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Not a bad attempt
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The Adelaide Motorplex Committee has invited drag racing clubs, race-teams, families and friends to attend a Public Meeting, to be held at 2pm, Sunday the 23rd of August. The meeting will be held at the Masonic Hall, corner of Commercial St (Port Rd) and Dale St, Pt Adelaide.
The meeting is to inform all interested parties of the progress and current developments regarding the proposed multi-code, privately funded Adelaide Motorplex, and planned for construction in the Pt Adelaide/Gillman area.
The development of this Motorsport Park is a positive one for South Australia and the many associated industries/businesses that would benefit from such a world class facility.
This project has the full support of the Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA Inc).
ANDRA's CEO Tony Thornton will be joined by a representative from CAMS as well as Senior Politicians, Guest speakers and well as the Adelaide Motorplex consortium themselves. There will also be an opportunity to publicly ask questions to those present on the day.
Tony Thornton commented, “We encourage you all to attend the Public Meeting and show support for this exciting South Australian project. ANDRA drag racing has continued to grow over the last number of years and Adelaide has missed out on two of Australian motorsport’s leading championship series.”
“ANDRA has been working closely with the Adelaide Motorplex consortium for the last two years and we are optimistic that we are getting closer to a result. Drag Racing is pleased that we have been able to provide a base from which other motorsports may benefit,” concluded Thornton.
The Adelaide Motorplex will be a multi-purpose complex meaning that will bring ANDRA Drag Racing back to South Australia.
ANDRA believes that providing safe and controlled environments where participation by the public is readily accessible is a socially responsible outcome that could offer some assistance to address the 'hoon' problem.
If your organisation, business or club has an interest in this very important motor sport issue, ANDRA encourages you to attend.
HUNDREDS of driving enthusiasts rallied at Parliament House today demanding the Rann Government support a new street racing complex for South Australia.
Ralliers spilled on to North Tce, blasting air horns and whistles, as they called on Premier Mike Rann to release land to a consortium lobbying to build a $25 million motorsport venue in Adelaide.
The complex would have a quarter-mile racing strip, a street circuit and speedway, a sprintboat course and a conference centre and business park.
It could also serve as a training ground for emergency service vehicles, driving schools and a concert venue.
In July this year, the Land Management Corporation told the consortium the proposed site a Gilman, which was suggested by the LMC two years ago, was no longer suitable.
Opposition sport, recreation and racing spokesman Terry Stephens told the vocal crowd a Liberal government would provide land for the complex, either for lease or purchase.
Consortium spokeswoman Anna Micheel urged supporters to "keep the pressure on the Government right up to the election".
A spokesman for Infrastructure Minister Patrick Conlon said a meeting had been scheduled to discuss the issue early next month.
Build it and they will come. Especially car club people.Howie wrote:Way too far to make an impact on local racers in Adelaide.
Firstly, a bit of history. The track itself, the old "River Bend" facility closed 25 odd years ago. At that point everything that was there (spectator mounds, toilet facilities, etc) were all torn down. So the only thing left on the block is a strip of concrete/ashphalt. After the closure, Mitsubishi used the facility as a 4WD test track, so I would imagine (having not actually seen it) that the track itself couldn't actually be in fantastic shape, a smooth track is no use to somebody who wants to test a 4WD.
The land was sold to the local council somewhere around the early part of this decade, and they had grand plans to turn it into a full sc ale industrial park. Not sure what has happened with that, since local council seems pretty happy with the idea of turning it back into a motorsport facility now. The Sporting Car Club of SA have been involved with running motorsport events for a long time. They run things like the Collingrove Hillclimb and lap sprint days at Mallala successfully. This would be their first foray into drag racing.
Though as you've no doubt read in the article, drag racing is just the beginning. They plan on turning it into a bit of a one stop shop, with facilities for motorkhana, a gokart track and a bunch of other things. This is a business model rather similar to that of the Motorsport at the Port plan, with the biggest difference being that the SCCSA idea is a bit further out of the city. At the moment they're just at the feasibility study stage, though in reality if found feasible, and if they have the required capital, we could be racing late next year.
As you've heard me debate before, the sheer number of positives for having this sort of facility is huge.
Tailem Bend is about an hour from the CBD. Closer for those travelling from south of the city. The freeway makes the trip quite easy, especially for those towing. The trip back is a tad harder, as race team trailers are usually weighed down with toolboxes, eskies, spare parts and sundry small bits that have been accumulated over a lifetime of racing and hanging around cars. You've come down the freeway, you know how steep it is towards the end. In reality it does demand a fair amount of concentration, especially if you're towing something heavy. Bu tother than that, there isn't anything there. By comparison, the Willowbank facility is in Ipswitch, a small town about an hour up the freeway from Brisbane, and is incredibly successful. Ipswitch, while is still a small town, has been growing in leaps and bounds over the past few years. But in Ipswitch there was already some infrastructure in place...such as beds. Tailem bend has nothing but a couple of servos.
The drive up there is also relatively straight. I shudder to think about it, but I dare say that the anal wart hoons will be turning the SE Freeway into their own race track. Using Sydney as an example, from the time you pull out of the gate on a Wednesday night, it's on I'm told. They launch out of the gate, and fly up the freeway. In fact a motorcyclist was killed there Saturday afternoon. I know there was a similar practice on Port Wakefield Rd heading out to AIR, and to be honest I can't really see the trip up Port Road out to the proposed Port Motorplex, though I must say the number of people willing to do stupid things on Port Road will be far lower, since it is totally urban and viciously patrolled by the local constabulary; as is Port Wakefield Rd. The freeway? While on race days there could be a special setup, I worry about the first person who does something really stupid and kills themselves.
So where do I sit on this one? Well, I'll believe it will happen when I'm standing on the start line. We've been hearing that we'll have a track ready for next season for 8 or 9 years now. As an official for ANDRA, the sport's governing body in Aust, I'm totally in favour of anybody who wants to run drag racing events. However in the short term, I'll continue to look forward to our regional Tri-Series, and we're planning on being in Perth for the Western Nationals come Feb, and with a bit of luck we'll be in Qld for the New Year Series.
If there's anything I've missed in this rambling, let me know and I'll redress.
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