Newcastle Motordrome was a

dirt track racing Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced oval race tracks often used for thoroughbred horse racing. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s ...

venue located on the Old Punt Road in

Tomago, New South Wales Tomago is a combined industrial/semi-rural suburb of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located just north of the Hunter River and west of the body of water known as Fullerton Cove. ...

, just north of the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

and north of the city of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. 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.

History

Even though

Motorcycle Speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

was started in the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

of NSW in

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

in 1923, and motorcycle racing was held at the still operating Newcastle Showground racing as early as 1919, it wasn't until 1973 with the opening of Jerilderee 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 and

Midget cars Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a medical term like "dwarfism", a medical condition with a number of ca ...

often made the trip from Sydney to Newcastle to race at a Speedway track on Union St. The Motordrome was originally opened as Jerilderee Park Speedway and run and promoted by Peter Gurbiel, who also ran the

Tralee Speedway Tralee Speedway was a Dirt track racing venue located in Jerrabomberra on the New South Wales side of the ACT/NSW border near Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The speedway was home to several drivers who went on to become Australian na ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's capital city

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, and quickly became the centre of speedway racing in country NSW with the track hosting many Australian Championships including the Australian Sprintcar Championship (1983),

Australian Solo Championship The Australian Solo Championship is a motorcycle speedway championship held each year to determine the Australian national champion. It is organised by Motorcycling Australia (MA) and is the oldest continuously running national speedway champions ...

(1989),

Australian Speedcar Championship The Australian Speedcar Championship is a Dirt track racing, dirt track motor racing championship held in Australia each year to determine the Australian national champion in midget car racing. The single championship meeting, run over two nights ...

(1995/96), Australian Sidecar championship (1991),

Australian Super Sedan Championship The Australian Super Sedan Championship is a Dirt track racing championship held each year to determine the Australian national champion. The championship is held over a single meeting (usually on consecutive nights) and has run annually since th ...

(1980/81, 1989/90 and 1995/96) as well as hosting the

Australian Speedcar Grand Prix The Australian Speedcar Grand Prix is an annual dirt track racing meeting held in Australia for Speedcars. The meeting has traditionally been held in Sydney, but on occasions has been held on tracks in Victoria and in 2000 the race was held a ...

in 1999, various NSW State championships and rounds of the World Series Sprintcars. Events at the Motordrome, especially for the

Sprintcars Sprint cars are high-powered Open-wheel car, open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short Oval track racing, oval or circular dirt track racing, dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular primarily in the U ...

, Solo Test matches with

facing visiting teams such as

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and various "Rest of the World" teams, and big Sedan tests against visiting

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 were

, Speedcars, Super Sedans, Solos,

Sidecars A sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, scooter, or bicycle, making the whole a three-wheeled vehicle. A motorcycle with a sidecar is sometimes called a ''combination'', an ''outfit'', a ''rig'' or a ''hack''. ...

, 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 the

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

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 "D" shaped main track. The Motordrome was also the site of the first ever visit by an official sporting team from the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

to the Hunter Region of NSW when on 8 December 1990 the Russians took on a strong NSW team in what was known as the

Tooheys Tooheys is a brewery in the suburb of Lidcombe, in Sydney, Australia. It produces beers and ciders under the ''Tooheys'' and ''Hahn Brewery'' trademarks, and is part of the Lion beverages group which was acquired by the Japanese Kirin Company in ...

International Solo Challenge. Led by captain

Rinat Mardanshin Rinat Mukatdisovich Mardanshin (russian: Ринат Мукатдисович Марданшин; December 24, 1963 – January 19, 2005) was a Russian motorcycle speedway rider of Tatar ethnicity, who rode in the 2001 Speedway World Cup for Russ ...

Oleg Kurguskin Oleg Anatolyevich Kurguskin (russian: Олег Анатольевич Кургускин; born 11 April 1966, in Elista)1990 Under-21 World Championship

Rene Aas Rene Aas (born 13 August 1969) is an Estonian motorcycle racer. He was born in Tallinn. He began his motorcycle racing career in 1981, coached by Vambola Helm. He won silver medal at 1990 Speedway Under-21 World Championship. He is 3-times Eston ...

, it was the Soviet's first defeat on their 1990/91 Australian tour as they came up against a NSW lineup including Newcastle's own 1990 World #3

Todd Wiltshire Todd Wiltshire (born 26 September 1968 in Bankstown, New South Wales) is a retired Australian motorcycle speedway rider who competed at the highest level of the sport, finishing a career best third in the 1990 Individual Speedway World Champ ...

