Welcome to Snetterton, Norfolk, England for the Rebecca Adlington 350.

Snetterton's current layout (picture:wikipedia)

It’s about 80 miles north of London, and about 30 miles north of where I grew up, making it pretty much my local track. While several times a year me and my dad (and occasionally my sister when my mum wanted a peaceful day) would head out to race weekends at a bunch of tracks, aside from Snetterton, mostly Silverstone and Brands Hatch, but for some reason it’s Snetterton I have the fondest memories of. Crowding around Touring Car drivers in the pit lane to fight for their autograph, making the walk across the infield from the Esses to Russell chicane between races, watching what I can only remember as a gravel trap set bout of light fisticuffs after a coming together at Russell,  and a memorable time when the track’s own commentator broadcast the sound of himself eating a lump of cheese over the PA system. Note: this is not a sound that should ever be heard over PA systems.

To me it’s racing as it should be. You’re not tied to one grandstand, you can migrate between sections as you wish, crossing the car-park-come-paddock field in the middle. At least in the old days teams used to set up in the middle of the field, allowing fans to get up close to the very cars they will see going at 100-odd mph minutes later.

I started going in the late 80’s but it’s history goes back a lot further than that. Snetterton started life as RAF Snetterton Heath, where from 1943-1945 it was home to one the dozens of American 8th Air Force groups that were based in the region, the 96th Bomb Group (Heavy).

Snetterton's previous American tenants (picture:wikipedia)

Of course, once the war was over the RAF found itself with more airfield that it could handle, and while some continued to be used by them, or were turned into civilian airports, Snetterton was one of many – Silverstone, Castle Combe, Thruxton, Croft – that found its way into use as a race track. Originally the home of the local Aston Martin club it became more nationally used, with a 2.7mile track using the perimeter track to the airfield. However, the health and safety people got their way and the “Norwich Straight” and hairpin sections of the track were closed, and the track re-routed down a runway, what today is the Revett Straight. The old “Norwich Straight” ran parallel to the main road, separated by only a hedge, reportedly a Ford GT40 from the race track once ended up in a gas station for the main road. That must have hurried the decision along.

Snetterton's old layout, before the GT40/Gas station incident

Today Snetterton is widely used, not only by local clubs, but also by national series, including British Superbikes, Touring Cars and single-seat formulas, owned by a Motorsport Vision, Britain's answer to SMI or ISC. In the Revett straight it has the longest straight in the country, and in the Russell Chicane one of the tightest corners in the country, although this has been re-profiled in recent years, it basically used to be two hairpins that reduced the cars to walking pace. Still despite this Riches corner is one of the best corners in the country, and where modern F1 tracks have those tarmac run off areas, Riches has a corn field, that seems to be able to #### cars at regular intervals. Its layout – 90 degree corners, a fast Esses section and a really slow chicane can be compared to Watkins Glen. Of course, being an old airfield it’s dead flat, with one exception. The Bomb Hole. There is some debate as to where the name comes from. No German bombs ever fell on Snetterton, and while there is a possibility that it comes from an accidental explosion while loading bombs, it is also possible that it’s a polite version of the “Bumhole” a name given to the bend, and the slight dip it’s set in, by bike riders out of pure hatred.

British Touring Cars fight it out round the Right-hander of The Esses