Cadwell Park

Louth, Lincolnshire, LN11 9SE www.cadwellpark.co.uk

If Three Sisters is the ‘spritual home’ of scooter racing, Cadwell Park is considered by many to be the current home. The Lincolnshire circuit has a bit of everything and is often called the ‘mini Nurburgring’.

It is certainly a track of huge history and character and is popular with racers and spectators alike. In recent years it has hosted the final round of the British Scooter Championship so has been the

place where champions are crowned. Set in the glorious Lincolnshire Wolds, the circuit is surrounded by and built onto hills and has a fair amount of gradient over its 2.1 mile full circuit lap.

Cadwell has seen racing since the 1930s and is considered too narrow for some car racing, but events such as British Superbikes are the highlight of its calendar.

In previous times there were a couple of options for circuit layout and length, but more recently just the full circuit has been used. The circuit is the favourite of many riders and features two long straights and an incredible variety of fast, sweeping bends – from Charlies and Chris curve, to the technical bends like the dauntingly off camber Gooseneck, through to the wheelie inducing challenge of The Mountain. Then there’s the tree lined and covered woodlands section which brings those Nurburgring comparisons.

There are acres of paddock and grassland space on which to camp and the paddock area has a grid of Tarmac roadways through grassy areas, so you can actually camp very close to the racers’ paddock area if you are lucky. Take some good walking shoes though, because you will need to do plenty of walking up and down hills to see the action.

The two grandstands at the bottom of The Mountain are a popular place to watch, but you can also get over the track to some central grandstands which are a great place to watch from.

One of the most popular places is conveniently right outside the main cafe where you can watch the riders form up on a dummy grid, smell the two-stroke in the air before watching many riders pulling some spectacular wheelies over the mountain before they enter the blind right-left-right-left flick of Hall bends in the woodlands area of the circuit.

If you walk through the woods along the side of the track this is a great place to take pictures as you can get very close to the track. The engine sounds echoing through the trees add to the spectacle.

The right-hand hairpin is a popular place for diving lunges at passing so is a good place to see track action, although you won’t see the rest of the circuit from this vantage point. If you take a good walk (or drive) around the opposite end of the circuit you will find the track’s fastest sections. Charlies, Park straight and Park bend are where the scooters are flat out with speeds of over 100mph at the front. The braking point into the right-hand Park corner can be a spectacular place to watch from too as riders jockey for position with late braking into the fast right-hand bends leading to Charlies and the infamous Gooseneck.

My recommendation would be to move around and watch Cadwell races from a variety of viewpoints, all of which can be spectacular.

Cadwell is owned by the MSV group which means although all costs are higher, the facilities are actually very good. The onsite cafe and bar is popular in the evenings and sometimes may even feature a band playing. There is a choice of food outlets but if you want to eat and drink cheaply then taking your own and a barbecue would be recommended. Even facilities like toilets and showers are pretty good. If you are camping then the towns of Horncastle or Louth are both a short drive away with good choice of pubs and food.

Cadwell is also popular with road scooterists and there are several large clubs in the area, so there is usually a good display of road scooters to look around as well as the extensive race paddock which is open to spectators. Words: Paul Green

Photographs: Tim Simpson