, as well as that season's Australian Solo Champion

Craig Boyce Craig Boyce (born 2 August 1967 in Sydney, Australia) was a motorcycle speedway rider who primarily rode for the Poole Pirates in the British Elite League. After retiring from riding, Boyce became manager of the Australian national team until ...

and 1989 Australia #2 Stephen Davies. Despite being undefeated on their Australian tour to that point after meetings in North

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

and the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern 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 included

World of Outlaws The World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American motorsports sanctioning body. The body sanctions two major national touring series. It is best known for sanctioning the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late ...

legend

Steve Kinser Steve "The King" Kinser (born June 2, 1954) is a former professional sprint car racing driver. He has won 20 championships in the World of Outlaws (WoO) series. Kinser left the World of Outlaws in 2006 to compete with the National Sprint Tour s ...

of the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, his brother Randy and cousin

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...

winner

Johnny Rutherford John Sherman "Johnny" Rutherford III (born March 12, 1938), also known as "Lone Star JR", is an American former automobile racing driver. During an Indy Car career that spanned more than three decades, he scored 27 wins and 23 pole positions in 3 ...

, as well as Australian speedway legends Bernie Whalan Garry Rush, George Tatnell and his son, Brooke Tatnell,

Max Dumesny Max Dumesny (born 12 July 1959, in Nullawarre, Victoria) is an Australian professional Sprintcar driver. Dumesny was born and raised in Victoria but has resided in Nelson, New South Wales since the mid-1990s, although his Sprintcar carries the ...

, Steve Brazier and his son Garry Brazier, brothers Ron and John Pyne from nearby

Kurri Kurri Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock LGA. At the , its population was 6,044. Kurri Kurri is the largest town in a group of towns and hamlets, including Stanford Merthyr, Pelaw Main, ...

, Grenville Anderson,

Billy Sanders William Robert Sanders (9 September 1955 – 23 April 1985Oakes, P (1982). ''Daily Mirror 1982 Speedway Yearbook''. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ) was an Australian international Speedway rider who won six Australian Championships and w ...

Phil Crump Philip John Crump (born 9 February 1952) in Mildura, Victoria is a retired Australian Motorcycle speedway riderLawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. who attained 3rd place in the 1976 World Championship. He also won the 1976 Spe ...

and

Leigh Adams Leigh Scott Adams (born 28 April 1971 in Mildura, Victoria)Oakes, P.(2004). ''British Speedway Who's Who''. is an Australian former motorcycle speedway rider. He is a multiple Speedway Grand Prix winner and World Team Champion. He also w ...

. 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 the Winfield 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 Jerilderee Park, it was where the career of the

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

and

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

Speedway World Champion

Ronnie Moore Ronald David Moore (born 29 January 1953) is an English football manager and former player. He has taken charge of several clubs including Rotherham United, Tranmere Rovers and Hartlepool United. He played for many different clubs in a care ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

ended when he crashed and was in a

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

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 reported A$2.5 million to the ATB Morton development group ending 25 years of successful speedway at the venue.

Famous competitors

Some of the famous competitors who raced at the Newcastle Motordrome include: *

() (Solo) *

() (Solo) * Grenville Anderson () (Super Sedan/Grand National)† *Bob Blacklaw () (Sprintcar) *

John Boulger John Boulger (born 18 June 1945 in Adelaide, South Australia) is a former international motorcycle speedway rider. After he retired from riding Solos in the early 1980s, Boulger raced somewhat successfully in Speedcars (Midgets) from the mid- ...

() (Solo) *

() (Solo) *Steve Brazier () (Super Modified/Sprintcar) *

Barry Briggs Barry Briggs (born 30 December 1934) is a New Zealand former speedway rider. Career He won the World Individual Championship title four times – in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedwa ...

() (Solo) *

Kenny Carter Kenneth Malcolm Carter (28 March 1961 – 21 May 1986), was a British world class speedway rider. He rode for Newcastle Diamonds (1978), Halifax Dukes (1978–1985) and Bradford Dukes (1986). On Wednesday, 21 May 1986, he shot dead his w ...

() (Solo) * Peter Collins () (Solo) *

Rodney Combs Rodney Combs (born March 27, 1950) is an American former stock car racing driver. He has not been in NASCAR since 1997, when he was released from his ride in the Busch Series. Combs entered NASCAR after many years on the open-wheel and short trac ...

() (Super Sedan/Grand National) *

Jason Crump Jason Philip Crump (born 6 August 1975) is an Australian international motorcycle speedway rider. He is a three-time Speedway World Champion, a World Cup winner and a former World Under-21 Champion. In a 21-year career in Speedway, Jason Cr ...

() (Solo) *

() (Solo) * Glenn Doyle () (Solo) *

() (Formula 500/Sprintcar) *

Sam Ermolenko Guy Allen 'Sudden Sam' Ermolenko (born November 23, 1960 Maywood, California) is a former speedway rider. In 1993 he won the Speedway World Championship in Pocking, Germany.Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). ''A History of the World Speedway Ch ...

