A sad sad day..

Crash Test · 17 Aug 2001, 03:53 (Ref:131512)

It appears that Lakeside International Raceway has closed its gates, and is in the hands of recievers... what the future holds, nobody seems to know. I'll bring you all updates as they come.

DNQ · 17 Aug 2001, 04:14 (Ref:131518)

That is terrible news..

DNQ · 17 Aug 2001, 07:00 (Ref:131530)

Crash Test, you like Lakeside don't you? ... Well, if we both sell our houses, then maybe we can put in a bid

I just can't believe this is happening. My initial reply to this topic was one of shock - I just can't take it in. Lakeside is my favourite track, and only minutes from my house. First Amaroo, now Lakeside - where next. I attribute this to V8 Supercars. If you can't get a V8 race, then you're gone. This is absolutaly horrendous news.

Ray Bell · 17 Aug 2001, 07:07 (Ref:131533)

Attribute it to other things, some of them precipitated by QR, but others that are the doing of the management...

I'd say small minded management is the real cause. And now, just after the Council has finally completed road works to make it easier to get in there...

More later...

DNQ · 17 Aug 2001, 07:14 (Ref:131537)

Well, the question is, will Lakeside survive? Surely someone will step in an save it. I just hope it doesn't suffer the same fate as Amaroo...

Ray Bell · 17 Aug 2001, 07:22 (Ref:131542)

It is a huge capital investment there... and has a lot of goodwill... it must be a reasonably attractive proposition to somebody. And no additional houses are allowed to be built there because it's drinking water catchment area.

DNQ · 17 Aug 2001, 08:08 (Ref:131553)

I hope like hell that track survives - QLD Raceway is pathetic track in the middle of nowhere, miles from Brisbane.

Buckshot · 17 Aug 2001, 09:21 (Ref:131581)

Yeah this is shame...whilst I've never been to the track myself I have seen some absolutely incredible races from this track.

Qld Raceway is so boring...such a shame...

Ray Bell · 17 Aug 2001, 09:45 (Ref:131592)

It was the second interstate circuit I ever saw... was where I had the best of times during International Series times... Tasman races etc, where I met and spent time with so many drivers.

And there was Sid. He owned and built the joint, he had his VIP room on the top side of the circuit and hosted his own little parties there during the race meetings.

Old Sid was great. He knew how to keep the interest up, but he hired others to run the place. I really don't think they were the right people... one of the things I looked forward to most when I went to Qld to live was seeing Sid in the VIP room.

But he wasn't there. He rarely made it to meetings in his last seven years or so. He had Shingles and that kept him at home. He did get there on very odd occasions, but his wife and daughter and the widow of Glynn Scott, Coral, really kept up the VIP's hospitality record... but they didn't replace Sid.

One day I rang him to talk about something. After finding out what I needed to know, we talked about what he wanted to talk about... his illness, including now Leukemia, and that he'd wanted to go and visit Dr. Nitschke in Darwin before the Government put a stop to his euthanasia project. Sid was in a bad way.

A little while later, one week or two, his wife rang to tell me he'd finally got that relief.

His testimony is Lakeside. A monument to his vision, his courage and his enthusiasm.

That cannot be allowed to die.

Crash Test · 17 Aug 2001, 11:11 (Ref:131622)

I'm sure that the place wont die, like Ray says, it's in a catchment area, and plus the soil is fairly dodgy. It's in a specially zoned area, but I guess that can always be changed. When the track was put on the market a few years ago, apparently there was a strong response, but that was more a move to keep the bank happy.

Heck, when QR came on the market, there were people lining up for a piece of it, and it was bought for $3.5mil....and I think they would be accepting less than that for Lakeside.

My major concern at the moment is that they let the place trade, especially with a few of the big upcoming meetings...

But there have been some funny things happening over there for a while now. This government grant saga, the gold card program (which had about 150 members, who were supposedly guaranteed with their investment....time will tell if they get their money back) doubling all track entry/hire fees, and changing from Helicopter Services to Currumbin Area Rentals....it's hard to know at this stage what really went on.

Ray Bell · 17 Aug 2001, 11:44 (Ref:131633)

Actually, I know one of the parties who was interested a couple of years ago... he's just become disenchanted with another project so he might be on the make again.

Problem is that any incoming group would face a lot of upgrading costs. Then again, there is the driving school people who are firmly entrenched (aren't they?) and no doubt a lot of bookings in advance for the place. Guaranteed income.

The zoning wouldn't be able to be changed without a lot of trouble, and another thing on Lakeside's side is the fact that it's one of the few tourist things in the Pine Rivers Shire....

Crash Test · 17 Aug 2001, 12:23 (Ref:131642)

Upgrading costs. Well they have already done the line marking, and they did considerable tidying before the Konica meeting. They wanted to fix up the outside of the Karussel and the Eastern Loop, and the Bus Stop...really, the track could live without them.

To be honest, i don't complain about the facilities...heck, if you are the type of person who goes to the track to go and sit on the toilet, you have a different outlook to me. (I know the new facilities at a newer track can at times be quite unbearable...) Maybe some more garages opposite the existing ones, and some more up next to the Tyretech shed. Maybe more paving and leveling in the pits, maybe also patching the holes in the bridge... what does everyone suggest the track needs?

One thing about the place is that a certain amount of the land is owned by the Pine Rivers Shire Council. IIRC that was a bit of a drama the last time it came up for sale...and then again, there are the members of that council who continually bombard the local residents with petitions...shame most of them are racing car folk, and a shame that the sound buffers now in place means that very little sound gets past the railway line...

Ray Bell · 18 Aug 2001, 13:49 (Ref:132109)

When it comes to facilities, I have no real issues either... there are much worse even though there are better... but a good idea would be to knock the top off that building in the centre and improve overall circuit visibility.

I've known the place longer than you, Crash, and most of the 'improvements' have been retrograde. So I'm not keen to see many more.

Crash Test · 19 Aug 2001, 12:19 (Ref:132408)

Another visibility problem that pops up at most meetings is the massive tents errected on the inside of the track at the kink...without them up, you can see all of the track from the hill.

Ray Bell · 19 Aug 2001, 12:30 (Ref:132410)

One thing that upsets me is how little you can see from the pits these days... used to be able to see almost everything from many points in there... but you wouldn't remember that.

Any more news yet?

Crash Test · 19 Aug 2001, 12:42 (Ref:132415)

Actually it isn't too bad. For the Konicas I was doing the pit reporting, as well my magazine scibbling, and I found standing at the pit exit, near the PA, you could see most of the track. Sure the Tower blocks a bit, but you couldn't see that part of the track if it were there or not. Then the cafe blocks a bit before the bridge, but as a whole, it isn't too bad.

Latest- Apparently the bank took it, and the recievers aren't keen at all to let any raicng. Also there are insurance dramas for anyone who would want to race, and what it means for the track license, I'm not entirely sure...

Ray Bell · 19 Aug 2001, 13:13 (Ref:132424)

By the way, that title problem with the Council is only a minor thing that has to be registered.