Australia’s Current Day Motorsport on Airfields
Here at The Race Torque, we love motorsport and aviation, so naturally, mixing the two is one of our favourite pastimes.
From collating collections of images from some of the best pre-event flyovers we’ve seen, we have also pieced together an immensely popular yarn on fantasy airfield racetracks around the country, which we can probably attribute to a pandemic lockdown, perhaps inspired by the legendary Burke Lakefront Airport from Indycar’s prime time.
Then there are the stories on the airfield that, over the years, have been converted for motorsport use.
For instance, there is Point Cook, the birthplace of the Royal Australian Air Force.
The outer Melbourne airfield remains unchanged since the day the venue hosted the 1948 Australian Grand Prix.
General Motors Holden built its factory in the area, while the Todd Road Go Kart track sits next to the old main runway.
Mallala remains one of our favourite venues – we have investigated its layout in depth.
We recently uncovered the story of the Benalla Steet Circuit from 1936, which encircled the town’s airfield, and with one of the tracks straights ultimately swallowed up by the airfield.
Elsewhere, we have loved our trips to international airfield circuits such as Silverstone and Sebring.
The Story Continues
Over the years, all manner of races, drag racing and karting have been contested on temporarily offline airfields – including practices such as aerodynamic testing.
As our research has found, there are many instances where you can still take your vehicle on modern-day airfields and give it your all.
In this story, we have included some examples that have been utilised up until recently, at the same time, we haven’t counted venues that have been used for testing, such as by Supercars when homologating a car’s aerodynamics.
Are there any we have missed? Let us know on the socials at @theracetorque – we would love to keep this list complete.
RAAF Base East Sale
The RAAF Auto Club of East Sale, in conjunction with the Gippsland Car Club, regularly hosts super sprints on a temporary 1.7km long layout on the airbase taxiways, making quite an interesting layout (see: header image).
Also, go kart races are noted as taking place on temporary circuits on the base in the 1980s.
Cootamundra Airport
Around three hours southwest of Bathurst, Cootamundra comes alive annually with the Coota 400 for pre-1990s muscle cars with a cruise/drag event.
The event was born as a 500m drag race setup but was subsequently dialled back to 400m.
Taree Regional Airport
As recently as this month, Taree Airport has played host to 1/8th off-street drags, as organised by the Mid Coast Drag Racing Association Incorporated.
Ballarat Aerodrome
The Ballarat Drag Racing Club regularly host events on runway 05 at Ballarat Aerodrome.
As is the case with functioning airfields, an event organised for earlier this year was cancelled due to nearby bushfires, with the runways being required for water bombing efforts.
Interestingly, the airport’s expansion has seen the Ballarat Light Car Club’s autocross track close, with that facility having been located adjacent to the perpendicular north-south runway.
Warracknabeal Aerodrome
In addition to burnout competitions, Warracknabeal is home to 1/8th mile drag racing.
Gunnedah Airport
The Tamworth Drag Racing Association are custodians of quarter-mile action at Gunnedah Airport in regional New South Wales.
Temora Airport
Home of the Temora 1000, a unique event where competitors take on 1,000m of runway from a standing start.
Cootamundra Airport
The Cootamundra Airport Runway Thrash is a significant event on the regional New South Wales calendar.
Wellington Airport
The Bodangora Drags are regularly held near Dubbo as coordinated by the Dubbo City Car Club.
Barcaldine Airport
The Barcy Revfest is held annually at the Barcaldine Airport in the dead centre of Queensland.
Casino Airport
Up until recently, the Northern Rivers Drag Club has hosted events at Casino Airport.
Albany Regional Airport
Through to 2020, Racewars were contested on the runways of Albany-Drome Airport, with a combination of events up to a standing 1,000m Vmax run.
Kooralbyn Aerodrome
Not far from Beaudesert in Queensland, Oz Aid had been running the annual Quick Street event at the Kooralbyn Aerodrome.
The event this year, however, is on hiatus, with permission from the local council pending.
Boulia Airport
Located a very long distance from anywhere in western Queensland, Boulia is noted as hosting off-street drags on its runway.
Glen Innes Airport
About a decade ago, drag racing organised by the Glen Innes Motorsports Club wound up on the New South Wales town’s airstrip.
Innisfail Aerodrome
Another departed venue was run by the Mundoo Drag Racing Association, which played host to some significant events in its tenure.
Warrnambool Airport
Yet another venue that has petered out is Warrnambool City Draway, which hosted events at the town’s airport.
Mark Walker (administrator)
A vastly experienced Motorsport Public Relations operator, journalist, commentator and photographer, Mark brings his unique angle to The Race Torque in both words and imagery. As well as serving as our key photographer on the ground at major events around Australia (and overseas), Walker will often chime in with his unique and pin-point sharp viewpoint of the racing world via the keyboard too.
