Cross Park - Gino Meli - Noto

Cross Park Gino Meli sits in Noto in south-eastern Sicily, on a rise inside the municipal multi-sport complex. The FMI regional committee for Sicily calls the layout technical and describes the venue as a national-level facility. It is run by Motoclub Lanteri, which organises the racing together with Fx Action and FMI Sicilia. The calendar backs that up: a round of the Sicilian regional motocross championship was held here, with the minicross and vintage classifications alongside it - MX1 and MX2 in the Fast, Expert and Rider divisions, plus Master, Veteran and Superveteran, the 125s, the 65 and 85 youth classes, a Challenge classification, vintage machines and a women's class. An Area Sud qualifier for the national Expert-Rider championship was run here as well. The sources we read say nothing about training times or fees; our records hold about 1500 metres of lap length on hard ground. A hillside track with this many jumps and corners lives off the front wheel: on firm, worked-over ground there is often only a narrow line with real grip, and you have to find it before you get back on the throttle. When the front then feels vague and gives you no bite, top of our cause list is too much front tyre pressure - drop it for a bigger contact patch and the feedback comes back.