| Location | Old Punt Road,Tomago, New South Wales,Australia |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 32°49′19″S151°42′24″E / 32.82194°S 151.70667°E /-32.82194; 151.70667 |
| Capacity | 15,000 |
| Operator | Peter Gurbiel (1977–1983. 1984–1998) Barry Lewis (1983–1984) David Lander (1998–2002) |
| Broke ground | 1977 |
| Opened | 1977 |
| Closed | 14 July 2002 |
| Former names | Jerilderie Park Speedway Newcastle International Motordrome Winfield Newcastle Motordrome Wynn's Newcastle Motordrome |
| Major events | Australian Sprintcar Championship Australian Speedcar Championship Australian Speedcar Grand Prix Australian Solo Championship Australian Sidecar championship World Series Sprintcars Australian Super Sedan Championship Australian Formula 500 Championship |
| Oval | |
| Surface | dolomite and clay mix Asphalt (early-mid-1980s only) |
| Length | 0.248 miles (0.400 km) |
Newcastle Motordrome was adirt track racing venue located on the Old Punt Road inTomago, New South Wales, just north of theHunter River and 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north of the city ofNewcastle. The ¼-mile speedway operated from its opening in 1977 until it was sold in 2002. The site of the Motordrome is now warehouses and light industrial factories.
Even though some believeMotorcycle Speedway was started in theHunter Region of NSW inMaitland in 1923, motorcycle racing of the same nature was occurring on showgrounds and cinder circuits in Australia and overseas well before 1923. For instance in the Newcastle area, racing was held at the still operating Newcastle Showground as early as 1919, though it wasn't until 1973 with the opening of Jerilderie Park Speedway, later to become the Newcastle Motordrome, that Newcastle had a dedicated speedway track that wasn't a showground although there was a short-lived 1/2 mile showground Speedway track at Hamilton in Newcastle as early as 1926[1] andMidget cars often made the trip from Sydney to Newcastle to race at a Speedway track on Union St.[2]
The Motordrome was originally opened as Jerilderie Park Speedway and run and promoted by Peter Gurbiel, who also ran theTralee Speedway inAustralia's capital cityCanberra, and quickly became the centre of speedway racing in country NSW with the track hosting many Australian Championships including theAustralian Sprintcar Championship (1983),Australian Solo Championship (1989),Australian Speedcar Championship (1995/96),Australian Sidecar championship (1991),Australian Super Sedan Championship (1980/81, 1989/90 and 1995/96) as well as hosting theAustralian Speedcar Grand Prix in 1999, various NSW State championships and rounds of theWorld Series Sprintcars.
Events at the Motordrome, especially for theSprintcars, Solo Test matches withAustralia facing visiting teams such asEngland and various "Rest of the World" teams, and big Sedan tests against visitingAmerican teams often brought in capacity crowds of 15,000 people proving the popularity of the sport in the region.
Categories to regularly run at the Motordrome during its 25-year existence wereSprintcars,Speedcars, Super Sedans,Solos,Sidecars, Grand National Sedans, Compact Speedcars and Litre Sprints
The speedway originally had a dolomite and clay mix surface, but was paved during the early to mid-1980s before theasphalt was dug up and the original surface was restored. During the time the track was asphalt a smaller motorcycle track was placed on the infield, the track running just inside asphalt track, but when the asphalt was dug up the bikes once again raced on the 400 metres (440 yards) D-shaped main track.
The Motordrome was also the site of the first ever visit by an official sporting team from theUSSR to the Hunter Region of NSW when on 8 December 1990 the Russians took on a strong NSW team in what was known as theTooheys International Solo Challenge. Led by captainRinat Mardanshin,Oleg Kurguskin, the late Rif Saitgareev, and runner up in the1990 Under-21 World ChampionshipRene Aas, it was the Soviet's first defeat on their 1990/91 Australian tour as they came up against a NSW lineup including Newcastle's own1990 World #3Todd Wiltshire, as well as that season's Australian Solo ChampionCraig Boyce and 1989 Australia #2Stephen Davies. Despite being undefeated on their Australian tour to that point after meetings in NorthQueensland and theNorthern Territory, the Russians were expected to lose heavily to the almost test strength NSW but were in the challenge right up until the final heat of the night when Wiltshire and Boyce shut out Kurguskin and Saitgareev 5–1 to give NSW a hard-fought 49–41 win in trying (damp) conditions.
Other famous competitors to race at the Motordrome during its life includedWorld of Outlaws legendSteve Kinser of theUSA, his brother Randy and cousinMark,Indianapolis 500 winnerJohnny Rutherford, as well as Australian speedway legends Bernie WhalanGarry Rush,George Tatnell and his son,Brooke Tatnell,Max Dumesny,Steve Brazier and his sonGarry Brazier, brothers Ron and John Pyne from nearbyKurri Kurri,Grenville Anderson,Billy Sanders,Phil Crump andLeigh Adams.
The Newcastle Motordrome, originally known as the Jerilderie Park Speedway, was also known during its lifetime as the Newcastle International Motordrome. Due to sponsorship the venue was also known as theWinfield Newcastle Motordrome and finally the Wynn's Newcastle Motordrome.
In a sport where death or severe injury is often an accepted risk (especially to the motorcycle racers), the Newcastle Motordrome bucked the trend and never saw a fatal accident, though in 1975, when the speedway was still Jerilderie Park, it was where the career of the1954 and1959Speedway World ChampionRonnie Moore ofNew Zealand ended when he crashed and was in acoma for several weeks after.
The speedway held its last meeting on Sunday 14 July 2002 after promoter David Lander sold the freehold for the site for a reportedA$2.5 million to the ATB Morton development group ending 25 years of successful speedway at the venue.
Some of the famous competitors who raced at the Newcastle Motordrome include:
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) (Solo)) (Super Sedan/Grand National)†) (Sprintcar)) (Solo)) (Solo)) (Super Modified/Sprintcar)
) (Solo)
) (Solo)) (Solo)
) (Super Sedan/Grand National)) (Solo)) (Solo)) (Solo)) (Formula 500/Sprintcar)) (Solo)
) (Solo)) (Solo)) (Speedcar)) (Sprintcar)) (Solo)) (Solo)) (Solo)) (Sidecar)) (Solo)
) (Solo)) (Solo)) (Solo)) (Solo)
) (Solo)) (Solo)) (Super Sedan/Grand National)) (Super Sedan/Grand National)) (Solo)) (Super Modified/Speedcar/Sprintcar)) (Speedcar)) (Solo)†) (Solo)†) (Solo)) (Solo)) (Solo)) (Speedcar)) (Super Modified/Speedcar)†) (Sidecar)) (Speedcar)) (Sprintcar)) (Solo)) (Super Sedan/Grand National)) (Solo)† – Deceased