Tracks in Time
McNamara Park SA
McNamara Park SA On Monday 20th July, 1936, the Mount Gambier Motor Cycle and Light Car Club came into existence. Its aims were to foster motorcycling generally, and to promote reliability trials, tours and interaction between neighbouring clubs, such as the Warrnambool MCC. Of course the impending war severely curtailed such social activities, but by 1946 the impetus was restored. The club, although technically defunct, still had a few quid in the bank, but the war had decimated the male population and many keen motorcyclists had been lost.
One of the keener chaps was
Ron “Rusty” Hellyer, who had suffered the enormous disappointment of having his beloved MSS snaffled by the military around 1942. Soon after, he joined the RAAF as an Aircraftsman, and was posted overseas, until his discharge in 1945. Ron enlisted the assistance of Laurie Fox and together with Kingsley Osborne, the secretary of the original pre-war club, took over the assets and got together with a few local light car enthusiasts and resurrected the club in name and spirit. By Christmas 1946 it was up and running, with social runs and sports days which featured gymkhana events.
The club was formally revived on
9th January, 1946, with Osborne as president, Hellyer the club captain, and Laurie Fox as secretary. To signify the transition, the club colours were changed from Royal Blue and Gold to Maroon and Gold. Before long the club had its own scrambles track at Bucks Hill, owned by a Mr Ploenges, and the first meeting was held there on May 31st, 1947, by which time club secretary Laurie Fox had opened his first motorcycle shop in Mount Gambier. The meeting attracted 42 entries, the majority from outside the local area, including quite a few Victorians. One of the visitors, Ken Kavanagh, who eight years later would become the first Australian to win an Isle of Man TT, took out the main race on his 500 Velocette, while the winner of the very first race run, the Up to 350cc Open Handicap, was Charlie May from the nearby Victorian town of Casterton.
By this time there was a growing push within the club to secure a road racing circuit, along the lines of the highly successful public roads/parklands track at Ballarat which attracted massive crowds each year. However despite several applications and strident letters to the council imploring their backing of a sporting event that “would bring significant benefits to the town”, the request was refused. When South
Australia banned racing on pubic roads in November 1951, the issue was sealed beyond doubt.
By the end of 1947 the club had grown from five members to more than 100. Then in February 1948, the population swelled by one when New Zealander John Wilkinson, who had visited Mount Gambier several times as a Driver/Chauffer in his employment with the Royal Institute for the Blind, accepted Laurie Fox’s offer of lodgings and relocated. He soon became known as a bit of a daredevil, performing stunts such as jumping through walls of fire at local shows. With no prospect of gaining permission to stage races on the public roads of Mount Gambier, the club began to entertain the idea of paving the scrambles track at Bucks Hill, and even went as far as purchasing three drums of Colas (bitumen derivative) to begin the process. Ploenges’ death put an immediate stop to that idea, but gave birth to another.
Frank McNamara, who had moved to Mount Gambier from Victoria in 1930 and established a successful earthmoving business, was a keen club member, and with his brother-in-law Colin McCarthy, owned a 40 acre parcel in land in the limestone quarry area south west of Mount Gambier. He further suggested that this land could be made available to the club on a long-term lease, and an inspection duly took
progress was made over the next few years, and in 1955 the land was officially leased to the Mount Gambier Motor Cycle and Light Car Club for a ten-year period. Fencing of the block began a year later, and within a further 12 months the crushed stone sub surface was in place for a lap measuring three-quarters of a mile. Colin Thompson, who has written two books on the history of the club recalls an amusing incident. “Frank McNamara had an ex-army Stuart tank, which was used to tow an old grader during the building of the track. Because it (the tank) had a radial engine from an aircraft, the motor had to be cranked over by hand 27 times to pump the oil. After an initial couple of ‘chuffs’ and unsuccessful firings, on the third attempt, the motor fired up properly, roaring away and Harry Vause said the air was filled with dust and mice went everywhere.”
The very first race meeting actually took place on 13th July, 1958. It was for club members only and the surface was still unsealed, but the crushed rubble base had been rolled extensively. No further track action took place until 1962, but in the meantime 4,000 pine trees were planted, the site completely fenced, and conveniences built. In November 1961, the club’s financial situation had improved to the point that sealing of the track with hot sprayed primer was now possible, at a cost of seven hundred and fifty pounds ($1500). A further £480 was required for bitumen.
In March 1962 a permit was granted by the Auto Cycle Union of South Australia to allow an open race meeting to take place on Easter Saturday, April 21st, 1962. Although riders praised the layout, there were problems. On the advice of council engineers, 5/8-inch gravel had been used, which ripped tyres to shreds, so further activity was suspended until the track could be resealed with finer mix. Solo stars were Alex Campbell with two First Division wins and Laurie Powell the Invitation winner with a new record lap. Both 125 and 250 Lightweight races were won by Rudi Voderwinkler on Hondas. The Sidecar race, although poorly supported, saw a great dice between Harry Rowe’s Manx Norton and local scrambles star Bob Northcott on his Norton ES2, still in dirt trim, who won.
