A Guide to Croft

Thursday, 17 March 2011 10:30

Situated in North Yorkshire, just 35 miles south of Sunderland, Croft is the most northern race circuit in England. Surrounded by farmland, Croft is known as one of the UK’s most picturesque race circuits.

Racing on the site which Croft now stands can be traced back to the 1920’s but it is not until after World War 2 that the site saw racing become a regular event. In 1941, after a compulsory land order from the government, RAF Croft was created and used as a bomber base becoming home to aircraft including the Lancaster and Halifax bombers. During its 4 years in service the airfield was not accident free. Many bombers missed their landings creating large creators on the site and surrounding fields, some of which still remain today. After the war ending Croft became deserted and remained unused until 1947, when businessman and councillor, John Neasham, acquired the site. Mr Neasham created Darlington and District Aero Club but after 5 years the club creased and the airfield fell into disrepair. This was not to be the end of Croft. In 1962 motorsport enthusiast, Bruce Ropner, saw potential in the disused airfield and, together with a group of fellow fans, he bought half the site in a public auction. By 1964 they had obtained planning permission and a 1.64 mile race track was laid, seeing its first race on 3rd August 1964, attracting between 30,000 and 50,000 spectators. During the 1970’s circuits in the South of England started to attract tarmac racing away from Croft and in 1981 the circuit decided to move toward the Rallycross arena. For the next 16 years Croft’s reputation within Rallycross grew, attracting such championships as the FIA Inter-Nations Cup and the British round on the FIA European Championship. With Croft’s reputation in the racing arena growing the circuit owners made the decision to move back into tarmac racing and in 1997 the site underwent major redevelopments. The circuit was extended to 2.1 miles with 12 corners and new pits, paddock facilities, control tower and spectator areas were built. With the redevelopments complete the circuit attracted attention from a variety of sources and today holds such events as the British Touring Car Championship, British GT Championship, Formula 3 and British Superbikes Championship as well as a wide variety of well supported club level championships.

As with most circuits Croft success has not been without some controversy. In 2000 the circuit received an official complaint from local residents regarding the noise produced on race and test days. Although the complaint was not upheld by Darlington District Council the circuit decided to compensate local residents with free tickets. Again in April 2008 local residents raised issues with the noise at the circuit, but this time it went to court. Local residents won the court case and were award compensation but their request for an injunction to limit the number of ‘noisy’ days the circuit could run was rejected. Both parties appealed the judgement and in January 2009 local residents were awarded the injunction of ‘restricting the defendant’s use of their circuit to 40 N1 to N4 days a year’ ([2009] EWCA Civ 15). Although this restriction has been put in place it has not negatively affected the championships racing at Croft.

The following is a turn by turn guide to Croft.

Start finish Straight

This long straight allows you to build up speed before Clervaux.

Clervaux

This fast right hander is the first corner after the start/finish straight. The braking zone for this corner can be tricky as you are surprisingly carrying a large amount of speed after the start finish straight.
Hawthorn Bend

Pretty much as soon as you exit Clervaux you are into Hawthorn Bend. It’s a long tight right hander. Some driver boost at taking this corner flat out but for this you have to be brave enough and know the track well.

Chicane and Back Straight

The fast right left combination of the chicane is a slight interruption before moving onto the back straight. As with any corner before a long straight exit is important as you do not want to be left behind trying to catch the pack.

Tower Bend

The approach to Tower Bend is at a rapid pace and presents a track that is uneven and bumpy. Braking will be hard due to the fast pace obtained from firing down the back straight. Braking for this corner will be hard, as seen by British Touring Car drivers when they race at Croft.

Jim Clark Esses

Jim Clark Esses is a quick left right combination which is the quickest part of the track. The key to is complex is smoothness and to use as much of the track as possible on the exit.

Barcroft

Barcroft is more of a slight right hand kink than a corner so can be taken flat out. One way round this kink is to create a straight line using some of the kerbing to do so using light braking if necessary.

Sunny

Sunny is a long 180° corner which has two parts, known as Sunny In and Sunny Out. The run from Jim Clark Esses through Barcroft will have built up a lot of speed so hard braking will be needed.

Complex

The Complex is a series of corners which can be very difficult for a driver to master. The first part is a fast left hander. You need to gauge the speed here very carefully as too much speed will mean you cannot slow down enough for the second part. The second part is a very slow right hander. When racing other car it required a large amount of confidence to outbreak another drive.

Hairpin

The Hairpin in the last corner of the track and is considered to be one of the tightest corner on a UK circuit. This tight 180° corner needs to be smooth as you will need to get back on the power as soon as possible for the run back to the start finish line, especially if you are racing for position against another driver. This is where you could lose out on a win if you do not get this right. By Samantha Mcvey

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