After witnessing its hugely successful debut that day, I was part of the large admiring group gathered around Laurie Knight and his creation, when someone asked him why he called it Sabrina. After staving off permanent closure in the 2000s, the circuits operations have again been under threat in recent times over the hot topic of noise restrictions. Many of the iconic moments in Supercars Championship history played out at the challenging 2.62km circuit near Narellan in Sydney's south-west. It would never return. Another innovation came with the Willoughby club's introduction of Superbike racing, years before the name caught on worldwide. . Last championship visit: 1994 Most race wins: Peter Brock and Allan Moffat (five apiece). Wally Gates? Locally named 'Black Captain's Gulley' after an aboriginal chief, the land formed part of a valley, complete with the Cattai Creek running through its centre. It was won by Sydney driver Ray Lintott driving a 4WD, twin-turbo Porsche 911 Turbo with a race time of 9:16.4942. It would've been a hell of a track, quick lots of elevation and next to no run off. Peter Brock was the king of the venue when it came to championship races. Spectators enjoyed it too, thanks to high sandstone bank providing a natural grandstand and offering good views of the whole circuit. An anti-smoking sponsorship deal took Calder off the championship trail for several seasons before returning in 1996. [2], The official opening meeting, promoted by the Amaroo Sporting Country Club, was held on 12 March 1967 with attendance restricted to members of several motoring clubs, around 1000 spectators visiting. This was helped by most of the major ATCC teams at the time usually not competing in the series. All rights reserved. Amaroo Park Raceway was a 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) motor racing circuit located in Annangrove, New South Wales, in the present-day western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. It was closed in 1998. . If you continue to use this site, you agree to the terms and conditions identified in our privacy policy, Porsche Paynter Dixon Carrera Cup Australia, remain in the frame for a return in future seasons, Slade not finished with full-time driving. A "Rothmans AMSCAR Series"[2] for touring cars was held in addition to the Sun-7 Chesterfield Series at Amaroo Park in 1979 for a reported A$60,000 in prize money, about $50,000 more than for the ATCC at the time. Oran Park is about to go the same way. In Group C, the factory backed Nissan team also contested the series with Sydney-based team driver Fred Gibson (the Bathurst 500 winner in 1967 with Harry Firth in a Ford XR Falcon GT) and his wife Christine (regarded as the "fastest female in Australia") driving the team's second Bluebird turbo and its powerful, but evil handling, front-wheel drive Nissan Pulsar EXA respectively. -28 pit/start. My parents used to take us kids to Oran Park and Amaroo every year from about 1980 until it closed Ahh, the memories. The first public car race took place the following month a series of other events on two and four wheels were run through the remainder of 1967 and into early 1968. Initially just one mile in length with only four corners, the deceptively simple Calder Park layout was a true bullring. The circuit lives on in the virtual world, hosting a round of the 2019 Supercars Eseries, having been laser-scanned and digitally replicated by simulation platform iRacing prior to its closure. On many occasions these events featured larger grid numbers than did the rounds of the national level Australian Touring Car Championship. Today, little remains of the circuit, though the large Amaroo Park signs remain at the former circuit entrance, though most people today would imagine that it describes the small business park beyond, rather than a racing circuit. The following table lists the winners of the annual AMSCAR Series. The dog-leg (or the flip-flop, depending on your generation) was a driver favourite, as was the kink at the end of pit straight, and the rolling left-hander at Suttons since replicated in the reverse direction at The Bend Motorsport Park while the bridge overpass was unique in Australian motorsport. Into the 1990s, the New South Wales government began its quest for a world-level motorsport event and was prepared to fund the construction of a new circuit in Sydney. Having lived over the valley from Annangrove Rd all my life, you certainly knew when a meet was on miss hearing the v8 sounds roar up the gulley!! The first event open to the general public was held on 9 April. Contribute to chinapedia/wikipedia.en development by creating an account on GitHub. Originally posted by Andrew Fellowes Did many internationals race there? [2], The first motorcycle meeting was held on 26 February with a 30 lap production race won by Larry Simons on a BSA Mk.ll Spitfire in heavy rain. Amaroo Park Raceway was a 1.930km (1.199mi) motor racing circuit located in Annangrove, New South Wales, in the present-day north-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Glaser owned around 250 acres of land in what was then just fairly rugged countryside, Sydney's suburbs then still remaining some distance away. Amaroo, what an awesome place to go to a race meeting. The ARDC lost money promoting the Super Touring Bathurst 1000 from 1997 to 1999 and this circuit