Tracks in Time

Owen Park, Wallan

Scrambles had long been the Cinderella side of the sport, but by the time the ‘seventies dawned, that had well and truly changed. For one thing, Scrambles had become universally known as Motocross, at least to everyone except the august powers of the state and national ruling bodies in Australia.

And while most states got by with a handful of circuits, Victoria was virtually awash with scrambles tracks. As the ‘seventies dawned, the state boasted tracks at Packenham, Christmas Hills, Campbells Creek, Beaconsfield, Nery, Sunbury, Ravenswood, Cranbourne, Pearcedale, Barrabool, Arthurs Creek, Bacchus Marsh and Morwell – all regularly promoting open meetings with healthy fields. So did Victoria need yet another scrambles/motocross circuit? Ray Owen thought so, and Ray’s opinion counted.

ABOVE A packed sidecar field in 1975 heads over the first jump. RIGHT At the 1976 Mr MX round, the huge crowd sees the start of one of the four legs.