Cadwell Park

Just finished watching the latest round of the British Superbike Championship, from Cadwell Park. I've never seen racing from this track before, but I've got to say, what an awesome place for racing! I've heard it referred to as the mini-Nurburgring but didn't really believe until today.

Basically, the track is in two distinct parts. From the startline it runs uphill into a long sweeping, open section. There are no trees, but there's topography changes and interesting corners. From there it runs back downhill into a very different, tight woodland section. The highlight of this is "The Mountain", a very sharp crest after a left-right esses, where bikes in particular regularly catch serious air.

After The Mountain, a twisty, wooded section that tends to hold the moisture (like Spa) ends with a couple of tight right-handers before coming back to the start line.

The only downside I would say is a bit of a lack of passing places, but it seems to me that it shares much in common with Sears Point - nice terrain, wide variety of corners, no long straights, awkward esses, and a favourite amongst both fans and racers. Look for a "racetrack hall of fame post" sometime soon, since this has got me thinking about what makes a great track...