OVER time, there have been many attempts to get new race tracks and events up and running. Many.

WORDS & IMAGES: Mark Walker

What follows is not an exhaustive list of local race track developments talked about in the motorsport press from 1983 to 2000, but merely a reasonable approximation.

Some were utter pipe dreams, others become reality in one shape or form, others shut down.

This deep dive was first published 20 years ago, and has subsequently been updated a couple of times – stay tuned for a full round up in the coming days of the years that followed.

Share your memories with us via our social media channels @theracetorque… it transpires there were some cracking circuits dreamed up at various stages!

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March 1983- It’s all systems go for the Geelong 500 street race, although at the time, no naming rights sponsor had been announced.

Bob Jane has reveals plans to upgrade Keilor Raceway (later Calder Park) to make it capable of hosting an Australian round of the Formula 1 World Championship.

In a busy month for Victorian tracks, Sandown has made public its plans to extend the circuit to international standards, the only one of the March 1983 plans to come to fruition. While the pits and the turns one-two-three, as well as final switch back remain in play, the infield loop that bypassed Rothmans Rise/Marlboro Country was ultimately ploughed back into the horse track.

May 1983- The much-hyped Geelong 500 street race has been cancelled, due in part to a lack of CAMS sanctioning.

Oran Park (below) is on the market for $1.5 million, and it’s future uncertain with rumours suggesting a subdivision. The ARDC is touted as putting forward a bid for the facility. The only portion of the story to come true is the subdivision, but some two-and-a-half decades later. Don’t you wish you had $1.5 million in 1983?

September 1983- Adelaide has entered a bid for an Australian round of the Formula 1 World Championship.

December 1984- The Adelaide Formula 1 Grand Prix will go ahead with $2 million in State Government support. A certified bargain.

November 1984- Bob Jane announces that he plans to extend Keilor Raceway to now include a NASCAR styled oval. It is expected to cost $20 million. Although the final price tag was in the millions, as it transpires, $20 million was a somewhat low ball figure.

December 1985- Developer Keith Williams unveiled plans for a race on Hamilton Island, with a 3.5km track incorporating the tourist hotspot’s airstrip. It is hoped to host a round of the 1987 ATCC. Somewhat overlooked in the plans were the logistics of getting punters to attend such an event, as parking an Ansett jet on a live race track would present issues for race cars and landing gear alike.

December 1986- Plans are being made to extend and modernise Oran Park, with a $10 million renovation. Included is a 1.6km track extension, a go-kart circuit, a speedway, drag strip, motocross and supercross tracks.

February 1987- A consortium of Queensland businessmen put forward a strong bid to host a round of the WTCC around the streets of the Brisbane CBD, although the downtown locale lacked space for amenities such as pits or grandstands.

August 1987- Barry Rogers (a different one) sold Surfers Paradise International Raceway for $8 million (a $4 million earn on his $4 million purchase from the previous year). It is expected to stay operational until the end of 1988. Many years later the land/floodplain would be developed into a lake, with exclusive residential properties lining its shores. A minor section of the old pit straight remains, below.

October 1987- The Tasmanian Government is 100% behind a proposal to build a 3.3km track around the Constitution Docks in Hobart, with a plan to host a 500km race in late 1988. Since Adelaide showed that street circuits are easy, it appears everyone wants a slice of the pie.

October 1988- Developer Tony Stephens has announced plans for his Darlington Park circuit near Beenleigh, half way between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. The venue is to include a 3.3km circuit, go-kart track, skid pan, as well as a 4WD track.

Lakeside is to be re-developed, with an 800m extension to the existing circuit, an 800m NASCAR oval, two clay ovals, an access tunnel, and a pair of pedestrian bridges, with backing for the speedway to come from Winfield darts. The pre-existing bridge wound up being extended via a cut-and-shut with the Surfers Paradise International bridge following the Lusty-Miedecke fracas in 1989, the earthwork for the NASCAR oval was somewhat completed and still visible today (essentially forming the Hungry Corner spectator bank), while the tunnel came many years later, under John Tetley’s watch of the venue.

May 1989- Work on the $2.5 million NASCAR track at Lakeside has been halted due to issues financial in nature.

Darlington Park will be fully operational by January 1990, as the base layer of the now 3.85km circuit has been already been laid. Please continue to watch this space.

