Wild Tracks suspend all racing UFN

[Tracey]

Heard on the local news that the new rallycross circuit near Newmarket, Wild Tracks, has been forced to suspend all race action until further notice.

The circuit was built without proper planning consent, and Cambs County Council have received numerous complaints from locals.

They plan to make retrospective planning application, but until this is approved (which could take a while if enough locals complain) no race meetings will take place.

Main breaches regard the tarmac section, and banking installed for spectator viewing areas.

[Ian Sowman]

Well, that was pretty stupid.

[BertMk2]

That is heroically dense. So what happens to those rounds if the track is still out of use? If they're not replaced it's a pretty short season.

[PTs Bro]

Bu***r what am I going to do now on the 2nd/3rd May?

[Tracey]

It's all a bit wierd. The representative from the circuit said they had approval for a rallycross circuit in 1995. The council say they never approved any tarmac. Maybe the council didn't understand what rallycross entails.

Not sure how long planning consents last for.

Suspect the locals didn't realise what was going to go on until the press day, and by what I saw, there was only one supercar - Carnegie's. Dread to think what they'd say to a full day of championship action.

Hopefully they'll get this problem all sorted before the championship rounds. I will keep an eye on the local news and update when I hear more.

[Stevie A]

This situation is simply pathetic. I can't believe that the sport deals with such amateurs. This is an MSA British Championship, ie a member of a select group of championships in this country, and somehow a situation like this occurs. It's no surprise that rallycross isn't considered to be particularly professional.....i'm pretty sure that other MSA championships wouldn't put up with it.

I thought last year was bad with only 2 sets of qualifying heats at Croft (circuit time constraints) and Anglesey (no rescue vehicle) and all manner of problems at the Blyton events, but this one really takes the biscuit.

I just hope that it does get sorted or as Bert says, it's gonna be a short championship.

[Queen]

Hello
I was at the press day. There was in fact four supercars
Dermots, Wills, Pats and Kevin McCanns. There was only one car out on the ciruit at anytime. And I must say the motorway was noisier than the cars on track.

[Upside Down Bug]

Dear All

Please see the attached press release issued today by the BRDA.

Andy

All 2004 Rallycross events scheduled for the new WildTracks-Newmarket venue have been cancelled while the venue owner resolves planning issues with the local authority.

WildTracks Off Road Activity Park, issued a statement on March 9 in which venue owner John Gorst said: "In 1995 we received a planning consent for Karting and Rallycross. After completing the circuit we were advised that we had to make a retrospective planning application for the bunding [earth bankings around the track] and for the engineering works for the circuit itself. I am sure you understand my own feelings regarding these delays and the embarrassment which it causes us all at WildTracks."

In addition to the retrospective planning application, the local planning authority, East Cambridgeshire District Council, has requested an Environmental Impact Assessment be completed by WildTracks.

Although the venue has planning permission for Rallycross, the unresolved planning issues mean that the MSA cannot issue a track licence, without which no competitive events may take place.

"There¹s no hiding the fact that this is very bad news for the championship," said BRDA Chairman Mike Dresser, "We were diligent when we decided to place rounds of the championship at WildTracks, the venue does have planning permission for Rallycross. This problem is entirely
unforeseen."

The loss of the venue for the current season means that two rounds of the British Rallycross Championship (and the concurrent BRDA and Junior Championships) and two rounds of the BTRDA Clubmans Rallycross Championship are under threat.

The BRDA, which organises the championships, has promised drivers the earliest possible decision regarding the possibility of switching the events to other venues.
"There is no quick fix, finding venues with available dates that fit within our existing calendar won¹t be easy, but we¹ll sort it as fast as we can," said championship coordinator Bill Skermer.

Notification of rescheduled events will be made via the BRDA website www.RallycrossUK.com as soon as possible.

[RoyG]

This is seriously bad news!!

Let's hope that ALL interested parties can really pull together to ensure that replacement meetings take place.

If not, the MSA/BRDA series loses two rounds, but (in my opinion more seriously) the BTRDA Clubmans' Championship is in grave danger of becoming non-viable.

