Click here for the Darvill Racing report (pdf) 

Racing is always an adventure, with little sleep, pent up excitement and nerves. The Classic Bol D’or was to be no different, except we had even less sleep, more excitement, shattered nerves (at least on team principal Alex’s part!) and a hell of a lot further to travel! 

The Classic Bol D’or is effectively a four hour endurance race for classic motorcycles spread over a weekend (one night race, one day race). There were a total of 56 teams, Darvill Racing being one of them, and Small Red Gorilla was there to capture all the on track action as well as the highs and lows.

Kick-off was at Gatwick airport where I met team principal Alex who had just flown in from the HQ on the Isle of Man, and Lee who would be driving us to the circuit. No doubt the sight of three big blokes crammed into the front of a Mercedes Vito was quite amusing, but it wasn’t too bad, especially with Lee’s many hilarious stories. First stop would be Dover to meet the rest of the team carrying the bike, followed by a ferry to Dunkerque and then a 350 mile drive to the circuit. 19 hours after I’d left home early that morning and an unscheduled detour to Belgium (sat nav, still not to be trusted!), we arrived at the circuit deep in central France.

A couple of hours and quick nap later it was time to sign on, get our passes and set the team up in the pits. First practice would be in a few hours, so it was time to get the camera gear ready and familiarise myself with the circuit. First impressions were good, the circuit is very well kept, everything is run efficiently and the marshals were friendly, despite my pathetic attempt at French. My press pass allowed me to get up nice and close to the action, giving me full access to the pits and trackside barriers. For the practice sessions however, I decided to stay within the pits facing the chicane, work out who was who and brush up on my skills, which were admittedly rusty after the winter break.

First practice was a real eye opener and I soon realised how quickly I had to get back into the swing of things! Chris and Rob were flying on the Spondon Honda (see Darvill Racing report) and my first few attempts to capture them in action failed miserably. Shots were either out of frame or out of focus. I discovered that my camera just doesn’t like the bikes colour scheme and wouldn’t focus because of the black number boards, so it was time to stop being lazy and get back to basics with complete manual control. It’s hard work, especially as you have to control both the zoom and focus rings with your left hand at the same time, as well as adjusting aperture and shutter speed with your right, plus framing the shots of course. It’s how I like to work though, and I guess it’s why my shots look unique.

Things didn’t go as smoothly for the team in the afternoon as the generator decided to lunch itself and seize the bikes engine.  They’re a clever lot the Darvill Racing team, they soon fixed the problem and it was also an opportunity for me to get shots of them working on the bike with angle grinders and various other tools. As soon as it was sorted a few hours later it was finally time for sleep, or that was the plan.

Myself, Chris and Mike decided we would sleep in the pits thinking it would be nice and quiet. Big mistake! The pits are essentially shared spaces separated by mesh fencing, and them Frenchies aren’t quite as reserved as the English who try to keep noise to the minimum. Instead they revved their race engines to the redline and tinkered away late into the night, by which time it was near enough time to get up. Sleep wasn’t going to be possible on this trip! However, it all showed how serious people were taking the weekend. It’s not cheap to enter, the riders are professional and a lot of development goes into the bikes. It isn’t just club racing.

Finally it was Saturday morning and first on the agenda was a warm-up session followed by qualifying.  This time I wanted to get closer to the bikes, so I wandered up into the centre of the track next to the hairpin. Luckily I had this section to myself, literally feet away from two parts of the track and no other photographers in sight. I was now finally back into the swing of things and quickly filled up my memory cards, the racing hadn’t even started yet! The team did a great job qualifying in 29^th place (see Darvill Racing race report) which put them in contention for that evening’s night race. Session over it was time to head back to the pits.

That afternoon was spent taking static bike shots, team shots and shots of the crowds admiring the bike. Our pit was right next to the world famous Phase One Endurance team, but the unique Darvill Racing Spondon Honda received a great deal more admiring glances. In theory the bike shouldn’t work, it’s too tall and long, but the designer Peter Darvill knew what he was doing, it out handles and out brakes the competition.

