Overlooking the North Yorkshire coastal resort of Scarborough, Oliver's Mount stands proudly surveying the local scenery. The surrounding parkland is now a place of leisure, relaxation and quiet reflection, but the peace and quiet is set to shattered again in 2023 by the Oliver's Mount race series.
Oliver’s Mount is the UK mainland’s last surviving road racing circuit, offering a unique opportunity to get close to the action on a historic and challenging track.
The first meeting of the year will be the Bob Smith Spring Cup, in April, followed by the Cock o'the North on the first weekend in July. Later in the same month, the Barry Sheene Classic takes place before the RST Steve Henshaw Gold Cup rounds off the season in late September.
Bob Smith Spring Cup |
15-16 April 2023 |
Cock o' the North |
1-2 July 2023 |
Barry Sheene Classic |
22-23 July 2023 |
RST Steve Henshaw Gold Cup |
23-24 September 2023 |
The two-day Spring Cup will feature both solo and F2 sidecar races with the former again seeing a number of classes including Supersport 600cc, Lightweight (Supertwins and 250s) and Ultra-Lightweight (125s, Moto 3 and 400cc machines).
The Barry Sheene Classic is predominantly for classic bikes from yesteryear including 250cc, 350cc, 500cc, Classic Superbike and sidecar categories. The one they all want to win is the Barry Sheene Classic Trophy, awarded in memory of the 1976 and 1977 500cc World Champion who won 15 races at Oliver’s Mount including the Gold Cup on four occasions. The season concluded with the RST Steve Henshaw Gold Cup, a meeting that has seen some of the sport's greatest names prevail including Geoff Duke, Giacomo Agostini, Phil Read, Barry Sheene and Jarno Saarinen whilst more recent victors have been David Jefferies, John McGuinness, Ryan Farquhar, Ian Hutchinson, Michael Dunlop, Dean Harrison and record eight-time winner Guy Martin.
Tickets can be bought via https://oliversmount.ticketco.events/uk/en. Prices have been held at 2022's pre-inflation levels making the event even better value for money:
Children under 16 |
FREE |
Adult Weekend Advance Pass |
£40 (Gold Cup £50) |
Season Pass |
£95-£170 |
Motorhome/caravan and camping is available on site with tickets again available on the website detailed above. There are also numerous camping and caravan sites just a few miles from the circuit as well as further afield in Filey, Seamer and Whitby.
Scarborough also has countless hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfast accommodation, many of which are within walking distance of the circuit.
First used in 1946, the layout of Oliver’s Mount has remained almost the same ever since those early days, the introduction of the Farm Bends section in 1991 (done to reduce speeds through the start and finish) the only alteration. With its tight hairpins and steep climbs and descents, it represented a testing challenge for all competitors and continues to do so to this day.
The circuit itself is 2.43 miles (3.91 km) in length and is not much more than a service road around Oliver's Mount. However, it’s a technical, narrow and twisty track that requires a great deal of skill and bravery to tackle. Lined with trees and fences, the course is a mix of fast, twisty straights and slow hairpin bends with the famous jumps section a highlight for many.
TV coverage is yet to be confirmed, but we expect coverage to be similar to that in 2022 with four one-hour programmes to be shown in ITV4. We'll update this section as soon as coverage is confirmed, so be sure to keep checking.
Live timing, for all meetings, is conducted by Motorsport Timing UK and can be viewed on www.motorsport-timing.co.uk
Results from previous years can also be found on www.motorsport-timing.co.uk and will continue to be updated throughout the 2023 season.