Multiple provincial motorsport facilities around the country are flourishing, with examples in Victoria and Queensland coming to life.

­­Late last year, the Albury Wodonga & Districts Car Club (AWDCC) took over the control of Wilby Park Raceway, a multi-purpose venue 35km northwest of Wangaratta, or a three-hour drive north from Melbourne via Benalla, and have subsequently swung into action tidying and upgrading the grounds.

Featuring an eighth-mile drag strip, a short 1,015m long road circuit, and a burnout pad, the Wilby Park facility has been a long-serving staple of the local scene since around 1964, playing host to modern events such as the Lake Mulwala Rod Run Nostalgia Drags, and the Retrospeed Sprints, contested as a lap sprint on the road circuit.

The venue is also a favourite with drifters.

Racing in the area was initially held on the Keenan family farm, however, when Jim, Doc and Frank Keenan’s father decided to crop the land, an alternate location was required, with Jim carving out the Wilby Park circuit configuration in his Ford Fairlane.

The track was originally covered in gravel and sealed with sump oil, with the paved drag strip added later.

The 1980s marked the prime time for the facility, with drags and speedway meets regularly held on the road track, a pastime that has continued in recent times, even with the circuit now fully paved.

A popular local class has been the Wilby 650 Quarter Sprints, which are quick, if not a handful in dealing with the right-hand sweeper and tight hairpin!

The AWDCC has been at the heart of the region’s motorsport efforts for decades and was involved with the initial set-up of the Hume Weir Circuit.

These days the AWDCC hosts events at Winton Raceway, the Wodonga TAFE’s Motorsport Training Australia 1.6m circuit at the Logic Campus, plus motorkhanas and khanacrosses at Villa Grove, with the club previously long-term users of the Wilby complex.

One of the club’s priorities will be to upgrade the drag strip so that competitions can resume, rather than the current schedule of test and tunes.

Elsewhere in Australia, the DriveIt facility outside of Townsville is nearing completion, with one enterprising group of racers improvising their own sealed race track away from the new 3.5km main circuit.

While the final seal on the main circuit has been completed in recent months, eager racers in the area have created a short circuit out of the driver training skid pan and loop, with the Road Race Association of Townsville utilising the layout until the main track becomes available.

The area can be seen in the top-left of the above photo, with the below video showing the neat little configuration.