Motorsport has lost one of its champions

[Trevor]

Sadly, Mick Ronke CEO of Winton Motor Raceway and Secretary of Benalla Auto Club passed away this morning.

Very sad news indeed, best wishes to his 2 sons Matthew and Adam (both of who have been posters on here) and the rest of his family and friends

Mick had done more for motorsport than just about anyone else in Australia and was a huge champion of grass roots motorsport in Australia.

[Trevor]

Mick was also instrumental in the formation of AASA, he also instigated the purchase of Wakefield Park in Goulburn NSW on behalf of Benalla Auto Club.

[Beetle]

I don't know of him but it's always sad to hear the passing of legends in motorsport. Again, I don't know who he is but I am saddened to hear another legend no longer exists in human form... purely in memory.

R.I.P. Mick

[GTRMagic]

Very sad news, for Adam, Matthew & Heather and the motorsport family

[Tourer]

Very sad news indeed - Mick's been the central figure at Winton as long as I can remember.

A very driven person, he certainly has stood up for various causes and for his club over the years.

RIP Mick and my thoughts with Heather and the boys.

[Pro Racer]

very sad news condolences to all family.

[Trevor]

there is some wonderful stuff on speedcafe

[peckstar]

Tributes flow for Winton boss Mick Ronke


An interesting read. sometimes we learn too much when it is too late.

RIP Michael Ronke . you developed one of the best spectating tracks in the country. Long may it continue

[PVDA]

Here's what I put up on Facebook earlier today remembering many of my FB Friend are heavily involved in Motorsport.

2013 hasn't been a good year for Victorian Motorsport

I've been informed this morning of the passing of Mick Ronke, CEO of Winton Motor Raceway.

Mick has been at the helm of Winton, and Wakefield Park, for many years and I've know him since I started working at race meetings at Winton in late 1985.

Mick was a Telecom Exchange Maintenance Tech in Benalla and I was an Exchange Installation Tech in Melbourne so we had a shared friendly rivalry that existed between Insto's and Mato's that we kept up even long after he left Telecom to take up the CEO post at Winton.

Mick was never shy to ring me if he had a Telecom/Telstra issue he needed dealt with and I remember well the 9am call the day after a Mobile phone issue the Barbagallo V8's that weekend a few years ago "telling me" we're not going to have that problem here in 2 weeks are we Paul. Mind you I'd already arranged with him months earlier to park one of Telstra's Cell on Wheels units next to the Admin building and Mick was only too happy to provide us with a 3 phase power connection for it.

I'll save the story on how Mick and Heather convinced Telstra to add a Mobile Phone base to the Winton Exchange for another day

No one can deny Micks passion for Motorsport or his dedication to the Benalla Auto Club, Winton & Wakefield and god help anyone who ever tried to get one over on him or Winton, even V8Supercar teams and management respected Mick and his passion.

Daryl Mac has commented that some saw Mick as a "Hard B*****d" but those of us who really knew Mick often saw the lighter and softer side of him especially during the tradition post event "Debriefs" in his office at Winton where many a story from the days action and days gone by were shared.

I'll miss Mick, in fact I already am, not just as a friend but as a man who taught so many of us so much over the near 30 years I've know and worked with and for him in our shared obsession called Motorsport.

My sincere condolences to Matt, Adam and the extended Ronke family at this time of loss and please feel comforted in the knowledge that the extended Winton & Wakefield "family" is sharing your grief at this time.

So far this year we've lost;

Pat O'Neill (Winton Safety Team member),
Barry Petersen (Former Chief Flag Marshal & President of the Victorian Flag Marshaling Team),
Norm Drew (co founder of Avalon Raceway)
and now Mick Ronke.

[Silver 3]

No one can deny Micks passion for Motorsport or his dedication to the Benalla Auto Club, Winton & Wakefield and god help anyone who ever tried to get one over on him or Winton.


My sincere condolences to Matt, Adam and the extended Ronke family at this time of loss .

I borrowed a few of PVDA.s words.

rip Mick

[Trevor]

There will be a memorial service at Winton Motor Raceway on Tuesday May 7th at 1.00 pm, it will be held in the Winton Corporate Centre.



There will be a separate private service for family and close friends, no details are available obviously

[formerf1champ]

"Champions" is not a word I would've thought. However it does seem an apt one. RIP

[Trevor]

A great sentiment from Kim Jones

http://www.speedcafe.com/2013/05/04/...to-mick-ronke/

[321Go]

I never thought of Mick as a "Hard B*****d". I saw him as a no nonsense type of guy, who was very passionate about what he did. Sad day for Australian Motorsport when we lost Mr Ronke.

R.I.P. Mick Ronke.