If this happens, the route into Rallycross for new drivers will disappear. Most (if not all!) of the recent Winter meetings ran at a loss and if the Clubmans' Championship doesn't start to attract bigger entries they are likely to vanish too.

VERY serious news.....

[Rod Birley]

On a slightly positive note, for stock hatches at least, it does mean that the challenge events can now go ahead without encroaching onto what was a very busy calender.

[RoyG]

Count me in, Rod!!!

[BertMk2]

I guess the MSA rounds could be switched to another venue? I know circuits will already be pretty much booked out for the year but there's surely some spare capacity somewhere - Blyton? Failing that could the clubman stand alone events at other circuits be replaced by a clubmans / MSA joint meeting?

I don't think rallycross can afford to lose events from the calendar completely.

[bigted]

I think its important that no one uses this opportunity to start beating up the BRDA or the British Series. We should wait and see what the out come is. From when i was at the venue the noise problem shouldnt really be an issue theres a bloody great motorway next to the track which was very noisy and unenvironmental. and i didnt see too many houses about for residents to complain from. so no village to congest up as you exit straight on to the main motorway.

[bigted]

Stevie A wrote

"It's no surprise that rallycross isn't considered to be particularly professional.....i'm pretty sure that other MSA championships wouldn't put up with it."

Other championships? didnt SCV* have to cancel its debut again? because they couldnt organise everything and that was a championship that had so much moneyspent on it that it should have got its permits etc b4 making a big fuss etc

[BertMk2]

Originally posted by Stevie A
It's no surprise that rallycross isn't considered to be particularly professional.....i'm pretty sure that other MSA championships wouldn't put up with it.

The problem here isn't a rallycross problem as such - it's a circuit problem that impacts the rallycross championships. The circuit licence (or whatever they need) isn't the responsibility of the BRDA so no blame can be attached to them (I really don't understand why people are so quick to knock the BRDA and event organisers).

Other problems mentioned such as the lack of a rescue unit and the number of heats are unfortunate but are the exception not the rule.

I can't remember the reason the rescue unit wasn't available so I can't comment too much on that, but the number of heats run is limited by circuit noise curfews - if time is tight I'd rather lose a round of heats than risk the superfinal not being run. Heats aren't dropped on a whim - there's normally enough time to get through them but incidents throughout the day can knock the schedule back (re-starts, red flags, recovery time etc etc).

[Stevie A]

Yeah SCV8 has been put back until 2005 but it was pretty obvious to most that it wasn't gonna work this season. They didn't have any concrete support from manufacturers, drivers or any kind of tv deal.............it was all speculative. As far as i know SCV8 wasn't an official MSA British Championship either.

The thing with rallycross is that it's now well established and the MSA are really pushing the promotion of the sport (Autosport International, Rally Sunseeker etc) and yet something like this seems to happen almost every year. Nutts was cancelled in 2001, 2002 was ok, there was problems at a few circuits last year and the GP was cancelled.............and now this situation.

The sport keeps growing bigger and better every year with more high tech and better prepared machinery, new drivers etc and has so much potential but i'm just waiting for the year that everything comes together and rallycross really takes off like the late 80s/early 90s.

Its a shame that the Wildtracks rounds wont go ahead because it seemed like the drivers that tested there enjoyed it and it would've been another circuit on the calender but its no good if its not up to the job.

Another round at Croft would be good!!!

[BertMk2]

Originally posted by Stevie A
Another round at Croft would be good!!!

Surely you meant Lydden?

[bigted]

How about somewhere in the midlands? make it more of a geographical spread

[Stevie A]

Midlands would be good for me.......Blyton was my nearest circuit and Wildtracks would've been. I now have 150 miles north to Croft and the same south to Brands as my nearest.

But i'm a Darlington boy at heart and spent many a childhood weekend stood out in the typical freezing wet Croft conditions. Nice to see we have a round in the summer this year for once.

[Tracey]

I would be greatful if someone could explain to me Blyton's status, as I heard it had lost it's licence for rallycross (which I hope isn't the case!)

Also, let's not write off the Wildtracks rounds altogether. There are a couple of months before the first, even longer to what is scheduled to be the second round and longer again to the planned third round.

