Wednesday May 4, 2005 at 12:00am
Revered track designer Johnny Douglas Hamilton has been working fourteen hour days on the sandy terrain in a massive overhaul of the old course. The circuit has two distinct sections with the flat expanse on the top of the New Forest landscape housing the start, pits, rhythm sections and finish while a drop away opens the layout into the woodland setting where some spectacular jumps have been constructed.
The Grand Prix is now starting to come to life with almost a month left before the teams and riders of the FIM World Championships land in England for the seventh round of the 2005 series. Specially built spectator zones will bring the fans right to the edge of the racing while affording generous views of the track. Several giant TV screens will be placed in the two parts of the circuit to ensure that visitors will not miss a beat of the Grand Prix action. Other features of the event will include a fun fair and mini-bike track, Karting, and a bumper official colour programme.
So far the bulk of the effort has been placed into the new layout and Mackenzie, Spanish Grand Prix moto winner and third place finisher two weeks ago at the Grand Prix of Portugal, was immediately impressed. “When I turned up things kind of looked the same from the pits but when I walked over to the bottom section it was awesome,” he remarked. “I cannot believe how much Johnny had changed it. It looks like an American supercross track; everything was spot-on and very impressive. I couldn't wait to ride it. The jumps were all perfect and even nicely groomed on the sides. It just looked and felt really professional. The track rides well. The jumps are massive and the rhythm sections were good, and it's not even finished yet. They have put some sand down but it is still hard underneath so it has to be mixed all the way through which will give a good feel to it. The track will flow. Johnny knows what he is doing.”
MX1 World Championship rider Mark Hucklebridge was also full of praise for the work carried out so far. “It's brilliant,” he commented. “Any track that Johnny Hamilton is involved with always has that extra something special. I was looking forward to coming down here today and although the track isn't finished, there is already a really nice flow to the back section. There are a lot of jumps and they are nicely built, we are turning in the air and that is always good and spectacular for spectators to watch.”
Johnny Douglas Hamilton has been camped out at Matchams for several weeks now and was happy with the re-assurance that he is heading in the right direction with his ideas and vision. “I had a slight sense of panic working here that things might not be going how I wanted, but then you get people turning up to ride and they say it is really good which is reassuring,” the Scotsman and British Championship racer said. “You always tend to look more at the rough edges. I have only had a full week with the team of machine operators and we have already broken the back of it. We still have another 35 days, which is plenty. This is the first year as a GP venue for Matchams and I think the FIM will turn up and be pretty thrilled with the place. This is the most organised Grand Prix I have worked with so far and for their first time they have really got everything together.”
Ex MCN editor and keen amateur racer Adam Duckworth travelled nearly three hours on Saturday morning to try out the new-look Matchams. ” You can tell that it has been designed for the top riders to show off their skills,” Duckworth, riding a KTM 450SX said. “Normal guys like me can't clear those massive jumps but when you watch someone like Billy Mackenzie going around it is like poetry in motion. The track is really spectacular. I was a little bit concerned about spectator room but they have given some thought to that and people will be lining the circuit which should give a great atmosphere. It will get very rough but the track is wide so they should be some different lines and really good racing. It is definitely worth travelling to ride it.”
With its enclosed feel and vast permanent facility including acres of parking, Matchams will have a unique and very different atmosphere compared to the 2004 British Grand Prix on the Isle of Wight which attracted 33,000 fans.
“The thing I love best is that Johnny has purposely created a step-down into the bottom valley section,” continued Mackenzie. “So if a British rider has started well then coming into there the air-horns will hit you and the atmosphere should be incredible. I think it will capture the feeling of what it used to be like at Foxhills and should make the British Grand Prix one of the best events on the calendar again.”
Pre-event tickets will be on sale this week including VIP opportunities and deals for those planning to make a weekend of the racing and camp out in the fantastic New Forest locale. The relevant information for purchase will be released very shortly.
Quotes
Billy Mackenzie:
When I turned up things kind of looked the same from the pits but when I walked over to the bottom section it was awesome. I cannot believe how much Johnny had changed it. It looks like an American supercross track; everything was spot-on and very impressive. I couldn't wait to ride it. The jumps were all perfect and even nicely groomed on the sides. It just looked and felt really professional. The track rides well. The jumps are massive and the rhythm sections were good, and it's not even finished yet. They have put some sand down but it is still hard underneath so it has to be mixed all the way down which will give a good feel to it. The track will flow. Johnny knows what he is doing.
When I first went out there I was thinking that it was totally different to what it used to be. Matchams has always been pretty stony but racing is never usually a problem as the stones tend to stay in the dirt. The track has always had a nice feel because it rolls but the terrain is grippy at the same time; you can get some good drifts going. With the extra sand and mixing it should clear a lot of the stones.
The thing I love best is that Johnny has purposely created a step-down into the bottom valley section, so if a British rider has started well then coming into there the air-horns will hit you and the atmosphere should be incredible. I think it will capture the feeling of what it used to be like at Foxhills and should make the British Grand Prix one of the best events on the calendar again.
Mark Hucklebridge:
It's brilliant. Any track that Johnny Hamilton is involved with always has that extra something special. I was looking forward to coming down here today and although the track isn't finished there is already a really nice flow to the back section. It has been completely changed and it totally different to what it was before. There are a lot of jumps and they are nicely built, we are turning in the air and that is always good and spectacular for spectators to watch. Matchams is known as being really stony but they have put a lot of sand on the top and the mud feels a lot deeper. It has always been quite sandy here but it reached a point where it got hard underneath, that sensation seems to have gone and it is the better for it. If we do have some typical English weather then I reckon the dirt will stand up to the rain.
They seem to have all the facilities here and I cannot see any reason why the GP won't be a success. Matchams has a good name and history and it should be a great event. I can't criticise the track at the moment, it is not finished but what he has done so far is really good.
Johnny Hamilton:
I've had a slight sense of panic working here that things might not be going how I wanted but then you get people turning up today to ride and they say it is really good which is reassuring. You always tend to look more at the rough edges. I have only had a full week with the team of machine operators and we have already broken the back of it. We still have another 35 days, which is plenty. We have roughed the track out and also have many other jobs to do on top such as tree surgery.
I had a few concerns about the soil because there are quite a lot of stones. We have laid down some sand but it is looking a little strange and is very soft. We haven't put it on deeper enough yet so the guys are cutting through to the harder stuff which is grabbing the wheel a little bit. The right kind of soil is critical. We can have a fantastic layout but if the riding surface isn't right and primed then it is wasted. We had a good layout in South Africa last year but the soil was terrible and the verdict of the circuit was that it was pants. There is some great soil in the bottom section but we are going to have to figure something out on the top part. I am pretty confident that we have the time to tinker with things. This is the first year as a GP venue for Matchams and I think the FIM will turn up and be pretty thrilled with the place. This is the most organised Grand Prix I have worked with so far and for their first time they have really got everything together. We have nine guys permanently on site weeks and weeks before the GP whereas in South Africa it was a big rush two weeks before the day.
Adam Duckworth:
You can tell that it has been designed for the top riders to show off their skills. Normal guys like me can't clear those massive jumps but when you watch someone like Billy Mackenzie going around it is like poetry in motion. The track is really spectacular. I was a little bit concerned about spectator room but they have given some thought to that and people will be lining the circuit which should give a great atmosphere. It will get very rough but the track is wide so they should be some different lines and really good racing. It is definitely worth travelling to ride it. There is still some work to be done and the sand on top is a little too soft at the moment, once it packs down it will be more rideable. It is always a thrill to ride a Grand Prix track isn't it?
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