Anyone Club Raced in UK?

I believe you can get supplemental to address that.

 

Well of course they are! If they were American sized, you'd be racing in two, maybe even three countries on the same track.

 

Thundersport is the big club race series in the UK below BSB and there are some fast dudes that race there for sure. You could race at a BSB weekend in the stock 600 class as well. The tracks there are definitely different than here and the competition is steep!

Cadwell Park was crap IMHO...nothing special.

 

Exactly my thoughts on both. Stock 600 has a deep field but would be a good experience. The back section of Caldwell is pretty cool but gets way too much hype because of the mountain.

 

I think the only section I didn't like at Cadwell was right after the jump, that little straight and the first hard right was just so tight and didn't flow well. Everything else was pretty fun aside from being super narrow.

OHHHH, on second thought, the chicane is terrible. Possibly one of the worst chicanes I've ridden through.

 

That straight is where my throttle jammed wide open last year and I had to jump off. Bloody scary

 

Cadwell was the only track in the UK that scared me.

 

I’d say.

 

Yikes.

 

I always have been curious about Caldwell Park. A very spectacular venue. It seems you have to be going very fast (as in BSB top 10 fast) to catch some air on the Mountain. An average rider on a 600 wouldn't get both wheels off the ground, right ?

 

They probably can, I had the front wheel off the ground on a 250 Ducati. The Mountain is very steep, very short and it plateaus out very quickly.

 

I don't think that's true. I had both wheels off at a pretty slow pace when I was learning the track early in the day. Scared the shit out of me and I lifted the rest of the day [emoji1]

It also depends on where you hit it. Brookes would hit the steeper line almost every lap (I think it's the inside line but can't remember for sure) while others would take the opposite.

And the hill is fookin steep. I don't think half of the American population could walk up that hill, haha.

 

Yes it depends on how you ride it as long as you have a fair bit of speed.I have a pic somewhere if I can find it.

 

Not sure about average but faster guys can but it also depends on how you ride. Most riders try not to get much air over there as you lose drive and it’s tough on equipment. The photos make it look like riders are going a lot bigger than they are. Riding Grattan backwards you get more air, maybe not as high but ste in the air longer.

 

I guess I just think that because I saw a video of UK show 5th Gear where a very pathetic James Toseland consistently failed to get some air going over the Mountain, even if it was supposed to be the challenge.

 

The thing about Grattan, though, is the bike is already straight up and down at the point you get air. That's not the case at Cadwell, which is what bothered me.

So for you guys that have experience with their tracks, which ones did you enjoy most? I've only ridden Cadwell and watched a club race at snetterton. Snetterton looked meh.

 

I have soft spot for Snetterton, had my very first race there and also my last in the UK. The circuit is very different now to when I last rode on it and it had changed over the years I was racing there.

Even though I raced regularly at Brands it wasn't my favourite, it was very bumpy and didn't have the best surface in the world, especially in the wet. Mallory was very good until they put all the chicanes in, however I can understand why with the increase in speed over the years. I really liked Pembrey in Wales, a bit bumpy and again the surface wasn't the best but I got along really well with it. A special word though for Lydden a 1 mile track in Kent, I had my first win there and looking back it wasn't the safest of circuits but it has been improved a lot and is much better now. It really taught you how to ride in close proximity to a bunch of other riders and if you saw a gap to take it.

 

I've always said if you can ride well at Cadwell you can ride well anywhere.My favourite anyway.Brands on a 250 is great fun but a nightmare on my R1.

 

So does anyone have a good contact at the ACU? I've tried emailing the addresses on their website with no luck.

 

They're probabaly too busy working out another way to fleece the racing community.