was sold to recover some of the loss. Yes, I read the Ten-Tenths thread with some serious contributions from Ray Bell. The meeting was billed as the "Goodbye Amaroo State open Meeting" with a mix of classes including Sports Sedans, HQ's and Group N Historic Touring Cars. With no funds to improve, it was the perfect storm and the circuit fell quiet in early 1968, with the only activity on site being a reduced schedule of events on the Short Circuit. The owner sold it to property developers for over $500 million. Supercars teams still hold the odd ride day at the circuit, including Rick Kelly turning over his Castrol Nissan to Daniel Ricciardo for a few laps ahead of this year's Australian Grand Prix. Along with its abrasive surface, 3-2-3 grid format, and drainage ditches in close proximity to the tarmac it had been built on a Nerang River flood plain, after all the circuit's signature was its first corner. Spent a lot of time in the "Loop" and at Honda. You have got to be kidding. Declining grids into the 1990s and a reluctance of the big teams to race outside of the ATCC would eventually force the end of AMSCAR, but it had certainly helped to cement Amaroo Park's position nationally. As the outright cars were proving more popular with spectators, it was seen as an attempt at attracting the headline ATCC teams (such as the Holden Dealer Team, Dick Johnson Racing, Allan Moffat Racing and Roadways Racing) to the AMSCAR Series. GitHub export from English Wikipedia. funny you say that: that's where we did a lot of the braking drills. amaroo park races from the 1960 presupposition vs presumption. Order a Photographic Print or a Download. Ready for inspection in February 1962, it would take another six months for the necessary licence to be granted. However, the championship's move to V8 Fords and Holdens meant it soon outgrew the small circuit. Notice the two roads going off at the top right corner of the pic? Yes I was wondering but not being very good on Aussie cars I wasn't sure, in which case its 1982 and driven by Terry Cornelius, thanks Ray. There were only basic facilities however; no power or shelter in the paddock, few toilets and no seating of any kind for spectators, just rocky outcrops. Last championship visit: 1994 Championship rounds held: 15 Championship races held: 20 Most race wins: Jim Richards, John Bowe, Mark Skaife (three apiece) Set in a natural amphitheatre, Amaroo Park was a dream for spectators as much as it was a nightmare for a tyre on a V8 touring car. At the opening motorcycle meeting of 1984, 27-year-old rider Jayne Litterick was killed at the final turn when she was high-sided from her machine and struck by two following riders. -AI, cam. Amaroo Park Pty was formed to build the complex and first up was a bike scrambles course, which was fashioned out of a rocky area on the fringe of the valley floor. I'm also sufficiently old to remember Silverstone with horizontal rain, north-easterly winds and the mercury hovering just above the 32 mark.And the prospect of hitch-hiking home. Thereafter the gates were locked and the venue fell silent. The final race in 1987 was known as the Hardie Irrigation 100 due to the distance being shortened to 100 laps rather than the usual 155. And the most sickening experience I ever saw at Amaroo was the Historic Meeting of Aug 1982 which saw the ex Gulf Team GT40 spin out going up the main straight hill, get out of shape on the last bend and destroying itself comprehensively starting against the earthen bank on the left and on and on shedding bits as if in slow motion. The first car meeting did not take place until March 12, 1967 and was a relatively low-key closed affair for Country Club members, with around 1,000 spectators watching club races featuring entrants from the Australian Racing Drivers Club, Australian Automobile Racing Club and the New South Wales Road Racing Club. This was the 84 Historic meet. In the circuit's place came a new access road leading to a small number of expensive executive homes, similar to others that had sprung up across the Annangrove suburb. So is everyone on this board now ready to appreciate/accept their station in life!!!!! Super2 raced at the track in its early seasons including a memorable battle between David Besnard and Wayne Wakefield in 2000 while more recently DJR Team Penske and Tickford Racing held ride days at the venue in 2014. (near the lake) That was part of the never finished "Grand Prix" circuit. One of the features of Amaroo Park's history has been the AMSCAR Series for touring cars, created by Amaroo's promoters, the Australian Racing Drivers Club and staged annually from 1982 to 1993. The AMSCAR Series had its origins in Amaroo's own Sun-7 Chesterfield Series for touring cars, first held in 1971 and was won by Sydney's Lakis Manticas driving a Morris Cooper S. This would continue, under various names relating to series sponsorship, through to 1981, with a 3-litre maximum engine capacity limit being applied from 1975 to 1980. More events followed, however poor spectator attendances blamed in part on poor facilities lead to the temporary closure of the circuit in mid 1968. The headline event, a 40 lap race for production bikes, was nearly washed out, when the fine sunshine of qualifying turned to unrelenting rain on race day. Most race wins: Dick Johnson, Tony Longhurst, Allan Moffat (four apiece). Probably