With the new surface laid late in 1962, a second meeting was schedule for 28th January, 1963, and a third at Easter. This one was very successful, with over double the entries of the January meeting. In May 1963 the Western Centre Road Racing Championship were held, and this became an annual feature for the next nine years.
A milestone was reached in November 1971 with the discharge of the mortgage from McNamara and McCarthy – the club now owned their own circuit. Less than 12 months later, the track was extended to 1.2 miles (1.93km) with additional spectator barriers and facilities, and the first meeting on the new layout took place on 1st April. Adjacent to the club’s land sat another block, owned by Hydra Lime, and this was purchased in 1974. It meant that a third track extension – to 2.4 km – was now possible, and this happened in early 1976. Also in 1974, the first of the now-traditional June meetings took place, with Denny McCormack doing the majority of the winning in the main events, Paul Cawthorne cleaning up in the C Grade races, and Jeremy Burgess taking out the Unlimited Production Race on his 900 Kawasaki.
For 1976, what was now universally referred to as ’Mac Park’ was awarded the South Australian round of the Australian Road Racing titles, the second round after Symmons Plains, Tasmania. The newly completed circuit was completely resealed just in time for the meeting, however the surface was covered in loose stones and many of the top names boycotted Friday’s practice. Feverish activity ensued and after the track was swept clean, Saturday practice took place ready for Sunday’s racing.
Geoff Sim followed up his win in Tasma-
nia by taking out the 125 class. The next race was the Junior Sidecar Championship, and locals Alex Campbell/Jim Pearson took three laps to overhaul Orrie Salter/ Trevor Luck before clearing out to win. Ray Quincey led the next race, the 500cc, from start to finish with South Australian Carl Hammersley impressing with second place. Campbell took an easy win in the Senior Sidecar, heading home Geoff Taylor/Barry Frazer. Then, to the surprise of all, the track was hosed down before the next race, the 250cc; officials saying that the track needed cooling because the earlier races had softened the new surface. Dave Burgess led the race until a dry line appeared, when Quincey shot past to notch up his second win for the day, ahead of Jeff Miller and Gary Coleman. With Gregg Hansford and Jeff Sayle both away at Daytona, the opposition ran wild in the Unlimited title race, with Bob Rosenthal making the running and holding out the determined Quincey. Then on the final corner of the new section with just one lap to run, Rosenthal threw his TZ700 Yamaha away after striking a puddle and Quincey swept through on his 350 Yamaha to win from Murray Sayle’s Kawasaki. The final race of the day was the 350cc, and after breezing past early leader Bob Jolly, Quincey and Hammersley were through and dicing hard until Carl lost it. In notching up his fourth victory for the meeting, Ray also set the fastest race time.
It had been a momentous occasion for the club; the culmination of 24 years work but there were problems. The track surface still wasn’t satisfactory, and the national title round went to Adelaide International Raceway for 1977 and stayed there. Over the next decade Mac Park hosted a large variety of events, including the Master of Mac Park series, rounds of the Castrol Superstreet, Sidecar Spectaculars and the South Australian Championships.
Twenty years after the circuit’s first ‘official’ race meeting, a foundation stone was laid in 1982 for new clubrooms named after the late Alex Campbell, a pioneer of the circuit who lost his life at Adelaide Raceway in 1980. Camping grounds were established on a section of the property, while another part was leased to the Junior Motor Cycle Club for motocross. However the 1980s was also a troubled period when the track was forced to close for 12 months while the continuing problem of the track surface deterioration was sorted out. It was finally resolved using a cold overlay surface rather than the normal hot mix and this was found to be better in both wet and dry conditions.
When the Australian Historic Road Racing Championship was allocated to South Australia in 2006, Mac Park got the nod and turned on one of the best events for years. The biggest crowd seen at the picturesque 2.4 kilometre circuit since the South Australian round of the 1976 Australian Road Racing Championship was treated to a packed 60-race program featuring 230 competitors which went off without a hitch. Even the refreshment stand ran out of beer on Sunday and a vehicle had to be rapidly dispatched into town for more supplies before the trophy presentation could get under way! The bush setting provided a truly unique country atmosphere, with static displays and on-track demonstration to keep the spectators engrossed. A large marquee in the centre of the circuit housed an excellent display of interesting vehicles, including Rod Tingate’s Konig and the unique four-cylinder Yamaha engine built by the late Alex Campbell.
Rob Phillis relived his glory days of the ‘eighties by taking out the P5 Unlimited, although chased hard all the way by young David Johnson.
At the other end of the scale, veteran sidecar star Lindsay Urquhart battled mightily with Bryce Davies in the P3 Sidecars, and the spectacular Robbie Hermans took out the P3 Unlimited on the Trease Harley.
Now for 2020, Mac Park will again host the Australian Historic Road Racing Championships on November 13-15, and after almost a year of enforced inactivity due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, riders and spectators alike will be champing at the bit.
Mac Park is unique in this country in that it is owned and run by a club, rather than an organisation, government or corporation. The track itself and all of the facilities have been created largely by volunteers. If only every state had a place like this, the future of our sport would be much rosier.