Mad off-road weekend

THIS weekend (February 5-6) one of the maddest motorsport events anywhere in the world takes place on the beaches of Le Touquet in France.

One thousand (yes, that’s 1000) motocross nutters race wheel to wheel over sand dunes, yelled on by 300,000 – mainly French – spectators.

It’s not just for off-road nuts, whatever sort of racing you like, the spectacle of watching so many riders fight for sea-water filled ruts is compelling. It also inevitably has racing’s biggest pile-up. At least 500 bikes will crash into each other at the first corner, guaranteed.

And it isn’t just a race, it’s one of the biggest biking festivals in Europe. The whole of the Pas de Calais is taken over by bikers. Walk down the high street and there will be supermotos pulling wheelies and every traffic light becomes the start of a GP. Even the cafe terraces are full of leather.

It’s also closer than you think, in fact, it’s a damn sight closer than the Isle of Man TT! It’s only about 20 miles from the Calais ferry port, so if you’re down south you could pop down to watch the race on the Sunday morning and be back in time for tea.

A return from Dover-Calais for bike and rider costs £41.50. call P&O Ferries on 08705-202020 quoting ref: 9632 for MCN deals, or click here to book online

Le Touquet, France

Sat-Sun, Feb 5-6 (NOT next weekend as stated in this week’s MCN)

Quads race on Saturday 1pm-4pm

Bikes race Sunday 1pm-4pm

How to get there: Get the ferry to Calais and Le Touquet is just a short ride west down the coast.