Time for the first race which was to take place at night. This was a first for me and I wasn’t quite sure where to stand for the best light and to get nice, sharp shots of the bikes. In the end I decided to setup at the end of the pits at the chicane. Track lighting would help illuminate the bikes and if shots became impossible, I could get back to take photos of the pitstops.  Also, on a selfish level I wanted to hear the roars of the crowd and feel the intense drama that was about to unfold.

The beginning of the race can only be described as awesome. Riders line up along one side of the track, with bikes on the other being held by a team member....

“...Rob was taking the first stint, I took the honours to assist with the start… and what a way to start a race, nothing compares you for it, I have been on the grid numerous times, yes nerves are there but you have your Team around you and the is a general ‘buzz’ of people, machines and activity. Not with the Le Mans start… The bike does its sighting lap, warm-up lap and then comes to rest by your starting position, the rider disembarks and makes their way across the track, the crowd is going bananas with noise levels to match, the 5 minutes warning sign goes-up, a massive cheer erupts… The 1 minutes sign goes up, the crowd respond in unison then SILENCE… this is really strange, you can hear a ‘pin-drop’… the 30 second sign is raised… roars from the crowd and then… SILENCE… how did I feel, well it was indescribable, I have never felt anything like this, awesome….” Alex Aitchison, Team Principal

I just about managed to squeeze myself between all the team members lining the pit wall to get a few shots of the start, then I had to run down to the chicane before the bikes came back around. The lighting at the start as the sun went down was beautiful. With no glare, a sunset glow and clear visors, it was possible to see the riders eyes, full of concentration as they tried to get the very best out of the bikes. As it became dark however, it became harder and harder to get some quality shots. ISO was wound up to maximum, the aperture was wide open but shutter speeds were not fast enough, even for panning shots. Flash isn’t allowed as it would obviously distract the riders and cause a possible crash, so I decided to watch the racing instead, which you don’t really get to see when taking photos! The funny thing was the photographers around me kept on taking shots, and from what I could see from their LCDs they should have done the same.

The team finished 15^th, an amazing result, which deserved some celebration. A few drinks later, we ended up with the French British Motorcycle Club, with their classic Triumphs and rocker guise. It was a fairly bizarre scene, especially as tiredness was now taking a hold, but it was one to remember.

I had another poor night’s sleep, in fact no sleep at all. My brain was stuck in photo mode after having taken a couple of thousand photos and French teams were again spannering away until the early hours, so it became more of a case of just closing my eyes to rest them. I also thought what the hey, you don’t get to experience something like this often, live it up.

Sunday was to be the final day, with the race in the afternoon. I spent the morning getting various static shots and resting my eyes in preparation for the action. For the race itself I decided I would head back up to the centre of the track where I expected some fantastic action shots. I wasn’t wrong, there were crashes, amazing overtakes and great shots to be had for the team. Two hours later it was all over. The team finished in 10^th place, beating bigger more established teams. It was time to head home.

The drive back home was an adventure. With such little sleep it was a battle for the drivers to stay awake, there were hallucinations and traffic jams, diversions and fuel stops. We made it to the ferry just in time, but unfortunately the other half of the team missed it and had to get a later one. Several hours later I was dropped off in London, where I travelled along the underground like a zombie, before getting a train to Aylesbury (where I fell asleep with my face against the window dribbling at commuters in Harrow) and finally a taxi. Sixteen hours after leaving the track I was home. All that was left to do was edit thousands of images, but first it was time for bed...

PHOTO GALLERY UP SOON!

The Classic Bol D’or in numbers:

Transport used by the team & Small Red Gorilla - 2x planes, 3x trains, 3x ferries, 2x vans, 1x motorcycle, 1x taxi

Total number of qualifiers – 51
Finishing position of Darvill Racing – 10th

Total miles Small Red Gorilla travelled – 1200 approx
Total hours decent sleep:  3
Total shots taken:  2500 approx

Next Endurance race for Darvill Racing is at Cartegena, Spain in September