How an FIM SuperEnduro track is constructed
SuperEnduro World Championship Newcastle UK in-depth look at the venue and track layout
Below we feature photos and details of the arena in which the Rd 6 SuperEnduro event took place, plus share photos of the track layout, including the different sections and obstacles the riders faced. Like last year, when the event was held for the first, the SuperEnduro UK round took place in Newcastle, Billy Bolt's home City, inside the Utilita Arena, which also hosts concerts and the darts!
The UK round of the SuperEnduro World Championship took place inside the Utilita Arena, Newcastle, for the 2nd year in a row.
Paul Edmonson and the Fast Eddy Racing team, like last year, were the ones who organised the event and created the track. It took a number of heavy duty plant machinery to put the dirt, stones and logs in place in order to construct it. These accessed the arena through the massive doors at the back, where the paddock was located.
All these machines were involved in constructing the track.
SuperEnduro Track Layout - The Start
This was a really interesting track set-up with the first lap being different to the rest of the laps. From the start gate, the riders would head towards the finish line double, the "wrong-way" and shoot a 90 degree left between the finish line double, heading over the holeshot line and the middle sections of the track, then taking a 90 degree left again to a right-hand berm (which was now the "right way" round the track and leading them to the rock garden section of the track.
View from the start gate. The riders took a 90 degree left at the 2nd tyre between the finish line double and crossed the middle sections of the track.
This shot shows the holeshot line. Immediately after they turned left over a couple of logs into a right-hand berm.
SuperEnduro Rock Garden Section
Now going the correct way round the track, the riders faced a long rock garden with a lot of rocks of different sizes and split into 3 with 2 logs dividing it up. We saw a lot of carnage on this section in all SuperEnduro class races throughout the night. Billy Bolt was the clearly the fastest rider though this section in the motos, when he got it right. For a video of Bolt leading the Prestige riders into the rock garden click here.
The rock garden was around 40m long in total.
SuperEnduro Logs End Section
From the rock garden, the riders swung right again, along the outside end of the arena which consisted of first a log "kicker" and then 4 more logs around 3 metres apart. We saw a few riders, like Husqvarna's Bolt, using the kicker to jump into the 4 logs and often making some spectacular overtakes.
A lot of riders used the right hand side of the log "kicker" to jump into the first of the 4 logs.
SuperEnduro Finish Line Straight Section
Taking a right once more, the riders had the finish line double in sight, before which they had 1 log followed by a 2-log high stack with another one just behind it. It was about 40 metres to the finish line double including the logs and with the double being quite long, we saw a lot of riders casing the landing in all classes. There were many occasions when riders were almost over the handlebars or off the back of the bike. For a video of Prestige Class riders jumping the finish line double click here.
Finish line straight and the log obstacles leading to the finish line double.
SuperEnduro Middle Section 1
Straight after the finish line double, the riders took a flat 180 degree right-hand turn into the first middle section of the track. This consisted of logs running in the same direction of travel (the section that was initially crossed to the holeshot line), which then ran immediately into logs and a stone step-up, before the first of 3 massive concrete pipes which formed the start of a 180 degree left-hander. This section was around 40 metres long too.
This log section was crossed from right to left off the start but now riders travelled in this direction for the first middle section of the track.
After this log and stone step-up, riders took a 180 left-hand turn over 3 massive concrete pipes.
The 3 concrete pipe obstacles riders negotiated for a 180 degree left hand turn.
SuperEnduro Middle Section 2
This section consisted of first a bigger concrete pipe obstacle than at the 180 degree left-hand turn, which ran into a wooden spine step-up and 3 logs around 3 metres apart, before the right-hand berm into the rock garden section again. This second middle section was also around 40m in length. Click here for a video of Billy Bolt clearing the middle log into the berm with ease.
Wooden spine obstacle with the 3 log obstacles before the right-hand berm in the foreground.
The 3 logs after the wooden spine leading into the right-hand berm. A lot of the Prestige riders used the first log as a jump into the berm.
This marked 1 lap and the riders then carried on in this direction for the race duration.
SuperEnduro Beginner's Guide
Below we answer a few questions related to SuperEnduro.
What is the FIM SuperEnduro World Championship?
It is a series held indoors, in Europe, in the Northern Hemisphere's Winter, between October and March. This is during the hard enduro off-season so a lot of hard enduro riders tend to do both series. As detailed above, each event consists of tracks made up of obstacles.
Does a SuperEnduro Track need to be a specific length?
No, but in general the tracks are around 250-300 metres long and depending upon the skill of the rider, 1 lap normally takes between 45 seconds and 60 seconds. At the Newcastle event, the top guys like Billy Bolt, Jonny Walker and GasGas's Brightmore brothers were lapping between 35 and 40 seconds when they got their lines right.
What happened at the Rd 6 FIM SuperEnduro World Championship Event in Newcastle?
Click here for our detailed article on the classes racing, plus results from Rd 6 of the SuperEnduro World Championship event in Newcastle, plus answers to some SuperEnduro FAQ's at the end of the article.
