Motocross Conde-sur-Escaut

The Conde-sur-l'Escaut track lies inside the Nord-Pas-de-Calais regional nature park and is run by the local moto club under president Jean-Michel Sulski. According to the track directory mxcircuit.fr the course is an artificial layout, 1950 metres long and at least 12 metres wide, on a surface that is 66 percent sand and 33 percent earth. It opens at weekends, 13:00 to 18:00 in summer and 11:00 to 17:00 in winter; a day costs 12 euros. An FFM or UFOLEP licence is needed and foreign licences are accepted. Besides solo bikes, sidecars are permitted, and there is a kids track, a clubhouse and sanitary facilities. The site has a troubled history: Le Repaire des Motards reported in October 2016 that the French federation FFM had bought the ground - its ninth such property - after the Natura 2000 designation, an eviction demand from previous owner Voies Navigables de France and a refused track homologation had put operations in doubt for years. The club has continued to run it since. Two thirds sand on a wide, fast course means the rear works constantly, the lines migrate across the day, and you ride more on the throttle than on the brake. Where it is fast, a rear that builds up punishes immediately, especially before and after the jumps. Top of our cause list for that is rebound set too fast for sand - slow it down so the rear stops pogoing.