Hundreds of abandoned Speedway tracks...

[Old Koreelah]

Thought Turbs might be interested in this:

 

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-09/australias-lost-speedway-tracks-and-the-families-who-made-them/11928022

 

 

[onetrack]

I found the following website about Speedway and Road Race history, and I was fascinated by the W.A. Speedway Track history. Every little "2 men and a dog" country town, had its racetrack in W.A., from after WW1.

 

Lake Perkolilli, a dry claypan just off the Kanowna Rod at Kurnalpi, NE of Kalgoorlie, was a popular race meet spot in the 1920's and 1930's - they not only had speedway racing there, they had outright speed trials as well.

 

Follow the menu from "Lost Tracks W.A." down to "Lake Perkolilli" and you'll find two sections, on Centenary of Speed celebrations at Lake Perkolilli in 2014 and 2019. Some great historical photos on these pages.

 

http://www.speedwayandroadracehistory.com/

 

A large percentage of the country speedway tracks haven't survived, due to increased safety restrictions and insurance requirements, a reduction in population in the rural areas, and the increased cost of building and maintaining a race car.

 

When I lived in a small country town in the SE Wheatbelt of W.A., my workshop mechanic ran a home-built supermod, based on a 265 Valiant 6. It was a beast, it absolutely flew, and Colin spent on a small amount on building it and running it.

 

He'd do things such as, for piston balancing, he'd make up a beam balance scale, and find the lowest weight piston and then shave small amounts off the other pistons, until they all matched precisely to within a couple of grams.

 

The Hemi Valiant motors were unbreakable powerhouses, he won a lot of races with that car, against bigger and much more expensive rigs from other bigger towns and even city racers.

 

The worst part was, the prizemoney at country racetracks was usually only about $50 to $200, so you didn't do it for the money.

 

Colin used to race at the Corrigin Speedway, which was in its hayday in the '70's & '80's - but it fell into disrepair with reducing interest in Speedway events. Only recently has it been revived with a great deal of effort from the locals.

 

 

[spacesailor]

Hows Parramata speedway doing, I used to atend but in winter the cold gets to me, & my girls .

 

We took blankets & hot water bottles , 

 

NOW my grand sons are Drifting,  they need a voice to keep the  Newcastle track open,

 

Much better to race/drift on a legal track than Hooning on the roads.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[old man emu]

Parramatta Speedway trampled under the feet of Progress:

 

https://www.speedcafe.com/2019/10/21/valvoline-raceway-slated-for-demolition-due-to-new-train-line/

 

 

[spacesailor]

AND now the fight begins !.

 

How about a Noise pollution ban by Parramatta & Blacktown,  Any aircraft breaching the new Noise law will pay a $1,000 fine into the motor sport fund, to pay for a Nice new speedway track.

 

All those low flying Heavy planes leaving Badgerys airport will have to give a little back to the western Sydney people .

 

A strike against Gladys Berejikli, who doesn't live out west,

 

spacesailor

 

 

[bluebird121]

In Scotland we have Stock Car tracks.. My daughter raced there in a mini stock and latterly a pro stock.. The point I was trying to make was there should be more stock car tracks to the kids how to handle a car in a skid.. I know because my daughter's mx5 lost control. The rear wheel blew on a bend. Her car was almost over the cliff and I firmly believe if she had not been racing

.she would not be here today..

[bluebird121]

In Scotland we have Stock Car tracks.. My daughter raced there in a mini stock and latterly a pro stock.. The point I was trying to make was there should be more stock car tracks for the kids how to handle a car in a skid.. I know because my daughter's mx5 lost control. The rear wheel blew on a bend. Her car was almost over the cliff and I firmly believe if she had not been racing

.she would not be here today..

[old man emu]

The point I was trying to make was there should be more stock car tracks to the kids how to handle a car in a skid.

 

I have to disagree strongly with the idea that drivers should be taught "how to handle a car in a skid". I agree that training on a skidpan is very worthwhile, not to teach a driver how to "how to handle a car in a skid", but to teach how to avoid getting into a skid in the first place. Blowing a tyre is now a rare event, but driving on low friction road surfaces (wet, or icy, muddy or gravel) is far more common. On a skidpan a driver can also safely experience how loss of steering and braking due to low tyre/road friction results in complete loss of steering control.

 

There are two methods of driving: Roadcraft and Carcraft. Roadcraft is the operation of a motor vehicle on public roads in everyday situations. It is the type of driving we do when using a motor vehicle to go about our lives travelling from A to B. Carcraft is the operation of a motor vehicle in sporting situations, whether on a racing circuit or closed public roads (rallying). It is also the method used in police pursuit driving. One could say that when learning to drive, a person should become competent at simply operating a motor vehicle (Carcraft 101) before venturing out into traffic to learn how to fit into the way people drive in the areas where they live. I find that the way people drive varies with location - cities versus country, and even variations across cities.

 

Bluebird121"s daughter no doubt was saved because she had learned through her sport driving how to control her vehicle in an "unusual attitude". I am lead to question why the tyre blew. If it was on a bend, then I would investigate the tyre pressures. Or it may have been that s low leak due to tyre damage cause the tyre to fail at just the wrong moment.

[spacesailor]

" I have to disagree strongly with the idea that drivers should be taught "how to handle a car in a skid "

In UK, All bus drivers used to undergo adverse situations on a skidpan, And it was available for the public as well.

Which proved advantageous for the population of Ashbourne in Derbyshire EVERY winter.

A long steep, ice covered road were brakes were a Disadvantage.

spacesailor

[spacesailor]

We need a few opened up, if only to get our youngsters off the streets.

 

( https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2340506346001999 )

great fun and ITS legal.

Just need a push to get Newcastle to keep this drift track open.

spacesailor

[old man emu]

Spacey, stop taking things out of context. The second sentence in that post explains what the proper use of a skidpan is.

[spacesailor]

Why is it out of Contex ?

you said it 's for learning !.

That's what Newcastle drift track is doing,

and it taught a lot of privet people to keep their FOOT Off the Break when skidding.

The Old way of saying "Carcraft" & "roadcraft" was " Advanced Driving Course".

A lot of us oldies did that course, thinking it would give a better survivability when driving with shitdrivers, that can't or wont use their little finger to put on an indicator.

Even Pedestrians get caught out when Foreign idiots wont use those indicators.

spacesailor

[old man emu]

Why is it out of Contex ?

 

Quoting the first sentence without the second misrepresents what I intended to say. You could have simply quoted the second sentence and that would show that we were thinking the same thing.

[spacesailor]

"There are two methods of driving: Roadcraft and Carcraft. Roadcraft is the operation of a motor vehicle on public roads in everyday situations."

HA, but the second sentence, has no contex for skidpan training !.

And was showing the advantage of said training.

I hope we are agreeing on things like Good training.

spacesailor