Just keep fingers crossed that not too many people put in complaints and it ends up going to a public enquiry, which could take years!

I fully appreciate what previous posters have said about noise and it being near a motorway. However, Rockingham have people complain about the noise who live miles away!!! I always call them NIMBY's - Not In My Back Yard!!!

[Dunnes]

I have to agree with you Stevie the geographical spread of the rallyX events does seem to favour the suthners. Me being from Leeds would like to see a few more events up North/Midlands are to ensure we dont have to make too many long trips to Lydden and Brands Hatch.

Obviously the April bank holiday is a bit of a stretch for us traveling down to Lydden just for the Monday, which seems a bit of a waste just for one days racing.

This brings me to my next point, does anyone know of any other events happening over the Bank holiday in April down south (involving cars or beer will be a substitute) to make the weekend a bit more worthwhile.

Back to the point in hand, i hope wildtracks does overcome its issues as ive read alot of information about the track and it sounds very promising. I hope too many people do not critisise the organisers, as they do a great job, just a little unfortunate that Wildtracks has a council in disarray

Ah well only 3 weeks to wait before i hear the purr (and splutter) of the RS200


Mike

[Andrew Kitson]

I drive past Wildtracks regularly and have noticed the build of the circuit over recent months. It is a pretty remote spot - but I had to laugh out loud when I saw the local TV news when this story first broke. Local residents in the village of Chippenham were worried about the noise.
Worried about the noise!!!! They have both Mildenhall AND Lakenheath US air bases within a few miles with flying day and night sometimes!

[BertMk2]

Originally posted by Dunnes
I have to agree with you Stevie the geographical spread of the rallyX events does seem to favour the suthners. Me being from Leeds would like to see a few more events up North/Midlands are to ensure we dont have to make too many long trips to Lydden and Brands Hatch.

Obviously the April bank holiday is a bit of a stretch for us traveling down to Lydden just for the Monday, which seems a bit of a waste just for one days racing.

This brings me to my next point, does anyone know of any other events happening over the Bank holiday in April down south (involving cars or beer will be a substitute) to make the weekend a bit more worthwhile.

Not sure about it favouring southerners - we only get 3 rounds (2 Lydden, 1 Brands) - the rest are absolutely miles away (Although with the clubmans championship we do get another fix)

The Lydden meeting is 'only' one day but you very rarely get less than 3 rounds of heats as well as the finals (something like 60 races) - there's usually track action from 9ish until gone 5 so it's a pretty packed day - I prefer that to 2 days where there is more limited running on each day.

Anyway - that weekend there is also BTCC at Thruxton and no doubt something at Brands - I suppose it all depends on what you count as 'down south'.

[Dunnes]

i did kind of expect alot of races to be 'down south'(re anything south of Birmingham) this year due to the popularity of the Lydden and Brands Hatch race meets last year.

I didnt realise that the BTCC was at thruxton, we did the same last year when we went to Lydden as the BTCC was at Brands. Caught the practice/qualifying day and then drove the rest of the way to Lydden on the night. Looks like we will be able to catch the actual race day this year if we go!!! This made the trip a little more worthwhile will have to look for events at brands as this is the logical place on the way to France....i mean lydden!

Brands Hatch Website seems a little limited at the moment, cant find a calendar of events.... ah well Thruxton here we come!

Cheers
Mike

[moyzer]

So if the Wildtracks events can't take place, what are trhe alternatives? The first round of the championship is looming, so time is short to sort something out.

Is it just a case of ringing up a track, (for arguements sake Anglesey) and asking them what they have on and whether a meeting can be held there?

I have to say, I stuck 'wildtracks' into a search engine a few weeks ago when it was announced as a venue, and I stumbled across a planning form from the local authorities in that neck of the woods. I did wonder if I was reading a recent application, as it was talking as if there were many conditions that would need to be discharged before planning approval was granted. I did'nt appreciate that it was actually the current state of play!!

There you go guys, don't rely on me to get a rumour started!!! Must have been p*ssed again!!

Hold all rounds at Lydden and Brands, bring back all the group B cars, make Schance, Renisson, Alamaki come out of retirement and contest the 'british', and er.....stop dreaming man...................