Wakefield Park
| Location | Goulburn, New South Wales |
|---|---|
| Time zone | UTC +10 |
| Coordinates | 34°50′26″S 149°41′7″E / 34.84056°S 149.68528°ECoordinates: 34°50′26″S 149°41′7″E / 34.84056°S 149.68528°E |
| Owner | Benalla Auto Club |
| Opened | May, 1994 |
| Major events |
Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series Shannons Nationals Motor Racing Championships |
| Length | 2.200 km (1.367 mi) |
| Turns | 10 |
| Lap record | 0:54.5633 (Ben Crighton, Dallara F307 HWA Team-Mercedes-Benz, 2010) |
Wakefield Park is a 2.2 km (1.4 mi) motor racing circuit located near Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia. It is named after Charles Cheers Wakefield, the founder of Castrol Oil. The founder of Wakefield Park, amateur racer and former motor dealer, Paul Samuels felt that Castrol had been so influential in helping amateurs go motor racing that CC Wakefield should be honoured, especially as Samuels' circuit was intended for amateur racers in the likelihood in the 1990s of both Amaroo and Oran Parks closing and amateur racers being unable to afford the daily hire rate at Eastern Creek.
The local arm of Castrol appreciated this and committed to a three-year sum for sponsorship. Consequently, all the buildings, which were all designed by Samuels, were in Castrol colours, an appropriate but subtle recognition of the Company's involvement. However it was then decided that Castrol was not getting any appreciable value from the modest sponsorship, so it stopped.
It was the first privately funded circuit built in NSW in the last 35 years and, says Samuels, "when confronting neighbours and the EPA, I can see why". It took him more than a year, despite the help of Goulburn Council and the local member John Fahey, to find a place that finally gained all the necessary approvals. However it took less than eight months from turning the first sod in mid-October 1993 to its first meeting on 8 May 1994. The total cost of the land and work was $1.2 mill.
Goulburn was chosen as it was close to Canberra, the large population areas of the near south coast around Wollongong, was not too far from Sydney and a three-hour easier journey for Victorians than if it had been close to Sydney.
The road racing circuit has hosted the Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, the Australian Superbike Championship, the Australian Motor Racing Series, drifting, as well as state and club level racing, also Speed off the Streets and motorcycle ride days.
Wakefield Park operates under a CAMS National Circuit Licence, AASA and also under the Department of Sport and Recreation permit scheme.
The circuit is located two hours drive from Sydney and about one hour from Canberra, and is positioned on Braidwood Road, 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of Goulburn on 130 acres (0.53 km2) of cleared land. There are no trees or natural obstacles near the track. Safety is paramount and ripple strips, tyre walls and gravel traps have been positioned so as to make Wakefield a very safe circuit on which to run any type of racecar, production car or motorcycle. The track was resurfaced by its new owners, Winton Motor Raceway, in late 2007.
The track is open to the public providing three circuits licensed by the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation, CAMS, and Motorcycling NSW Inc and Australian Karting Association Inc.
There is also a hill climb and short variations of the circuit.
Wakefield Park is the title of a 2010 short film with Micheal Fitzgerald which was filmed at the circuit.
External links
| ||||||||||