March 1990- A circuit at The Broadwater on the Gold Coast has reached the planning stage to host an Indycar race, as hopes to host the race further south in Surfers Paradise have hit a snag. Racing continued at the more southern location until October last year (it will be back…right?), while the Broadwater area remains a thorny issue in the side of the Gold Coast City Council and Queensland Government some 30 years later.

A circuit at Canberra has been revived after the facility was originally announced by Malcolm Fraser in 1978. It will cost $2 million to lay the racing surface. Street racing in Canberra eventually occurred thrice, from 2000 to 2002. It was cold.

April 1990- The Gold Coast Indy race has been given the thumbs up from the Queensland Government, with the race to be held in March 1991, despite the threat of life bans on competitors from CAMS/FIA. It’s another job for Bob (Jane), who provides alternate sanctioning support for the undercard.

April 1991- Eastern Creek opens for public testing.

July 1991- It is announced that Symmons Plains is to be upgraded with the help of money from ciggie company Phillip Morris. Included in the plans are 30 FIA spec pit bays and corporate suites. The track would eventually get some cosy garages, and a lone corporate box.

January 1994- Albert Park in Melbourne says that it will be able to host the Australian Formula 1 round in 1995. It has put forward a proposal to Bernie Ecclestone. Bernie responded with his bank account details.

November 1994- The rival to the Adelaide Grand Prix, Melbourne’s Albert Park, has been revealed with a 5.26km track. According to later official trundle wheel findings, the circuit is now 5.303km in length.

February 1995- A $74.5 million upgrade to the four-year-old Eastern Creek may not go ahead due to lack of funding. Included in the upgrade is a 1.3 km extension to the race track, a vehicle R&D facility, and a home for the new Spice Formula 1 team (RIP, with their name later being sold to an all girl pop group). Renovations were mooted again in 2006, while in 2008 $350,000 is devoted to a feasibility study and pretty drawings. Eventually $9 million is spent on renovations ($7million from the NSW Government, $2 million from the ARDC) including an additional 830m of race track, a second pit lane, and much yellow paint, with the facility renamed in 2012 to Sydney Motorsport Park. One can only assume the $74.5 million figure included significant gold plating and diamond encrusting.

January 1996- $30,000 worth of safety improvements to Lakeside commence, with the main feature being a gravel trap at the end of the main straight, primarily to stop HQ Holdens from entering the lake.

July 1996- Gold Coast attraction Dreamworld has proposed to build a permanent race track adjacent to the famous park to be used by the Indycar circus. The 3.3km track is expected to cost $15 million. The area was later put to arguably better use, when the “Big Brother” house was erected on the site, although it has subsequently burnt down.

Ross Palmer has plans to set up a “country club styled” race track in the Gold Coast hinterland, with two sites being evaluated. Also, north of Brisbane there are rumours of a new race track being built, with never ending rumours of tracks around the Sunshine Coast, and later the Historic Racing Car Club’s effort at Kilcoy.

Kevin Waldock plans to build a new track on his Hunter Valley property. It will be designed to host touring cars, as well as NASCAR, and is expected to be ready in time for the Sydney Olympics in the year 2000. Touring cars sadly didn’t get a gig as a demonstration sport at the Olympics.

It is announced that Winton Motor Raceway is to be extended, with new pit facilities as well as a lengthened, and widened track. Figures released the previous month put the expected bill at $350,000.

December 1996- A feature of Tony Cochrane’s war on motorsport, the Adelaide Formula 1 circuit is to be revived for a V8 touring car endurance race in October 1997. It will cost $8 million to run a meeting around the 3.78km circuit, with it being a replacement for the Bathurst 1000, as the battle between warring TV factions over broadcast rights goes into overdrive.

Motorsport Queensland has put in a strong bid to build a new racing circuit next to the Willowbank drag strip, although at this stage Lakeside’s David Harding did not see any threat coming from any new facilities.

April 1997- A new motorsport complex in the Latrobe Valley will feature a 5.6 km circuit made from public roads, a hill climb, and a dirt speedway. Once permission is granted, it is expected to cost $15 million to build, and will be operational by 1998.

Another track at Bacchus Marsh is proposed, and it is to be built on top of the dirt speedway. Plans for the new circuit at Willowbank have been approved, and it is hoped the track will be ready for the 1998 Touring Car Championship.

