BHRC Cadwell Park – A Historic Racing Tradition Returns

There is something particularly appropriate about the British Historic Racing Club bringing its 2026 season to a close at Cadwell Park.

The club’s roots stretch back to the Vintage Motor Cycle Club, founded in 1946 with a simple but important philosophy: historic motorcycles should be ridden rather than left sitting in museums. That philosophy eventually developed into organised racing, with the VMCC holding its first race meeting at Cadwell Park in 1967.

By 1969, the VMCC had established a dedicated Racing Section, with its first two meetings in 1970 taking place at Cadwell Park. The racing operation continued to grow, first becoming Historic Racing and later British Historic Racing.

Today, the British Historic Racing Club continues that tradition by bringing an extraordinary variety of historic machinery back onto the circuit.

A Historic Racing Finale at Cadwell Park

That makes the weekend more than simply another club race meeting. Cadwell Park hosted the final round of the 2026 British Historic Motorcycle Championships on 12 and 13 September, with championships to be decided and machinery ranging from the 1940s through to the 1990s.

Solos and sidecars competed across a wide range of classes, providing two days of racing with plenty of variety for spectators and photographers.

That variety is one of the great attractions of historic racing. Modern grids can sometimes become dominated by closely related machinery, whereas a BHRC meeting brings together motorcycles from very different eras, manufacturers and engineering philosophies.

The result feels as much like a celebration of motorcycle history as it does a weekend of competition.

With Cadwell Park’s famous corners providing the backdrop, the 2026 season finale proved a fitting way to continue a racing tradition that has been associated with the Lincolnshire circuit for almost six decades.

Photographing the BHRC at Cadwell Park

Before heading to the races on Sunday, I reviewed last year’s report. The weather looked familiar, with wet conditions on Saturday and a better forecast for Sunday. The scheduled racing was also similar, featuring a great mix of machinery.

With so many different motorcycles on track, it was difficult to know where to begin, so I won’t attempt to list everything in detail.

To give you a flavour of the racing, the programme featured two or three races for a huge range of classes, including Production Sports and Superbikes Pre 2000, Supermonos, Girder Forks, Pre-63 250cc and 351-500cc, Japanese 250s, 125 Production, Sidecars, Ducati Singles, Formula Bantams, MZs, 500cc Twins, Pre-63/73, F750, Earlystocks and BEARS.

The sheer variety makes the BHRC particularly interesting from behind the camera. You can spend one session photographing a machine that looks as though it has come straight from the 1960s, only to find yourself following something from the opposite end of the historic racing spectrum a few minutes later.

More Than British Motorcycles

This meeting wasn’t simply about black-and-chrome British motorcycles.

Colourful scooters played a significant role, with the ACU Super Scooter and Stock Scooter Championships providing one of the more unusual sights of the weekend.

The distinctive sound of two-stroke engines announced their arrival in the holding area. They stayed there for a while after the previous race suffered a red flag, something that happened several times throughout the day.

The delays didn’t significantly disrupt the meeting, although the organisers eventually reduced the warm-up laps from two to the standard single lap as the schedule progressed.

For a photographer, those pauses can create their own opportunities. The holding area and paddock provide a chance to see the machines close up and, more importantly, to see the people preparing them for competition.

The Honda CB500 Makes an Impression

I don’t recall seeing the Honda CB500 racing at this meeting last year, but the model had a prominent presence in 2026.

That doesn’t mean the bikes weren’t there in previous years. With so many races packed into the programme, I could easily have been exploring the paddock while they were out on track.

The Cadwell Park paddock remains open at these meetings and was once again bustling with activity, particularly around the BHRC competitions. For anyone interested in motorcycles, engineering or motorsport photography, it remains a fascinating place to wander.

There is always something being prepared, repaired, discussed or photographed.

British Historic Racing Club Parade Laps

The racing wasn’t the only reason to keep an eye on the track. The BHRC also has a thriving collection of parade motorcycles. The concept gives riders the opportunity to bring significant historic machinery onto the circuit without entering it into conventional racing.

The ACU handbook describes the “Past Master” class as an opportunity for riders to celebrate past achievements, while Classic machines and Machines of Historical Interest can take part for personal enjoyment under controlled conditions.

For spectators, the result is another chance to see motorcycles that might otherwise spend most of their lives carefully stored away. That fits perfectly with the philosophy that helped shape historic motorcycle racing in the first place: these machines deserve to be ridden.

A Photographer’s View of BHRC Cadwell Park

So, there you have it: the BHRC at Cadwell Park.

For spectators interested in motorsport photography, this meeting offers plenty of opportunities both on and off the track. The racing provides large grids and an extraordinary mixture of motorcycles, while the open paddock adds another dimension for photographers looking to capture the people, preparation and machinery behind the competition.

The sidecars perfectly encapsulate the experience. They bring together a variety of machines that you simply don’t encounter at many modern race meetings, while their crews provide plenty of action when the racing gets underway.

The competitive racing itself is equally entertaining. These riders may be racing historic machinery, but there is nothing particularly historic about their commitment once the visor goes down. They race hard, push the machinery and give the spectators plenty to photograph.

Will I Be Back at BHRC Cadwell Park?

Will I be back next year? That probably isn’t the right question. The real question is which day will I return to the BHRC Cadwell Park 2027 meeting — Saturday, Sunday, or both?

Given the variety of motorcycles, the racing, the open paddock and the photographic opportunities, I suspect the answer might be all of them.

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Previous reports from the BHRC meetings at Cadwell Park.