If you're an eagle-eyed Visordown visitor it won't have escaped your notice that Motorsport Vision - aka. MSV - has added another venue to its bulging portfolio... and this time it's going international.
Yes, the fairly modern facility of Circuito de Navarra - built in 2010 and a WorldSBK event host as recently as 2021 - is now under British control after MSV secured a buy-out on the condition it overhauls the facilities.
For now, MSV is keeping tight lipped as to whether it could see the BSB head for sunnier climes on a Spanish holiday some time soon, but it would surely make a welcome 'Ray, Mackenzie, Hicky and more on tour' addition to the schedule.
If for nothing else, it would give a schedule that hasn't deviated too far from the current eight venues something of a shake-up... which got us thinking which other circuits we'd like to see nudging up alongside Brands Hatch, Silverstone and Cadwell Park et al. one day soon.
Now, a couple of disclaimers here... though we’ll freely admit one or two on here land far on the scale of fetched, we’ve consciously not included road racing tracks likes of the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course and Oliver’s Mount (sorry) and while we do go abroad too, we have done so in the spirit of visiting Assen… so we’re not going to suggest BSB heads to Phillip Island.
We’re fairly sure 80 per cent of these won’t end up on the calendar in the near future - some for better reasons than others - but here’s holding out for the 20 per cent…
Mallory Park
Those of a certain age will remember Mallory Park being on the BSB calendar, last being used in 2010.
Really, when you look at the venue, you wonder how it was kept on the schedule for so long, its 2.1km in length being predominantly an oval interspersed with a couple of chicanes and bookended by one of the tightest hairpins in motorsport.
Josh Brookes infamously wiped himself and four of his rivals at the corner as though he was their bowling ball to their skittles during his rookie 2009 BSB campaign when he got his braking all wrong. He was banned for two rounds but in reality it exposed BSB as having outgrown Mallory Park in terms of speed and stability.
That’s not to say it isn’t missed. Short, fast and relentless, the Race of the Year still attracts Superbike entries but a field of 26 or so BSB bikes would probably have us watching through our fingers…
Mondello Park, Republic of Ireland
Before Assen, BSB satisfied its pseudo-international status with a few trips over to Ireland for Mondello Park in the 2000s.
Only a 45min drive from Dublin, Ireland’s only permanent motorsport facility, Mondello Park wasn’t the most exciting layout despite appearing like a combination of Jerez and Valencia.
Even so, while we wait for Northern Ireland to go ahead with the construction of an international circuit it has been promising for years, Mondello Park would provide a more local pilgrimage for the many fans across the Irish Sea.
Bishopscourt, Northern Ireland
There has long been a campaign to have Northern Ireland featured more prominently when it comes to short course motorcycle racing in honour of its multiple high-profile race winners and champions, most notably six-time WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea.
For a time there was talk of a brand-new international licence facility being planned in Northern Ireland at the height of Rea's dominance but to date nothing has come of it.
Perhaps they could do worse than look at giving Bishopscourt the once (maybe twice or thrice) over with some modern facilities to make the most of its fast, swooping layout.
Home of the annual Sunflower Trophy, an event that has attracted the great and greatest of their time over the years - including Joey Dunlop, Ron Haslam, Carl Fogarty and Rea himself - a spruce up could put it in BSB's eye-line for what would no doubt be a very popular event.
Indeed, while Bishopscourt is no North West 200 course, BSB doesn't need roundabouts half way round a lap...
Anglesey Circuit
Wales’ very own Phillip Island, the Anglesey Circuit exists on a tiny peninsula in the nation’s northernmost edge, with part of the layout tracing the rocky coastline close enough that you’d be concerned for whether a more airborne crash would end up lost to the sea.
Fast and flat, we are confident a field of BSB motorcycles at full pelt around its quick curves would be a joy to watch, especially with waves crashing into the perimeter on the outside.
Owners have even applied for permission to extend it, which makes us a little bit giddy at the prospect of Wales getting its own BSB race having skirted using its other permanent facility, Pembrey, while it would help banish the disaster that was trying to kickstart the stillborn Circuit of Wales MotoGP project.
And if you think it’s location is a bit of a detour, the short trip between Dublin and nearby Holyhead would give Ireland a de facto round to attend too.
Almeria, Spain (or any other Spanish venue)
We are loathe to suggest BSB should venture too far from these shores but we’ve included Almeria since it is the go-to for many teams looking to get some pre-pre-winter testing without having to navigate the UK’s unpredictable climate.
In theory any Spanish venue could be effective here since the nation is certainly not short of them with the likes of Jerez, Motorland Aragon and Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona operating year round for tests.
