Permanent indoor dirt venue for Bristol?

PLANS are well underway to establish the UK’s first permanent indoor supercross track at a site near Bristol.

The man behind the scheme, Shane Fenton, reckons the track, with a 35,000 sqft area, will be bigger than any of the temporary tracks used to stage one-off or UK championship supercross races in the past, at venues including Exeter, Cardiff, Birmingham and London.

Fenton and business partner Chris Bunce have yet to receive full planning permission to set up the track within an existing building on an industrial estate off the M5. But they are confident that when they do get the go-ahead, it could take as little as four weeks to be up and running. Planning officials are visiting the site this week for a preliminary inspection.

Fenton, who also runs an outdoor track in Somerset, has been in talks with various top riders including Rikki Priest about planning the track layout and running tuition sessions.

Because the running costs of a ventilated indoor track will be much higher than an outdoor venue, the plan is to charge an annual membership fee to riders as well a daily fee of around £20 to practice there.

It’s unlikely the venue would be used for UK championship races as spectator space is limited, but it’s likely it would be made available to hire to local clubs.

Fenton is also looking to strike sponsorship deals for the venue. To find out more, call 07980-591818.