May 1997- Plans are revealed to build a NASCAR-styled speedway on private property adjacent to the Willowbank drag strip. However, even at this early stage the proposal has received the cold shoulder from the local Ipswich Council. In other news, the proposed road circuit to be built on council land next door is expected to be finished by the end of the 1997 calendar year.

Another oval track in Queensland has come to light, with a 1.07-mile facility planned at Darlington Park. Remember that place?

All that is standing in the way of a race at Hidden Valley is CAMS approval, after Paul Morris gave the circuit the thumbs up on behalf of Super Touring organisers. Super Tourers never ran in Darwin. The venue was added to the 1998 V8 Supercars calendar in August.

October 1997- The scheduled start to construction at Queensland Raceway is November 1997, and meetings are being scheduled for the middle of 1998. The 3.1km track has just received support from the Queensland Government to the tune of $1.5 million.

November 1997- Rumours are persisting that Amaroo Park (below) is to be sold, with a vote being put forward to the members of the ARDC in an upcoming meeting.

February 1998- Hidden Valley has been given the go ahead, and construction to bring it up to scratch is to commence shortly.

Construction is due to start imminently on Queensland Raceway after a State Government Environmental Impact study is completed. It is expected to be operation by the start of 1999.

April 1998- Rumours going around say that Darlington Park could be on the 1999 Shell Series calendar. While the venue remains mysterious, it is believed to be sealed, and Dick Johnson has given it his approval after an inspection.

August 1998- The idea of a V8 endurance race around the Adelaide Parklands is revived. To be run around a 3.2km circuit at a cost of $5 million, and the event is being planned for Easter.

Work has begun on Queensland Raceway, with the bulldozers moving in. And my, what a thorough job they did!

September 1998- The Adelaide street race is go, with official confirmation from AVESCO

October 1998- The Surfside 500 at Cronulla Beach is announced with a hopeful race date of October 3, 1999. However, local politicians were against it, disappointing resident enthusiasts, who later rioted over unrelated matters.

December 1998- AVESCO enter discussions with Western Australian authorities with respect to a street race as a possible replacement for the Sandown 500. After the Sandown 500 moved to Queensland Raceway and Phillip Island, the Sandown 500 once again resided at Sandown, before maybe being shipped to The Bend, although this may or may not actually happen.

January 1999- Darlington Park opens its gates to motorcycle ride days. It is announced when the $240 million track is completed it will have a music bowl, theme park, shops, drag strip, dirt speedway oval, driver training centre, skid pan, BMX track and a trail bike track.

May 1999- A proposed race around the Fremantle Docks has come to light, with it costing $10 million in the first year, and $23 million over the next 4 years. The event at this stage has no Government support, and it expected to be bankrolled by the private sector.

Darlington Park is expected to be ready to go in 18 months, now with the main racing surface being sealed. This is practically as far as the project goes, with its wild layout surrounded by a decided lack of walls and infrastructure, with an early incarnation of the V8 Experience using it for drive days. While portions of the track still exist, greater parts of the property are now an industrial estate and quarry, below.

June 1999- Reservations by government officials may hamper the potential Fremantle street race.

July 1999- Queensland Raceway is opened to the public, with a state level meet, prior to the traffic debacle at the first V8 Supercars event at the venue.

Lakeside Raceway is put on the market after 38 years of operation, with tenders closing on the 20th of August. The track did not sell.

August 1999- The Canberra street circuit is revealed, and the track runs past many Canberra land marks including a pair of Parliament Houses. It is now expected to cost $7 million.

Promoters of the Fremantle track have not given up hope of having a race meeting, even after the event fails to make the 2000 calendar.

September 1999- It is proposed to bring motorsport back to the streets of Redcliffe north of Brisbane, with a pitch put forward to the local council. Competition on the peninsular would bring back memories of early street racing from the black and white days, as well as illegal street tuning by local race teams.

November 1999- Plans for a $30 million speedway and drag racing complex in Western Melbourne becomes public. It is proposed to have a total capacity of 80,000 people and is to be completed by October 2001. October 2001 happened without such a facility in place.

A proposal to host the 2001 Shell Championship Series around a street circuit at Langley Park (made famous by Rally Australia) is announced. The 3.8km track is set to cost $12 million in its first year of operation and is located just up the road from Fremantle.

April 2000- A group of investors purchase the financially troubled Queensland Raceway for a reported $3.5 million.

The Fremantle street race for V8 Supercars will not go ahead due to lack of council support.