However, we’ve chosen Almeria since it is well known among many of the riders, where the fast, undulating layout has been compared with Laguna Seca. Imagine that, BSB riders on a layout akin to the iconic Californian venue…
At the very least, as anyone who will know what it feels like to spend a day sinking into wet grass trying to eat a damp burger and wearing a dripping cagoule as rain beats down, a bit of summer sun, BSB racing and a little weekend break away does have a lot of appeal…
Navarra, Spain
The newest addition to MSV's portfolio, Navarra - located in the north east of Spain between Bilbao and Zaragoza - is its furthest afield too.
Unlike Laon below, Navarra is a very active and modern purpose-built racing venue, which was only opened 12 years ago. Since then it has held a number of high-profile events, including the FIA GT Championship and even the WorldSBK Championship in 2021.
Fast but not as flowing as other Spanish venues, such as Jerez and Valencia, Navarra bears no resemblance to any circuit of the current BSB calendar either...
Shorter than most international venues at just under 4km, short bursts on the straight are linked by angular bends and apexes. A challenge for any rider, who wouldn't want to jet off to sunny Spain in the summer for a bit of British Superbike racing?
Laon Aerodrome, France
We’ll forgive you for not having heard of Laon Aerodrome, located in north-eastern France between the capital Paris and Lille on the border with Belgium, and frankly if you took a look at it now there isn’t all that much to get excited by either.
A former airport, unlike fellow aerodromes-turned-circuits on the calendar - such as Snetterton and Silverstone - its recent aviation past is still very much on display with terminal buildings in the background
With a new airport having been built nearby, the existing Aerodrome has been adapted into a curvy racing circuit at one end, with different longer configurations incorporating the runway and taxi-routes.
So why have we included it? Well, in 2019 MSVR purchased the facility and had set a Spring 2021 date for a reopening with brand new facilities that would make it a fully-fledged racing venue, one that could appear on a BSB calendar potentially (though the original communication stopped short of saying this).
Things have gone rather quiet on this front though we assume COVID impacted that erstwhile date, but there is clearly some potential in this project that would take BSB over the short border into France… and frankly, who doesn’t want to see BSB blasting down a 1.5km straight?
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
BSB plus arguably the most revered racing circuit in the world, including the most famous corner in Eau Rouge? Oui, merci!
Spa-Francorchamps isn’t just a go-to for Belgian motorsport fans, it is a Mecca for motorsport fans around the world.
Better still, the prospect of a little trip across the English Channel a la Assen seems ever more likely now given the venue has been granted international status to allow for its addition to the 2022 Endurance World Championship.
British F3 used a similar trick when it was regarded as an ‘International’ series and we reckon the addition of Spa-Francorchamps to a BSB calendar would encourage a number of the EWC racers to try and muscle in on some track time as wildcards…
Dunsfold Aerdrome
If the name doesn’t ring a bell you’ll certainly recognise it as the so-called Top Gear test track.
OK, so we’re reaching a little bit in terms of plausibility but much like Laon Aerdrome there are umpteen different combinations you could use here, though in our heads we foresee it as becoming a Top Gear tie-in that ends up with Paddy McGuinness lining up on the grid - anything to get BSB on the BBC..
Part of the reason for my inclusion of this - and by extension Bedford Aerdrome and Bruntingthorpe - is misty-eyed memories of the (four-wheel) 1990s DTM (German Touring Cars) where you just needed some cones and a few vicious kerbs dotted about to deliver some manic racing.
Better still, you could change the configuration every year…
Birmingham Super Prix
OK, OK… I know what you’re going to say. ‘That is an amazing idea…’ Ahem.
Before you say ‘how could you leave out the Isle of Man TT but include the oft-forgotten Birmingham Super Prix’, for me the TT is just too obvious and way too long for a race too (plus BSB spec machines more or less already race there…).
So what about a reprisal of the UK’s own, erm, Monaco Grand Prix? For those who may not know, the Birmingham Super Prix was an annual fixture between 1986 and 1990, albeit only for four wheels, and attracting the prestigious Formula 3000 series, which sat just below F1.
The Birmingham Super Prix was a quirky little idea, marking the first motorsport street event in the UK, blasting through one of Europe’s busiest - albeit not exactly most attractive - cities.
I mean, there is Monaco with its Casinos and the Fairmont, and here is Birmingham set to the backdrop of Woolies and a Forte.
Yes, we have had a couple of London ePrix Formula E events but one traversed Battersea Park on a pedestrian route barely wide enough for pedestrians and the more recent event at Excel centre combined a conference space and a car park.
There is actually talk of this event - either in Birmingham or on the Coventry ring road (no, seriously) - being reprised after a change in the law that allows motorsport on public English roads but so far nothing has come of it.
Naturally motorcycles and streets don’t make great bedfellows and this is straying into road race territory, but the Macau Grand Prix is still somehow still hosting two-wheels, so…
Then again, Macau also has casinos and Birmingham circa 2022 has… TKMaxx*.
(* for the record, I am a fan of Birmingham city centre in case anyone is offended. And TKMaxx for that matter)
