Update on Harrisville's track changesDoubling the
usual two hours practice last Saturday resulted in 183 riders signing on. The track Doug Smith laid out will be fairly close to what will be signed-off for Round 3 of the Nationals. Through Tony Cooksley, Porter Hire have 'supplied' one of their 15 tonne diggers which started work on the Sunday morning in the capable hands of Scott Willis, assisted by Shey Cooksley and Scott Henderson who did all the compacting/rolling work - Neil Edgecume also helped on Saturday. Monday was Waitangi Day holiday so 48 hours later there was lots of changes. Youthstream’s Circuit Manager, Greg Atkins, (pictured right) was at the track at 7:30am Greg has just come from building the new GP track in Mexico at Guadalajara. Before that was Brazil’s Beto Carrero and before that the new one in Thailand for 2013. In between that he and his Track Builder Justin Barclay have been at the third new track for 2012, Semigorje in Russia. Three hours later he told Tony he wants to make some more changes to stop it becoming too one-line. As we all know the problem at Harrisville is the clay and when heavily watered it creates those single lines. Heavy mulching, that's coming in, will stop a lot of that especially in the corners. Greg was then off to Rarotonga for a weeks holiday but will be back on the digger himself on the 20th, after Club Day, doing the final changes.I recalled an interview he did with Geoff Meyer last year: "I think it is important, you need speed on a track, but you also need to keep the injury factor down. There is a fine line between rough and dangerous. I mean if you leave a track alone it will develop itself over the weekend. It’s not about jumps and technical things in it, but the flow of the track, how many corners and what they are doing, that is what kills the speed.” So what are the changes? Those concrete blocks on Champion Straight have gone behind the start gates to define the required Parc Ferme area. The concrete bridges (seen below) have been sold and will soon be gone also.
Just as you swing
right into the Supercross section is where the Pit Crews will be for the all
important Qualifying sessions. This was a work-in-progress until Greg arrived.
Corner #3 has been banked to assist the faster rider.
There’s a new face on #4 for Club Day on the 19th but for the Nationals Greg will move the track to the right utilising all the clay in the existing jumps plus that overgrown section.
#4 and #5 are unchanged at this stage but the track up to #7 has been raised and widened. This is where the rollers are going but on Monday morning, Greg said the approach was way too fast and he would change the exit from #5 to slow the riders down.
Before you enter #7 there is a new tabletop and the entry to #7 is now 10 metres wide.
#7 has been changed again and bigger than it looks here. That hardpack between #7 and #9 has been deep disc'd and ripped.
#9 has been raised a metre, to where it used to be.
The bottom of
#9 has been raised allowing inside
and outside lines as it did last Saturday – the outer line will build into a
big berm. From there up to the Finish Line have
not been changed other than the faces sorted. There will be a major change to the approach to #10. After the Finish Line and the container jump the next corner will swing right and you will drop-off the back of #1. You will then head south via some technical sections then climb north to the drop-off to the approach to #1½.
That section proved tricky last Saturday so now you have a new berm. It awaits some more clay.
Another angle. You will come up on the left of that white barrier. That berm will be higher with the packed clay.
The drop-off is higher still, straight off here – not to the left.
To the right is the bottom of #1½ which has been moved in, allowing greater separation between them and those going downhill (to behind the start-gates). From #1½ its up and right into the step-up, then downhill as just mentioned. That's it for now, I will post more when Greg returns. |
Tuesday morning having arrived the day before from Hong Kong with Partner Martine and their 5 year old daughter Robyn. They had stayed overnight with Tony. 
