Calder Park Raceway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that Calder Park Thunderdome be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

V8 Supercar Grid at Calder Park, 15th of March 1997

Calder Park Raceway is a motor racing circuit in Melbourne, Australia. The complex includes a drag strip, a road circuit with several possible configurations, and the "Thunderdome", a high-speed banked oval equipped to race either clockwise (for right-hand-drive cars) or anti-clockwise (for left-hand-drive cars such as NASCAR).

1 History
2 Early days
3 Motorsport
4 Track information
5 References

[edit] History

Calder Park Raceway was founded in the farming community of Diggers Rest and began as a dirt track carved into a paddock by a group of motoring enthusiasts who wanted somewhere to race their FJ Holdens.

[edit] Early days

The inaugural meeting on a bitumen track was run by the Australian Motor Sports Club and took place on January 14, 1962.

The track design was very similar to the existing Club Circuit, which is still in use today.

Competitors at this meeting included Bob Jane (Autoland Jaguar 3.8 #84), Norm Beechey (Holden #40), John Wood (Holden #83) and Peter Manton (Mini Cooper S).

In the early 1970s, Bob Jane purchased the track.

[edit] Motorsport

V8 Supercars line up in pre-race pit point at Calder Park, 15th of March 1997

Calder Park has hosted events involving Australian touring cars, historics, Super Tourers, Super Trucks and Super Bikes to rock concerts featuring world class artists such as Fleetwood Mac, Santana and Guns 'n' Roses.

The first ever World Touring Car Championship round held in Australia was run on the Calder Park Grand Prix circuit in 1989. This was the first and only time the Grand Prix Circuit (a combination of National and Thunderdome circuits) was used.

Calder was also the first to host Superbike racing and Truck Racing; the trucks competing on both National and Thunderdome circuits in separate events. The AUSCAR series was developed to race on the Thunderdome.

Legal Off Street Drag Racing night at Calder Park

The National Circuit's long front straight also features a drag strip, which was the home of the Australian National Drag Racing Championship for many years.

There are also Legal Off Street Drag Racing every Friday night unless weather is unsuitable for racing.

	Calder Park will continue long into the future, with one of its main focuses being the provision of a quality, affordable racing circuit within close proximity of the Melbourne CBD, for all Victorian motoring clubs and their grass roots membership.
—Bob Jane, (December 2004).[1]

The strip is still regarded the fastest all-bitumen drag strip in the world.

More recently, Calder Park introduced drifting events to its impressive list of motorsport activities. The first ever Drift Nationals held in March 2004 attracted over 8,000 spectators and added another inaugural event to the long list of new activities nurtured by Calder Park Raceway.

[edit] Track information

Thunderdome (Oval circuit): Length 1.609km / 1.119mi
National Circuit: Length 2.280km / 1.417mi
Club Circuit: Length 1.609km / 1.000mi

The first 100 metres of the Drag Strip was resurfaced in 2006 due to irregularities in the start line area, the strip will reopen for the Legal Off Street Drag Racing event on Friday 17 November 2006.