There’s no doubt about it. The UK has a shortage of motocross practice tracks, let alone indoor facilities, which are almost non-existent. And with the amount of rainfall we get on this green and pleasant land, covered tracks would be warmly welcomed.
I’m sure there are more than a few of you reading this that have dreamt of building a practice track. But moving from a dream to all the work required to get yourself to the building stage is immense – that’s why for almost all of us, it stays in the realm of moto fantasy.
Rob Wareham and Chris Rose are two guys that have that same dream, but with the added challenge of building a covered all-weather track open for public use. Now that’s tough enough but they have one other huge snag – they don’t have the funding.
But that’s not phasing the pair from South Somerset. They plan to use the power of crowdfunding. And to our knowledge, that’s a first for a motocross practice track in the UK.
If the term crowdfunding is new to you, don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s something niche – it’s not. It may not have hit the motocross industry in a big way, yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a big deal. In 2015 the total global crowdfunding industry is estimated to have raised $34 billion, yes, billion!
The pair plan to hook into the crowdfunding phenomenon and use the money raised via Crowdfunder to buy two acres of land and construct a 40 x 70 metre building to house an indoor arenacross-style track that they are calling Dirt Shack.
“Dirt Shack has attracted some awesome people to the project,” Rob Wareham told Dirt Bike Rider exclusively. “Todd Kellett, Harry Kimber, Paul Denning (Crescents WSBK Team principle) are all backing the project and we’re delighted to confirm that former AX champion Adam Chatfield has also agreed to be an ambassador for Dirt Shack.
“We will raise the funds using a pledge-based system, so for example, £40 gets you a morning/day pass and a t-shirt and at the other end of the pledge scale there are lifetime memberships at £5,000 – we’ve already sold five! We are also offering advertising pledges too.”