the most expensive destruction to ever occur at that track. Popular with spectators and easy for Sydney's Channel 7 to telecast, it became the backbone of the Sydney touring car scene, a scene which once consisted mostly of privateers, who have largely disappeared since Amaroo closed. . During Seven's telecasts of the AMSCAR series at Amaroo, many minor race series for other CAMS categories were also telecast, including: Sports Sedans, Formula Fords, Formula Vee, Sports Cars, Appendix J Touring Cars, and Series Production cars, with many of the categories running their own series at Amaroo outside of the national championship series. Always tight racing, views over a great part of the circuit, very close to the cars at, what 65% of the track, terrific atmosphere.So glad I arrived in Oz in time to see racing at Amaroo and Warwick Farm. Order a Photographic Print or a Download. I always wondered what the place looked like, thanks for the links. Hmmm. Banks Skoda Special - Amaroo Park 31th May 1970 - 70-AM31570-064, A. A compromise of a dog-leg chicane was installed on the inside of the corner, regaining the track it's licence, but it was deemed unsuitable for use by the Willoughby Club, who switched the Castrol 1000 to Oran Park. No doubt hindered by the poor amenities, crowd figures had proved lower than expected, especially for the car races. Didn't Jacques Lafitte test a Ralt RT4 prior ro the AGP at Calder Park. rajasthan muslim population. The track hosted its first ATCC race in 1964, back when the championship was decided over a single race, and maintained a regular presence on the calendar through to the turn of the millennium. Travel eight kilometres inland from the beachside racetrack and you will come across an urban development known called Emerald Lakes. The last race meeting thus take place on August 23, 1998, with a meeting billed as the 'Goodbye to Amaroo State Open Meeting'. Demanding and dangerous, Lakeside held the mantle as Queensland's premier circuit for several decades. Most race wins: Jim Richards, John Bowe, Mark Skaife (three apiece). Further disaster came in 1986, this time during a Formula Mondiale race at the August meeting. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Official Program Midget Auto Races Angell Park,Sun Prairie,Wis 1940's at the best online prices at eBay! Originally posted by smithy Oran Park is about to go the same way. Amaroo Park held its own touring car series from 1971 to 1993, initially as the Sun-7 Chesterfield Series and then under various names, including the "AMSCAR Series" from 1982. Opened in 1967, the road circuit served as a venue for a variety of competitions including the Castrol 6 Hour motorcycle race, rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship, Australian Drivers' Championship, Australian Formula Ford Championship, Australian Sports Sedan Championship, the AMSCAR Series for touring cars, historic racing and others. Well, I did lie a bit to be honest (after looking back at some old Street Directories) MALLORY PARK, NR HINCKLEY, LEICESTERSHIREMallory Park, VSCC racing at its best. I was surprised to find that no thread has ever been dedicated to Amaroo Park raceway in NSW. On many occasions these events featured larger grid numbers than did the rounds of the national level Australian Touring Car Championship. . Fears that the growing number of Sydney-based privateers moving into outright class cars would result in a sharp decline in grid numbers prompted the ARDC to remove the 3.5-litre capacity limit for the 1982 series, which was promoted as the Better Brakes AMSCAR Series. It proved short-lived too, with just one further open meeting in October, two more in 1963 and the final nail in the coffin coming in February 1964 when only 27 entrants turned up for what turned out to be its finale event. As part of the construction of the Thunderdome, Calder Park's road circuit was increased to 2.28km with an extension to the pit straight, a new first corner hairpin, and a pair of chicanes linked by a rise over a new hill dubbed 'Mount Jane' by the drivers. Championship rounds held: 38 He was about the tenth last car knocked out the fuel pump fell out of its bracket and shorted out!One day, in what John Medley would refer to as an 'alcoholocaust' we - the demo derby guy, his mates, Wally Gates and myself, stripped out the bits and the engine went away to become the basis for what Sabrina wore for her return.For the benefit of the Yanks reading, Sabrina was a lithe sports car on a fabricated twin-tube chassis she had the engine as described, together with a huge crank-driven air-pump up front with twin SUs (those 'jugs') something of an 'Old Yella' look and attraction about her she was yellow, and she went like stink. It was only from the beginning of the "Group A" category in Australia in 1985 that the headline teams started appearing in the series on a more regular basis, with part of the reason being that as Group A was new to Australia in 1985, the AMSCAR Series gave teams valuable testing under race conditions (also because from 1985 Amaroo would hold an annual round of the ATCC). Popular with spectators and easy for Sydney's Channel 7 to telecast, it became the backbone of the Sydney touring car scene, a scene which once consisted mostly of privateers who have largely disappeared since Amaroo closed, with the major touring