Cadwell is so much more than just “The Mountain”….. There are another two miles of tarmac out there….
Round four of the NG series has us at Cadwell Park. Brands Hatch, Donington Park and Castle Combe have preceded this meeting, and it is astonishing to think we are passed mid-season in this slightly foreshortened COVID hit season. Championships are starting to take shape, and we are beginning to be able to trust the 2021 form-book.
Dan Cooper in the 600 class, Dan Harris in the Mini Twins, Harley Prebble in the Suzuki Bandit series, Kurtis Butler from The 700 Seteetsocks and Tim Bradley from the Formula 400 have been bagging big points it their respective classes. Richard Stather in the 1300 Streetstock, Paul Wardell in the Super Twins and Max Symonds in the Powerbikes too have started to stamp their authority as we held into the second half of the season with just Oulton Park and Pembrey still to go in 2021.
Cadwell often sees a few BSB support riders on the entry list. This can be a double-edged sword for the championship regulars. It can mean that the challenge for the lead may be out of reach, but on the other hand it often drags a better lap time out of the NG series regulars. If the challenge from the National series riders wasn’t enough there are always the Cadwell locals with more track knowledge !!
As at every NG Road Racing meeting, we have timed qualifying on Saturday morning with the first of the weekends three championship points scoring races in the afternoon. Two more championship races for each class will take us through Sunday straight after the riders have had the regular morning warm-up sessions. Each championship class carries twenty-five points for a win, going down the scale to one for fifteenth place and there are a total of sixteen rounds this year spread over the six meetings. The range of classes take in the full gamut of machines, from Formula 125 modified road bikes, all the way up to the tricked out 1000cc superbikes, with everything catered for in between from 600cc to Mini-Twins and Streetstocks to Suzuki Bandits.
Cadwell Park is fondly nicknamed the 2.2 mile 'mini-Nürburgring’ and has hosted racing for over 85 years. It's twisty and undulating nature, winding through open park and woodland, has marked it out as one of the best circuits in the country. The circuit is one of the most popular destinations on the British Superbike calendar for both riders and spectators, with the infamous 'Mountain' section, which riders usually tackle airborne, providing a particular challenge. The track is so much more than just the mountain. Every corner demands respect, and the final section of the lap under the trees can often be the downfall of many as it is very tight and often stays damp under the trees after rain !!…Hopefully that will not be an issue on a sunny July weekend ! (…..fingers crossed)
Josh Day holds the outright NG lap record here, set in June 2019, circulating in 1 min 30.25sec on his ZX10R Kawasaki, which equates to an average of 86.95ph.
Adding extra interest to the weekend NG Road Racing are again running the British National series for 125cc and 250cc GP machinery. This is the only place in the UK that you will see these ex-GP machines racing for a full British Championship title backed by the ACU (The sports governing body). We also have the Ducati Desmo Due Series and Formula Prostocks, plus for those who are fans of the sights, sounds and smells for race bikes of the 1950’ and 60’s we have the Lansdowne Classic series as a guest class.