Broadford

Broadford is a small country circuit situated about an hour’s drive north of Melbourne in rural Victoria. The track itself is a very technical, extremely bumpy place, with large elevation changes and many blind corners. The compact nature of this fun circuit never really lets the MV hit top gear or get much over 200kph, but the tight turns and challenging entries and exits never make for a dull moment. According to the circuit map and officials, there’s 13 turns on this track, but to most who ride it, there’s really 7.
Turn 1&2 After just topping 200kph on the front straight, it’s down 2 gears and turn in for turn one. It’s a large uphill climb though turn one and you drop as low as 100khp. You can be quite aggressive on entry and let the bike drift out wide, then pull the bike back in for the apex of turn 2 which opens up on exit. The exit for turn 2 must be found early which gives you a good run onto the back straight. It’s easy to lose rear traction here as your still going up hill on full lean and winding on as much throttle as you dare.
Turn 3&4 Turn 3 is a small kink in the back straight which can be straight-lined quite easily. There’s also a fair hump in the track at this point which takes the front wheel off the ground if you’re on the throttle enough. Turn 4 is another kink in the back straight which also can be straight lined, but it’s also used as a braking guide for turn 5. After hitting a bit over 200khp reaching turn 4, it’s hard on the brakes and down to second gear.
Turn 5&6 Affectionately known as “crash corner”, turn 5 is the slowest corner on the track as it’s tight, blind, downhill and off camber. It’s hard on the brakes until you finally spot the turn in point, then it’s full lean, knee on the deck and let the bike run though the apex and down hill to turn 6. Turn 6 is a small kink that you stay out wide on, setting up for turns 7,8 & 9.
Turn 7,8 & 9 These turns make up the “flip-flop” at the back of the track and it’s my favorite bit of the circuit. The run into turn 7 is still downhill and fast, then it’s a quick change in direction to make turn 8, then immediately a change direction again to negotiate turn 9, which is now uphill and totally blind. You have to commit fully to come out of 9 with good speed. Because the flip-flop starts downhill and finishes uphill, it’s a bit of a roller coaster sensation as well…great fun.
Turns 10 &11. There’s a short run downhill to turn 10 holding one gear, the MV screaming. The entry to turn 10 is fully visible and again you can be extremely late and aggressive on entry. Maximum lean is generated through here as you let the bike drift wide ready for turn 11.
There’s a wicked bump in the track between 10 and 11 and it’s a quick lift off of the knee then back down again is you tuck in tight for turn 11 as it tightens up compared to turn 10.
Turn 12 & 13. To me , this is definitely one turn. A big looping left hander back onto the front straight which is slightly uphill. It’s the only decent left turn on the track, so it’s best to take this corner easy for the first few laps as the left side of the tire takes a while to warm up. Turn 13 tightens up a lot so I’ts best to stay out wide and tuck in late to get a good run onto the straight.
That’s it !! ..and if you’ve put together a clean lap it should give a lap-time around 1:10, highlighting how short the Broadford track is. It may be small, buts it’s tight, demanding and tiring. A great place to test your skills. Lap records: Superbike: 58.3 Super-sport: 59.6 250 Production:1:03 My Time ... around 1:10 :-(