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Wet race meetings in Australia


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#51 Catalina Park

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Posted 07 April 2012 - 00:55

Wow. So, turn sharp left when you get to the end of the straight - but are there any barriers? Is there a run-off area? Yikes.

There was originally a concrete wall on the edge of the track at the end of the straight. They removed a section when they started running drags to give an escape road. They removed some more wall and stuck in a sand trap. The trees and bushes are a long way from the track, the camera has made it look very short. It was a bit of a blind drop off the circuit into the escape road.
The turn at the end of the straight is not a hard left, it is a fast kink.

From what I remember this meeting was run on the normal "South" circuit and not the long "GP" circuit. (I may be wrong on this) so the cars would have been turning into the first road on the left.

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#52 Amaroo Park

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Posted 07 April 2012 - 06:18

The wettest race meeting I have been to would have to have been Bathurst 1992 while working on one of the Bob Holden Corolla's. During the first rain storm the place including the pit garages was just awash with water. I do remember thinking while refuelling one of the cars during the race that if it so happens that I get doused in fuel like I did the year before then with the amount of rain around it should put the fire out quickly

#53 Team Result

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Posted 07 April 2012 - 13:29

There's a photo in RCN of two or three of the drivers at that cancelled meeting at Surfers...

They are standing waist deep in water!

Were you there for the 1963 Lakeside International 99 (or was it 1962?) when John Youl led the field a merry chase? That was pretty wet, I understand.


Thanks for the memory prod about Surfers. Indeed the drainage canal did overflow at the top end of the track Saturday night and that was the reason (which I couldn't recall) that I drove the bottom half of the track in the reverse direction on Sunday.

Unfortunately, no. 1965 was my first visit to Lakeside.

#54 timbo

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Posted 08 April 2012 - 06:33

There was originally a concrete wall on the edge of the track at the end of the straight. They removed a section when they started running drags to give an escape road. They removed some more wall and stuck in a sand trap. The trees and bushes are a long way from the track, the camera has made it look very short. It was a bit of a blind drop off the circuit into the escape road.
The turn at the end of the straight is not a hard left, it is a fast kink.

From what I remember this meeting was run on the normal "South" circuit and not the long "GP" circuit. (I may be wrong on this) so the cars would have been turning into the first road on the left.

I think it was on the South (short) circuit, but I remember the days there was a concrete wall at the far end of the main straight, not far from the track.
I also remember a motorcycle race, just after they removed the wall and installed the sand trap, that Robbie Phillis went straight on at the end of the straight, and had the wall been there, we would have been talking about him in the past tense.
That didn't stop big incidents happening. Justin Hemmes (Subaru WRex STI) managed to take out a length of advertising hoaring at the end of the sand trap, just near where I used to sneak around to take photo's because it was a great spot to take photo's.
Everything is past tense at Oran park these days> :(


#55 Catalina Park

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Posted 09 April 2012 - 08:04

I just found this on Youtube, 1973 Tasman Series - Chesterfield 100 - Warwick Farm. (Tasman Cup, F5000)

The reason Frank Gardner had the microphone in launchpads photo was because he was commentating for the ABC.

Edited by Catalina Park, 09 April 2012 - 08:55.