car teams now operating from Melbourne and south-east Queensland. . Amaroo was sitting on the rocks on the hill, choking on dust, avoiding the big ants that bit you, that giant hill to walk up at the end of the day to get in the car before the last race ended to escape the traffic nightmare. The name Amaroo comes from the Aboriginal word meaning beautiful place. Opened in 1967. Originally posted by Catalina Park Here is the plan of Amaroo taken from Sports Car World, July 1959. That 85 event was the last race on the original layout. The ARDC lost money promoting the Super Touring Bathurst 1000 from 1997 to 1999 and this circuit was sold to recover some of the loss. The second circuit, an oiled dirt Short Circuit, opened in December 1963, which proved much more of a success with both bikes and cars. Glaser had a vision of converting this rocky outcrop into a world class sports complex, complete with a Grand Prix circuit, Olympic diving pools, tennis courts, bowling greens, a motels, restaurants and conferencing facilities. Frank Gardner's JPS Team BMW and its drivers Jim Richards and Tony Longhurst dominated from 1985 to 1987 (Richards in the 635 CSi was unbeaten at Amaroo in 1985 winning all 12 AMSCAR races, the ATCC round and the Endurance Championship race), while Gibson Motorsport, first with Nissan and later with Holden, also contested the series in the later years of Group A and into the new 5.0L V8 formula introduced in 1993, with Jim Richards winning in the team's Nissan Skyline GT-R in 1992 while Mark Skaife won for Gibson driving a Holden VP Commodore in 1993. It certainly does bring back many a memory. Two tragedies in the mid-1980s highlighted the increasing safety worries at the circuit, which had little space to implement run-off areas or alternatives to unyielding barriers. Round 4 of the 1983 Amscar Series held at the now defucnt Amaroo Park Racewayhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaroo_Park#AMSCAR_SeriesRound 1 can be found here. The rest of the land was left to grass, but all traces of the circuit itself are now long gone. Wonderful, distant memories. [1], The circuit reopened on 31 May 1970 with much improved spectator facilities and racing now run by the ARDC,[1] with the first of the motorcycle endurance races which came to be known as the Castrol Six Hour run by the Willoughby District Motorcycle Club later that year.[2]. Enjoy this four way tussle with Steve Masterton's amazing Ford XE Falcon, Garry Scott, Nissan Bluebird Turbo, Jim Richards, BMW 635 and Terry Finnigan, Holden Commodore, the last year of Group C touring cars. Hmm. Former motor racing circuit in Annangrove, New South Wales, Australia. [3] The restaurant and club house that was built by the Amaroo Country Sporting Club still remains, though these days is a roadside Indian restaurant. At its closing the outright lap record for the 1.94km circuit was 0:44.36, set by John Bowe in 1987 driving a 5.8L Chevrolet powered Veskanda C1 sports car. Amaroo Park first held a round of the Australian Touring Car Championship when it hosted Round 4 of the 1974 Australian Touring Car Championship. Drag Racing 1970; Drag Racing 1980's; . The last Australian Touring Car Championship round to take place at the circuit was in 1994. Fred Gibson's win in Round 3 of the 1983 series was the first win in Australian touring car racing for a turbo powered car, and Nissan's first turbo charged touring car win anywhere in the world. Most race wins: Peter Brock (six). The circuit will forever be linked with Craig Lowndes' terrifying rollover during the 1999 event, while its final championship round in 2001 delivered an underdog victory for Paul Morris. It reflected the rather straightened finances of the Country Club, whose debenture issue had failed to raise anything like the funds anticipated. Drag Racing 1970; Drag Racing 1980's; . A smooth and delightful fibreglass body! I have vague memories of running there and a photo to prove it on the autopics site but it doesn't show much of the track. Amaroo Park Raceway was a 1.9 kilometres (1.2 mi) motor racing circuit located in Annangrove, New South Wales, in the present-day north-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia.Opened in 1967, the road circuit served as a venue for a variety of competitions including the Castrol 6 Hour motorcycle race, rounds of the Castrol 6 Hour motorcycle race, rounds Elsewhere, a hillclimb course opened on the far northern corner of the site, as did a kart circuit. Eventually, after two years of being effectively mothballed, Glaser did a deal with the Australian Racing Drivers Club to take over the running at Amaroo. Instead plans now focused on creating a much smaller course, carved out of the valley and next to the Cattai Creek. A total of 34 venues have held rounds of the Australian Touring Car Championship/Virgin Australia Supercars Championship since its inaugural running in 1960. Out of 13 starts, Brock claimed six race victories and finished on the podium in all but his final start. [QUOTE=racer69]From that shot it is still amazingly easy to see the line of the circuit, and it seems the run up *****upave (spelling?) RacingCircuits.info. I couldnt take my eyes of her two beautiful big jugs . A mix of classes from sports sedans to historic touring cars enjoyed a final hurrah.

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