TINTO PARK MOTO

I am Robbie Allan, the man behind the new Motocross tracks at Rigside. I have been reading, with great interest, all the postings on the Forum regarding Tinto Park Moto at Rigside on the site and probably ought to have introduced myself before now and to let you know where we are at and where we are going.

What we have right now is a 120 acre hillside field off the B7055 Rigside to Wiston road in South Lanarkshire – about 3 miles off the M74. We hope to open in April with 6 clearly marked and graded tracks, office and first aid accommodation, toilets, on site mobile catering, certified coaches to give advice and help when required, and a training facility for children and newcomers. It could take approximately two years to get Tinto Park Moto into the shape we would like it to be in. Understandably to set up this type of facility not only takes time but also a lot of money and lot on investment over the years ahead.

As for price, we have not yet finalised the cost however I am sure you will agree that it will be good value for money. It will cost more than a tenner tho!!

 I have been a motorcycle competitor each year since 1957, having rode Motocross, Grass tracks, Trials, Speedway, Hill Climbs, Road Racing including the TT and Manx Grand Prix and one of my most memorable events was the Dakar Rally in 2007. I have been involved with the organisation of some superb events through the years including Road Races at Crimond, Scottish and British Championships and World Motocross Grand Prix at Castle Park, Kilmartin, Argyll. I owned and ran the Scottish Motorcycle Show for 25 years.  I promoted Road Races and Supermoto at Ingliston, Edinburgh. I also ran the Motorsports Show at Lanark as well as many other events too numerous to mention. I have served on Club Committees and the Scottish Auto Cycle Union and held a Federation of Motorcyclists Clerk of Course Certificate for Motocross.

I can safely say it could take approximately two years to get Tinto Park Moto into ship shape as we would like it to be as understandably to set up this type of facility not only takes time but also a lot of money and a lot of investment for the years ahead.

There are for sure two ways to run an off road centre such as this and that is with proper safety procedures, full insurance cover, good tracks, comfortable paddock area and medical facilities or have no insurance, no first aid, bumpy dug track or in fact anything goes. We are going for the former with sensible and enjoyable tracks , good toilets, good catering, a medical centre and a public address system.

There are six tracks at Tinto Park Moto with 4 of these being used for the 6 to 13 year old with these being made to suit the various ability of the riders. There will be a track specifically for adult practise and training and the sixth track made for competition and can be hired by clubs, businesses and organisations to run their own events. We can cater for both solo and quads. All the coaches will be fully qualified with years of experience in motocross. We also plan to have a free style jumping ramp in place as I was the first person in the UK to build ramps and even have had Travis Pastrana use it and declare it to be one of the best ramps he has used.

There will be a code of conduct at the venue and some of the things such as riding around in the paddock, riding without proper clothing, boots, helmet and gloves, excessively noisy machines are some of the things which will not be allowed. This is all simply common sense and meant to make the venue enjoyable for everyone.

I have two brothers, Vic and Jim, who both still compete in motocross. Vic won 4 Scottish Motocross Championships and 4 British Motocross Championships. Jim is now 74 and still winning classic motocross races on his 1965 250cc Bultaco and runs two successful motorcycle shops in Bathgate and Falkirk.  My son, Robbie won 5 Scottish Schoolboy Trials Championship and was runner up in a Scottish Motocross Championship. Therefore you can see that competitive motorcycling has been a very big part of the Allan family.

The future is exciting for us with plans already in place for a permanent office building, a function room, gymnasium, showers and even an indoor track. This venue will certainly take time to prepare so please be patient with us.

I have a great team behind me with Ronnie Buchanan, Tom Grant, Kenny McCloy, Andrew Forrest, Graham Miller, Albert Brittain, Gary Brittain, Ross Rutherford, Stuart Campbell and Stuart Flockhart.

I look forward to seeing you all at Tinto Park Moto in 2010. 

Rgds,

Robbie Allan