Brightwell Farm nr Ipswich
The site for this track was near the village of Brightwell in Suffolk just east of Ipswich. It was on an old farm that was being renovated into a family estate. A collection of old red brick buildings comprised what would become the family home. To the south was an area of ground that would soon be a fishing lake, and to the east was the area of sand and pine forest that was to be made into a motocross track.
The initial area of the track was relatively small. Encased by Fields on one side, with the house and plantation on the other. Initial designs showed that given the speed of the client, the track would have a lap time of around 1 and a half minutes. Clearly a longer track would have been better. It was apparent that by going through the plantation and round the back, it would be possible, if the client was willing, to create another 500 meters of track. Fortunately there was no shortage of labour and with the removal of selected trees it was possible for the track to wind its way through the plantation and round the back of it.
With the use of a D5 bulldozer the site was landscaped into shape. The main straight was a few hundred meters long. It comprised of a series of floaty doubles and ended in a step down that followed the land as it fell away into a dip. The course turned at the base of the dip and ran directly back alongside the previouse straight. Halfway up the dip a section of rollers started. They would begin at 8 meter intervals with two before the crest of the rise. They would transition into 9 meter intervals further along, then 10 meter intervals, and finally 11. As you can imagine the speed generated throughout this section meant that towards the end of it, huge strength was needed to control the bike. This was perhaps the longest section Ive ever built .
The main jump on the track was a 26 meter table top exiting a sweeping left hander. It was impossible not to whip the bike over this jump and it made for great photos. On the other side of the plantation was an uphill timing section. Given the soft terrain, all the obstacles were constructed safe in the knowledge that the ground would quickly rough up. Sweeping take offs with rounded landings were a must, and the entire track was landscaped from the existing surface.
Having returned in 2008 to reverse the track, the entire farm had been completeley renovated. If you click on the link below you can see for yourself the finished estate. Shot in summer 2009 and complete with a very rough and overgrown mx track. Moto heaven!
http://motomagazine.co.uk/videos/moto-cribs-jake-nicholls.html |
