Port Stevens motorplex ?

[marcus]

reading AA today I noticed the little story about the Port Stevens Motorplex at Newcastle.

It sounds promising (but I dont know why a drag strip is being built as drag racing here is almost dead ???)
but is the picture in AA correct of the proposed layout ???

I hope not ..it says they are after v8 supercars and if thats the case it would be a shame to see them race there.

the circuit design is god awfull ...from what i can see only two overtaking opportunities possibly.

dont get me wrong I am all for more purpose built tracks instead of the trend of street tracks but the design is horrible..maybe the same guy who designed QR designed this one...whoever did it needs an imagination thats for sure.


but I could be wrong about all of this ..it may be just AA's interpretation of what it could look like.

anybody know anything more about this place and what it might look like ?

[Ray Bell]

I haven't seen the article but it wouldn't surprise me if they've stuffed up the circuit design... everybody seems to, ever since Wanneroo, the last decent one built in Australia... well, I'm not so sure that Eastern Creek is all that bad...

Anyway, your question about drag racing is worth an answer.

Drag racing is strong, very soundly based in spectator appeal and interest, very big on entrants in a lot of classes, very strong on commercial support.

To have a venue that supports them is a good thing, gives them somewhere to compete other than Willowbank.

To have a venue that's combined has plusses and minuses... but maybe one day a drag racer will wonder what it's like to go round some corners.

[Buckshot]

Tracks need hills people - they need to undulate ! Even street circuits have'em !

Not anothert flat track please !

I want someone to buy the Thunderdome, fix it up and get the V8s on an oval for 500kms - how interesting would that be ? Might also generate a little more interest from US fans that only like turning left...even though I guess we'd have to turn right but I'm sure they'd catch on after a few laps.

[philneast]

V8 Supercars onthe Thunderdome, wouldn't Brad Jones and John Faulkner love that.

I wouldn't mind seeing it either.

[Crash Test]

"(but I dont know why a drag strip is being built as drag racing here is almost dead ???)"
- The reason why it is dead is because there are no drag tracks in New South Wales, Victoria or South Australia. Yep, EC, Calder and AIR are all there, but for various reasons their owners don't/can't have top flight drags.

"dont get me wrong I am all for more purpose built tracks instead of the trend of street tracks but the design is horrible..maybe the same guy who designed QR designed this one...whoever did it needs an imagination thats for sure."
- QR really isn't all that bad. It's fine in theory to say every track should be like Bathurst, but at places like QR and probably down at Newcastle, space constraints come into effect. Ok, it's nice to have a hilly track, but the cost of earth moving to make a mountain out of nothing could be quite huge- wouldn't you prefer a grandstand instead of a bump in the road? Also, what does that hill at Calder provide? It certainly makes that track a classic...

"but I could be wrong about all of this ..it may be just AA's interpretation of what it could look like."
- AA would only be showing the drawing they were provided with.

"... well, I'm not so sure that Eastern Creek is all that bad..."
- EC really isn't that bad a layout, but its design really isnt conducive to good racing- too many little wiggles just before prime overtaking positions. When the ARDC moved in last century, one of the first things they were going to do was iron those out of the track, and basically open the track out a lot... but I suppose they other, more important things to worry about.

"V8 Supercars onthe Thunderdome,"
- Never ever. Have you ever seen a roll cage in an Auscar or a Nascar? They are massive, and you know why? They don't have small accidents on the Thunderdome. It would be great, but at the same time it would be playing Russian Roulette with the drivers lives...

[marcus]

thanks you smarty pants

agreed and I guess I was a tad hasty on the drag racing thing..its about time they deserved a fair go i guess.

I drove by QR but didnt go in ..so i guess I shouldnt knock something I have not seen...but I still have to admit that the layout still looks pretty plain..but its their 9 million or so and they can spend it anyway they like

[Ray Bell]

John Keirath stitched up that ground for a racing circuit many years ago... about 22 or 23, and he's protected it from being usurped for other purposes ... now it might become a circuit.

In the meantime, there has been a hillclimb built there, so it can't be all that flat.

I think we are talking about the Ringwood land, on the side of the Pacific Highway, aren't we?

[Crash Test]

Ray- I believe so.

Marcus- I never thought that much of QR until I went around it. One thing that it does have going in its favour is that it produces some fantastic racing, which most people don't ever get to see...

[Ray Bell]

Just to ensure that John Kierath gets the proper recognition for what he did... he was a Solicitor in Newcastle at the time and wangled a super lease out of the owner, who was a client IIRC.

A part of the lease was that at any time during its twenty years duration, the club involved (NMRC?) could opt to buy the land with some stipulated terms pre-agreed.

Just before the twenty years was up, John made sure that the lack of development of the property over that period wasn't to be reflected in further non-action and he put the project before people who could and would do something about it.

Hence the whole thing is going to take place, no matter how belatedly. There's so much racing interest and history in the area that it's bound to be a huge success.

[Crash Test]

Ray- I don't know if it is the NMRC, the name that has been floating around with the reports that started earlier this year was the Newcastle MGCC.