Nicholas Icke posted the following on Facebook today. Good to know he's on the mend.
Thanks to the medics and marshalls who dealt with my situation very well on Sunday after I went down hard. Still in Cambridge hospital at the moment. Recovering from 2 broken ribs, a broken collar bone, broken shoulder blade and collapsed lung. Special Thanks to medic who noticed breathing was quiet on the one side. Sa...fe hands...I'll be back for my bike as soon as I am out! Thanks.
WildTracks MX circuit changes
If you rode here last weekend you will know that we tried out a new track layout at Jump 21, just after the start. The idea was that this would slow the track and make it more challenging. Your feedback at the weekend said that the changes didn’t work and that at Jump 21 the ground was too hard and the track not wide enough. You also gave us some very useful ideas about improvements we could make over the whole track.
This week Colin is ripping out the face of Jump 21 to make the soil looser and he’ll also make the corner wider. If that rides ok at the weekend (let us know please) Colin will bring in the Volvo EC360 and redesign the section behind Jump 21, taking the route from Jump 9 over to Jump 19 and back to Jump 10, so they’ll be a large new corner in there. Additionally Colin will put in a new table top. Mark Parker will ride the new circuit to make sure it rides ok before we open it. Colin is also going to use the Volvo to face up all the jumps to give more lift.
Some of you suggested reversing the track, this would be difficult as the lights and marshal points face one way but we’ll keep it in mind. It was also suggested that we should have more female marshals! We would be happy to hear from anyone who would like to apply for to be a marshal.
Tell us what you think
arabella@wildtracksltd.co.uk
www.facebook.com/wildtracks
De Niro's NiteClub and Heath Court Hotel
We've teamed up with 2 local business in Newmarket to offer special rates to our MX Riders. Take your WildTracks MX rider loyalty card to benefit from these offers. De Niro's is offering free entry on Fridays before 11pm and Heath Court Hotel is offering £1.00 off their Sunday evening buffet dinner.
Camping
Inexpensive camping is available most weekends at WildTracks. Secure site with toilet facilities, attractive picnic area and childrens playground. Dogs with responsible owners very welcome! £5 per night and whilst booking not usually necessary we recommend you call in advance.
New MX start gates
These were well received on Saturday with riders practicing for the race meetings the next day and on Sunday the less experienced riders had a go for fun and to get a feel for what racing might be like. The gates are marshalled and the ground graded then raked between starts if necessary. The gates will be available again this weekend from 1.30 to 3.30 both days.
What a great weekend!
It was so good to see so many of you and so many new faces on the MX circuit and thanks for all the compliments about the track. We continued with the grouping by ability: expert, intermediate and novice and this has been well received.
The start gates are on their way and if possible will be open by next weekend. The value of practicing your starts is confirmed by Mark Parker, who runs the MX school at Chippenham who says, “The start is the only time in a race when you can pass 39 riders in one go, so its really important to practice your starts!”
We’re now on facebook and thanks to all who’ve become fans. Thanks for all your feedback too.
First visit to MX circuit
Ray Ellis of Rainham was told about WildTracks by a friend so came up early on Saturday for the first time with his son. Mr Ellis kindly called us to say "My boy and I absolutely loved our day with you on Saturday. Thank you. We hadn’t been before. The layout and facilities were perfect. It’s a perfect place to come.” Ray was riding a 4 stroke yz and his son a kx65.
We always welcome your feedback.
Stevenage Schoolboy MX Club
"An absolutely blinding day" said Pete Gomm, Chairman of Stevenage Schoolboy MX Club, following their racemeeting at WildTracks on Sunday. Pete confirmed that the day went without a hitch and that the track was in tip top condition. WildTracks had supplied some local marshals for the event which helped Stevenage and recent changes to the track, particularly in the area behind the start, had improved the track Pete said.
The auto track has also been improved and the parents of the auto riders were pleased with these improvements too.
We are looking foward to welcoming Stevenage back to WildTracks in July and are grateful for their continued support.
Chippenham MX track improvements, extension and future plans – Spare a thought for Colin our Site Manager
Recently the famous Chippenham circuit has benefited from a number of well received improvements, most notably the addition of a couple of new bends and small table tops behind the start area. First to try the layout was the Stevenage Schoolboy MX Club race meeting and Chairman Pete Gomm was well pleased with the work.. “We had an absolutely blinding day” said Pete, adding “the track was in tip top condition” and that the new layout was “a massive improvement”.
The new layout is open for practice immediately and in its design attention has been paid to creating a track that is ever more technical and challenging but never loses sight of safety considerations. Colin Batchelor, the Site Manager, who has been at Chippenham since 1998 brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the circuit layout. Colin is aided in track design by a motocross rider, Mark Parker, who also gives instruction at Chippenham, and at every stage of development each jump and corner is tested by Mark before going live.
Colin works on the track all year so improvements and additions are ongoing. Recently top-end radio controlled safety lights (electronic marshaling systems) were installed. The solar powered lights add to safety, maximise track time usage and operate in blocks of 4 so allowing for a section of circuit to be closed immediately following an incident but then reopened equally quickly. The Chippenham professional marshals work in conjunction with the safety lights and are there to support the riders if required; in case of injury Tammy our qualified and experienced nurse is always on hand. Later this Spring start gates are being installed allowing riders to practice race starts on non race days.
That the circuit remained open through the recent bad winter is largely due to Colin and the improved drainage system which he designed last year, we are also helped by the fact that the site lies on an old sand and gravel working and thus is inherently well drained allowing us to stay open when many other tracks are forced to close. Summer brings its own challenges and on a typical weekend we will apply over 20,000 gallons of water to keep the dust down.
Change to MX prices
We value your continued support and it is with reluctance that, for the first time in 4 years, we are increasing some of our MX practice prices.
Chippenham MX track is acknowledged to be one of the most challenging, exciting and well maintained in the country. We have a traffic light system to maximise safety and track time usage and we are shortly introducing state of the art start gates allowing us to offer a complete practice package.
Tammy, our wonderful nurse, is on site at all times and we have a dedicated First Aid room. As you know Colin varies the track nearly every weekend, weather permitting, and our popular new section will be open again the weekend after next.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have recently commented on the quality of the track and the new grouping arrangements. We always welcome your feedback.
From Saturday 20th March 2010 the MX practice prices will be:
125cc and above £30
100cc and below £25
Autos £20 (no change)
