After my enjoyable trip to Knockhill in Scotland, which was also my first British Superbike visit, I decided to look for other opportunities to see BSB with my own eyes. Coincidentally, BSB’s Round 8 at Cadwell Park falls between MotoGP at Brno and Silverstone. So here I am on the east coast of England, once again watching the BSB riders, but this time at a circuit I’ve long wanted to see in person. Many PhotoGP readers are familiar with Cadwell Park, but as most of you are from the U.S., I suspect many are not. So here’s a bit about this gem of the BSB calendar.

Located three and a half hours north of London, near the city of Louth in Lincolnshire, Cadwell Park is like two circuits connected into one. Half the track is a windy path through lush forrest (shown above), the other is a wide loop around a rolling hillside barren of trees but covered with grass.

The latter half is something like Phillip Island, but without the adjacent ocean. The fans have only a low, wire fence to watch or shoot over, while those with a photo pass can shoot with little or no barriers, just like on The Island.

With the lack of fences, the grass itself becomes a feature of the images.

The dramatic elevation changes allow pure, uncluttered backgrounds of the racers.

Coincidentally, while I was exploring this section of the circuit in the afternoon, first this happened. Sam Cox rode around unaware that he had an issue related to the oil in his engine.

A moment later this happened as the rider continued down the hill and that oil changed from an issue to a problem. Young Mr. Cox was ok, though his motorcycle needed some repairs. Perhaps not as many as this track sign, however.

The two halves of the circuit meet at a place where the trees start.

In the forrest, the path winds, climbs, dips, at times half in shade and half in sunlight, assuming there is any sunlight, that is.

But still the dips and rises offer interesting views of the riders and their machines.

Sometimes the views are downright exciting because the riders are moving right at you. And that means a mistake on their part, or a mechanical failure of just the wrong kind, could mean they are well and truly moving right at you.

But of course it’s worth the risk, especially when you get to see familiar faces again.

And then there’s a section of track at Cadwell Park called The Mountain. And frankly it deserves a post of its own. But until that’s done, The Mountain, from one of many possible perspectives, looks like this:

©2015 by Scott Jones / PhotoGP – All Rights Reserved
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