() (Solo) *

Ove Fundin Ove Fundin (born 23 May 1933) is a Swedish former professional motorcycle speedway rider. He competed in the Speedway World Championships from 1951 to 1970. Fundin is notable for winning the Speedway World Champ ...

() (Solo) *

Per Jonsson Per Jonsson (born 21 March 1966 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a former speedway rider who won the Speedway World Championship in 1990, and finished runner-up in 1992. Career In 1985, his second season with the Reading Racers, the team won six major ...

() (Solo) *

Mel Kenyon Mel Kenyon (born April 15, 1933 in DeKalb, Illinois) is a former midget car driver. He is known as the "King of the Midgets", "Miraculous Mel"< ...

() (Speedcar) *

() (Sprintcar) *

Oleg Kurguskin Oleg Anatolyevich Kurguskin (russian: Олег Анатольевич Кургускин; born 11 April 1966, in Elista)Rinat Mardanshin Rinat Mukatdisovich Mardanshin (russian: Ринат Мукатдисович Марданшин; December 24, 1963 – January 19, 2005) was a Russian motorcycle speedway rider of Tatar ethnicity, who rode in the 2001 Speedway World Cup for Russ ...

() (Solo) *

Ivan Mauger Ivan Gerald Mauger (4 October 1939 – 16 April 2018) was a New Zealand motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six Speedway World Championship, World Championships (Finals), a feat equalled only with the inclusion of the Speedway GP Champi ...

() (Solo) *Gary Moon () (Sidecar) *

Shawn Moran Shawn Moran (born November 19, 1961 in Lakewood, California) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway rider who was one of the most popular and talented riders ever to race for Sheffield Tigers who also represented the United State ...

() (Solo) * Hans Nielsen () (Solo) * Ole Olsen () (Solo) * Shane Parker () (Solo) *

Bruce Penhall Bruce Lee Penhall (born May 10, 1957) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway racer who later starred in television and in film. He was the World Speedway Champion in 1981 and 1982 and rode for the successful Cradley Heath Heathen ...

() (Solo) *

Zenon Plech Zenon Plech (1 January 1953 – 25 November 2020) was a Polish international motorcycle speedway rider. He finished third in the Speedway World Championship in 1973 and as the runner-up in 1979. Career summary Plech won the Polish National Cha ...

() (Solo) *

Mick Poole Michael David Poole (born 23 April 1955) is an English retired football goalkeeper who played professionally in The Football League, North American Soccer League and Major Indoor Soccer League. Poole began his career with Rochdale A.F.C. ...

() (Solo) *John Pyne () (Super Sedan/Grand National) *Ron Pyne () (Super Sedan/Grand National) *Mick Markham (AUS) (super Sedan) * Bob Brewer (AUS) (Super Sedan) *

Tony Rickardsson Tony Rickardsson (born on 17 August 1970) is a Swedish former professional motorcycle speedway rider. He competed in the Speedway World Championships from 1989 to 2006. Rickardsson is notable for winning six Speedway World Championship titles in 1 ...

() (Solo) *Garry Rush () (Super Modified/Speedcar/Sprintcar) *

() (Speedcar) *Rif Saitgareev () (Solo) † *

() (Solo) † *

Bobby Schwartz Robert Benjamin 'Bobby' Schwartz (born August 10, 1956) is an American professional speedway rider. He became World Pairs Champion with Bruce Penhall in 1981 and Dennis Sigalos in 1982. Career Born in Santa Barbara, California, Schwartz was in ...

() (Solo) *

Mitch Shirra Mitchell Owen (Mitch) Shirra (born 27 September 1958 in Auckland, New Zealand) is a former motorcycle speedway rider who rode with the Coventry Bees, Reading Racers, Swindon Robins and Ipswich Witches in the British League. Career Shirra began ...

() (Solo) *

Michail Starostin Mikhail Starostin (born 24 February 1955) is a former international speedway rider from the Soviet Union. Speedway career Starostin hold the Russian record for National Championships and he won the Soviet Union Individual Speedway Championshi ...

() (Solo) *Brooke Tatnell () (Speedcar) *George Tatnell () (Super Modified/Speedcar) † *Darrin Treloar () (Sidecar) * Ron "Sleepy" Tripp () (Speedcar) *Bob Tunks () (Sprintcar) *

Simon Wigg Simon Antony Wigg (15 October 1960 – 15 November 2000) was an English speedway, grasstrack and longtrack rider who won five World Long Track Championships and finished runner-up in the Speedway World Championship in 1989.Rogers, G.(2005) ...

() (Solo) *"Big" Ed Wilbur () (Super Sedan/Grand National) *

() (Solo) † – Deceased

References

{{reflist

External links

Newcastle Speedway
Defunct speedway venues in Australia Sports venues completed in 1977 Port Stephens Council