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Santa Pod resurfacing underway.


Guigsy
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Interesting.

 

 

http://www.eurodragster.com/news/news.asp?Story=march06#march06

 

image

 

Santa Pod resurfacing underway.

6th March: Santa Pod Raceway and Trakbak Racing Ltd CEO Keith Bartlett has been in touch to confirm that the resurfacing of Santa Pod Raceway is underway:

 

Work began in the early morning of Monday 4th March to resurface the drag strip at Santa Pod Raceway, so yes the rumours were true...

 

these works are the result of many months of planning and sample testing several areas of the track surface and its current condition. This is not a straightforward or simple track resurfacing project, far from it. We have conducted various surveys and carried out test samples of resurfacing over the past few months and taken great care to arrive at the best solution. A major factor has been the cost and the level of works. In an ideal world we would have liked to have ripped up not only the whole track but the also the complete foundations. After various surveys and tests in 2012 that was quite clear that would require an ‘open figure’ cheque book on the project in terms of budget, but in any case would have been in the region of £750,000 - £1,000,000 to complete, a figure we would not have been able to meet this year, given the huge losses we have incurred in 2012 and 2011 as result of so many rained out events. However with that said, the works that we are currently carrying out on the resurfacing of the track, will see the track properly resurfaced to the right levels and should produce a very good standard racing surface for the coming years.

 

The work is being carried out by Britain’s largest independent aggregates company, Breedon Aggregates Ltd of Derbyshire. Breedon Aggregates conducted material trials on the track late last year and Breedon Fibretex was selected as the correct product for the task. Its benefits include very high durability and exceptional deformation and fretting resistance, with a smooth, homogenous surface ensuring excellent ride quality together with good climate resistance. The resurfaced section will extend the length of the track from the “bleach-box” area behind the start line to the first turn-off beyond the finish and will be levelled with the aid of lasers. The procedure, which includes planning, regulating and surfacing, is expected to continue throughout the week.

 

Track preparation by Santa Pod’s track crew will begin as soon as the surface installation is finished. One thousand litres of specialised track wash is being supplied for the task by Autoglym, and Santa Pod would like to thank Rachel Hodges and Jerry Cookson for the provision of Shakespeare County Raceway’s rubber-sled to add to our own rubber-sled for use in the preparation process.

 

We have been unable to commence the works sooner due to the weather conditions and you cannot lay asphalt and especially the top thinner levels in cold weather, that is a total no go, so we are having to start works a few weeks later than originally planned. This does leave things very tight in terms of track preparation for the big event at Easter’s Festival of Power, especially given the normal processes occurring after fresh asphalt is laid, including the possibility of oils coming through to the top of the surface, although that should be limited in this case with the product we are using. Then we still have to try and get enough rubber down on the new surface before Easter. However, knowing how good our Santa Pod track crew are in terms of track preparation (and I do subscribe to the view, along with most people, that they are the best in Europe) I am sure that we will, in the end, have a super-fast and safe track by the time of the Main Event FIA and FIM Championship rounds at the end of May.

 

One point that I would like to make in this statement is that over the past ten days some well-known racers, on various forums, have been posting statements about how terrible it is that Santa Pod is not resurfacing the track, without even knowing or being aware of exactly what we have been planning and or doing over the winter months in relation to this project. As I have already made clear, we have lost significant income through rained out events in 2011 and especially in 2012. This prevented us from starting the works in November when we would ideally have liked to have commenced the resurfacing works in full. Santa Pod is still in business regardless of any difficulties or financial restrictions it has had to endure over the last fifteen years. TBR has made huge improvements to Santa Pod in this time giving the racers a far better overall race facility at Santa Pod at any time since its creation back in 1964. It is my job and duty as its owner and CEO to make sure that situation continues and I will continue to do so to the best of my ability, although I accept and learnt many years ago, you cannot please all the racers all the time, in fact far from it. So yes, the world of new and social media can be great and powerful tool, but it also can be very damaging and inaccurate as we have seen in the last few weeks. We end up with people making posts on a subject (Santa Pod track resurfacing) who know very little about what is actually involved, but continue to spread and start threads of incorrect information.

 

In closing I am delighted that two of the main tracks involved in the FIA and FIM European Drag Racing Championships, Santa Pod Raceway and the HockenheimRing, have both been able to resurface their respective drag racing tracks ahead of the 2013 season. Both these two tracks are also part of the founding shareholders in the new company TGE (Track Group Europe Ltd), which I am confident will take European drag racing in many new directions in the coming years.

 

See you at the track.

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