Ridge Motorsports Park is adding a new chicane, a pedestrian bridge, and Fan Zones to its 2.47-mile, 16-turn road course in Shelton, Washington, ahead of its inaugural MotoAmerica event.
“These are things we planned to do all along,” Tracie Schmitt, General Manager of Ridge Motorsports Park exclusively told Roadracingworld.com Monday, “but having MotoAmerica, having this partnership has definitely made us hit the fast-forward button so that this is a fan-friendly environment for everybody and for this event.”
Asked what purpose the new chicane will serve, Schmitt said, “What we were trying to accomplish is create a great passing zone for fans [and], it would also have the ability to slow riders down.
“We have a very fast [2,850-foot-long] front stretch anyways, so when you have Superbikes out there, they’re definitely going to reach some high speeds.
“We looked at numerous tracks and what they did, and then we took a good hard look at our facility because we didn’t want something that looked like an add-on. We wanted something that looked like it belonged, something that flowed with the track.
“We had numerous people involved. This wasn’t something that was just thought of in the recent months or anything like that. This has been an ongoing conversation for probably a little over a year now.
“We brought MotoAmerica in, we brought different National riders in, we brought numerous people in just to get different concepts and different suggestions. We wanted everyone involved and to get everyone’s interpretation of what would be a good fit.”
Utilizing the new chicane will be optional for each individual sanctioning body and track renter, added Schmitt.
The new pedestrian bridge, meanwhile, will allow fans to walk from the paddock to the track’s interior, something that hasn’t been possible before. There, spectators will have access to new Fan Zones complete with newly constructed, elevated, permanent grandstands. The Fan Zones will provide viewing opportunities at the new Chicane and the first corners of the track as well as Turns Eight, Nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, according to Schmitt.
Weather permitting, Ridge Motorsports Park plans to have these projects completed before the start of its road course’s season in March, well ahead of the MotoAmerica event, says Schmitt.
For more information or to purchase tickets to the June 26-28 MotoAmerica event at Ridge Motorsports Park, go HERE.
