Knockhill BTCC

coolcat

coolcat

Messages
214
Name
Jeff
Edit My Images
Yes
Got my flights, hotel and tickets for the BTCC weekend at Knockhill in August.

Having never been before any advice on best spots on the circuit for qualifying and race day?
Biggest lens I have is the Canon 70-200 F2.8 mk2 with both the 1.4 and 2.0 teleconvertors.
Will that afford me enough reach mounted on my 1D mk4 ?
If not I may think of renting a lens for the weekend and I'm open to suggestions :)

Can't wait .........and yes, I will be taking waterproofs ;)
 
Last edited:
Access around Knockhill is generally very good. At the hairpin where most of the last second overtakes take place, you will be shooting over a waist high fence and 70-200 will be perfect. For qualifying, the cars tend to use the kerbs a lot and you can get some spectacular shots from the inside of the circuit at Duffus Dip - go over the bridge and turn left. The cars will arrive quickly without much warning but you can get some great panning shots of the cars on 2 wheels. You can also get them on 2 wheels at the chicane, but you'll need to shoot through the higher safety fence there. There used to be a few holes that people had cut for better access but these were patched in during the winter.

Later in the afternoon, the exit of Clarks is good as earlier in the day you will be shooting into the sun if it's blue skies and you'll get lots of glare off the car windscreens and the track, but it's fine later on when the sun has moved round. There's a covered grandstand section there but has a safety fence along the full length but you can get panning shots shooting through the fence. At the end of the grandstand all the way to the hairpin there's only a waist high fence and you can get good shots of the cars hitting the sausage kerb, but 200mm will be a little short for frame filling shots but you could use your 1.4 or 2x to good effect.

New for this year there's an elevated area at the hairpin where you can view all the way from the exit of Clarks,down to the hairpin and all the way up the straight to the bridge. Great for just watching as you'll see most of the overtakes, and only a small part of the apex at the hairpin is obscured by the safety fence from the highest level. Might not be the best for taking photos as you will only get them coming straight at you,or the rear as they drive away from you.

On race day, the outside of Duffus Dip tends to be good for incidents and cars running wide into the gravel,but again you will be shooting through the high safety fence. The exit of Scotsman (bottom of Duffus) is very popular with photographers as the fence is only waist high after about 50m all the way up to the chicane, though you will need between about 300-400mm to get a frame filling shot of the hitting the kerbs at the exit of Scotsman, but a a 70-200 is perfect for panning shots as they head to the hairpin. You can also get some great shots of them hitting the kerbs and getting onto 2 wheels at the chicane from the rear as well from just before the high safety fence starts.

There are not enough pit garages for all the cars, so you will be able to view all the cars being set-up and worked on in the paddock, as well as getting photos of the drivers as they get ready to get into their cars.

Some of the better viewpoints will get very busy during the BTCC races, so best to get there during the race before. Saturday qualifying will be much quieter though and getting a good spot won't be so much of an issue.
 
Your lens and 1.4 extender will be all you need and John has covered the best bits.
 
Thank-you both for all the info.
I'm going to print a map of the circuit off and mark all those spots on it so I have a plan of where to be on each day :)

Roll on August ;)
 
There is often action on Friday afternoon as teams set up if you can be there, so much easier to get near the drivers too.
 
mj4456 said:
There is often action on Friday afternoon as teams set up if you can be there, so much easier to get near the drivers too.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Thanks for the tips.
Unfortunately for me I'm working Friday and will be flying up to Glasgow Friday night.

So, it's just the Saturday and Sunday for me I'm afraid :(
 
I might try go to this as its fairly close to me (Aberdeen). Been to F1 races in the past and love photographing the race cars.
 
your 70-200 plus the extender should get you some shots of the hairpin if you go down to where the cars enter the track
 
its been a few years from the last time i was there but you could go down to just about where the track was as the cars went in down from the paddock you could easy get shots of the hairpin this one was taken some where in the middle of the gate and the shelter

photo7 by hoochy, on Flickr
 
Last edited:
and this one was taken not far from the same place looking across ps excuse the p*** poor photos lol

IMG_8455_1.psd by hoochy, on Flickr
 
coolcat said:
Got my flights, hotel and tickets for the BTCC weekend at Knockhill in August.

Having never been before any advice on best spots on the circuit for qualifying and race day?
Biggest lens I have is the Canon 70-200 F2.8 mk2 with both the 1.4 and 2.0 teleconvertors.
Will that afford me enough reach mounted on my 1D mk4 ?
If not I may think of renting a lens for the weekend and I'm open to suggestions :)

Can't wait .........and yes, I will be taking waterproofs ;)
Click to expand...

Hope you enjoyed Knockhill. Lots of action and no rain for a change.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top