Ardeer Peninsula Comments Page
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23 February 2012:
Thinking more about this project ......
Although I am actively involved in the sport of drag racing an having a track like this literally on my doorstep is a dream come true (it's an 700mile round trip to Santa Pod from Irvine - about 18 hours towing a car trailer) I have to wonder who came up with the idea ?
The West of Scotland is notorious for its wet and windy weather ... I can hardly remember when we last had a dry day. If you build a drag race track out on a peninsula you are even more likely to get the brunt of bad weather.
A drag racing track surface is made from a very special kind of rubberised Tarmac. It's completely smooth and non porous. If it gets wet it has zero grip !!!
Santa Pod does not run any cars on a wet day because it's too dangerous.
The track has to be prepped with sprayed on solvent to activate the surface and make it quite literally as sticky as toffee. If a drag race car travelling at a modest 100mph breaks traction from the track surface the chances are it will lose control and crash
Most Drag Racing tracks are built on old WW2 airfields.
These airfield locations were chosen back in the 1940s because of their localised weather systems and that's why the Drag Race Tracks are drawn to them not just the fact that there's a long unused concrete runway.
I've left Scotland in pouring rain which never stopped until I got to South of Birmingham and then had a full weekends racing and even got sunburnt at Santa Pod. If you don't believe me have a look at the weather forecasts on TV and you will regularly see Northamton area regularly missing bad weather as it sweeps across the country.
Finally , I would LOVE to have a quarter mile drag track on my doorstep so don't let me put anyone off ;-)
Regds
David
- David Ramage (ramage-d@sky.com), Irvine, Scotland
22 February 2012:
As one of the few Drag Racers in Scotlant who regularly travels to Santa Pod and also York Raceway I feel that I am qualified to comment on the project.
The press release in the local newspaper seems to be quite naive in its direct comparison with Santa Pod in Northampton. Santa Pod attracts the numbers of attendees due to a number of aspects not least that the track is approx 1 hours drive from London and relatively close to the majority of major cities in England. Apart from the regular weekly test and tune track days and RWYB weekends it attracts European events , Uk National finals , numerous festivals and club events. The track itself is one of the safest in Europe and regularly hosts Top Fuel events with cars reaching 300mph in under 6 seconds.
Although potentially hugely attractive as a RWYB venue like Crail for hot hatches and boy racers I suggest that the project leaders seek advice from people who have been involved in the growth of Santa Pod as a top European drag race venue if they want it to become a serious contender for hosting European and national events.
The technical infrastructure required for the racing itself is not a" pick it up as we go along " kind of thing and the management of festival events sometimes still goes badly wrong at Santa Pod
Regds.
- David Ramage (ramage-d@sky.com), Irvine, Scotland
12 May 2011:
The Ardeer Penisula will shortly have a new life as the home of the Nobel Race Park, an exciting development of a World-class motor sport venue, due for completion early 2012. This will include installation of a Lord Johnny Douglas-Hamilton designed Moto X track and a world rated Drag Racing strip as well as the complete refurbishment of Africa House.
- Jim Crossan (crossanjames@hotmail.com)
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