Northampton Stadium 1st Shale meeting 27th May 2018

Northampton Stadium has always featured a tarmac track but it was decided to experiment with a shale (dirt) track. This was laid over the tarmac track and could, in theory, be removed. Coventry Stadium (a shale track nearby) had been closed for a while and as this had always been very popular with spectators, I would guess that it was hoped that some of these spectators would be attracted to Northampton. The shale was laid during the week before this meeting and had been levelled and graded. A quantity of a clay-like substance was put down to bind the shale to the previous surface. The first meeting certainly attracted a good number of competitors with probably about 60 F2's in attendance. As far as comments from both sides of the safety fence were concerned, if you asked 10 people you would get 10 different answers about the success of the venture. Certainly, the surface was very bumpy and the Rebels (with their lack of suspension) really struggled with the surface, bouncing all over the place. Water was applied very regularly and this seemed to bind the track into a fairly hard surface. I did wonder whether this was the underlay and whether the intention is to lay more loose shale onto the surface now that this layer is totally compacted and bound to the original track. Although I have personally always preferred tarmac tracks I think that this somewhat brave attempt at change will eventually bear fruit.