back to the paddock end of the track the light was still not ideal. Some tweaking of my camera settings and I was getting some reasonable results to finish off the day.

Mablethorpe Beach Racing Summery 

All too soon the racing was done, the light was going, it was getting colder so it was time to leave. The Mablethorpe Beach Racing is always a good day out with fast competitive racing and a friendly atmosphere. I would recommend it for the motorsport photographer and casual spectator. As a free to watch event in the depths of winter at the sea side it is entertaining and enjoyable. The next time they will be racing at Mablethorpe is the 18 January 2026.

Photographic Post Script

I was using a Nikon D500 with a Nikon 200-400mm f4 lens for this event. Being some distance from the action a 1.4 teleconverter was added to the lens, this stayed on all day. My shooting buddy also used the Nikon D500 but with a Nikon prime 500mm PF lens. His setup was so much lighter than mine it is worth considering if weight is an issue for you. 

Here are a few comparison shots to finish off this article. The first four are with the AF-S NIKKOR 200-400mm F4G ED VR II lens and teleconverter the next four with the AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens. Thanks to RPW Photography for the images and accompanying me on a trip to the seaside.

Previous reports from the Mablethorpe Sand Racing can be found here.