Barry Ditchburn on a factory Kawasaki negotiating the unbelievably tight Shaw’s Hairpin at Mallory Park ahead of Yvon DuHamel (9) and Dave Potter in 1975. (Photo © Graham Etheridge)

In surfing the web I came across the excellent motorcycle racing images of British photographer Graham Etheridge. Graham is a freelance photographer specializing in motorcycle racing and gig photography. He’s had photographs published in Classic Racer, Motorcycle Racer, Fast Bikes and Road Racer X as well as being featured on numerous racing websites. His racing catalogue spans over 35 years

I’m grateful that Graham has been generous enough to let me display some of his shots over here on The Rider Files. I hope to add a little with my words to put some of his shots into context.

You can check out Graham’s work here.

The first photo of Graham’s that caught my eye was this shot of Barry Ditchburn on a factory Kawasaki at Mallory Park leading Yvon DuHamel (9) and Dave Potter. With Yvon in the shot this is likely a Match Race photo. Ditchburn was a well traveled racer. In 1977 he raced a factory Kawasaki in the 250cc World Championships. He scored two podium finishes that season. He scored another 250cc podium at Imola in 1979. In addition to his Grands Prix and domestic British racing Barry also raced the Isle of Man, the Daytona 200 and the Trans-Atlantic Match races. His father Harry Ditchburn was a grass track ace of the 1940s.

Graham’s photo of Barry was taken at Shaw’s Hairpin, the tightest corner of all the British circuits. I remember the American riders seeing the 180 degree turn for the first time during the Match Races. Thomas Stevens said it was the tightest corner he’d ever seen on a road racing circuit and that on the Yamaha Superbike he had to really feather the clutch in first gear just to get through it.

Here’s a photo I took on the corner 16 years after Graham’s shot of Ditchburn.

Here’s an onboard video of the circuit.