Avalon Raceway
Encyclopedia
Avalon Raceway is a Dirt track racing
venue located in Lara, Victoria
, Australia
. The track is based a Clay Sand Mix, is oval shaped and is 390m in length.
riders as World Champions
Ole Olsen, Ivan Mauger
and Barry Briggs
battling Australian riders such as Victorian favourite Phil Crump
. Sidecars
were also a big draw and the Speedway hosted the 1980 Australian Sidecar Championship as well as numerous Victorian Sidecar title meetings.
The introduction of clay to the track surface in the early 1990s saw bike racing off the program at Avalon Raceway. Sprintcar racing had been the biggest draw in Australian speedway since the late 1970s and the clay surface suited this type of oval track racing. Since this time Avalon has been a regular of the World Series Sprintcars
and was also the home of the Australian Speedcar Grand Prix
from 2003 until 2010.
The outright qualifying lap record holder for Avalon raceway was set by Ian Lewis in a Sprintcar
with a time of 11.805 seconds on 29 October 2005. The outright race lap record is held by Brooke Tatnell with a time of 12.129 seconds, set on 8 December 2010, also in a Sprintcar.
Dirt track racing
Dirt track racing is a type of auto racing performed on oval tracks. It began in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 30s. Two different types of racecars predominated—open wheel racers in the Northeast and West and stock cars in the South...
venue located in Lara, Victoria
Lara, Victoria
Lara is a residential rural suburb, 15 km north-east of Geelong, inland from the Princes Freeway to Melbourne.- History :The explorers Hume and Hovell arrived at Lara on December 16, 1824, believing that they had reached Westernport Bay...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The track is based a Clay Sand Mix, is oval shaped and is 390m in length.
History
The track opened in 1976 thanks to the efforts of brothers Doug and Norm Drew, drivers from the area who like others needed a venue to race at after the closure of Torquay Speedway. Early on the big attraction to the new Speedway were the bikes with such SoloMotorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...
riders as World Champions
Speedway World Championship
The World Championship of Speedway is an international competition between the highest ranked motorcycle speedway riders of the world. Today, it is organised as a series of Speedway Grand Prix events, where points are awarded according to performance in the event and tallied up at the end of each...
Ole Olsen, Ivan Mauger
Ivan Mauger
Ivan Mauger, OBE, MBE, is a retired motorcycle speedway rider. He won a record six World Championships, a feat only equalled by Tony Rickardsson of Sweden...
and Barry Briggs
Barry Briggs
Barry Briggs MBE from Christchurch, New Zealand is a former Speedway rider.He won the World Individual Championship title four times - in 1957, 1958, 1964 and 1966. He appeared in a record 17 consecutive World Individual finals , and a record 18 in all, during which he scored a record 201 points...
battling Australian riders such as Victorian favourite Phil Crump
Phil Crump
Philip John "Phil" Crump in Mildura, Victoria is a retired Australian Motorcycle speedway rider who attained 3rd place in the 1976 World Championship...
. Sidecars
Sidecar speedway
Sidecar Speedway is a motorcycle sport involving 4 crews of a rider and a passenger competing over 4 laps on an oval shale surface. Rules are governed by the national speedway federation and are not dissimilar to conventional speedway rules....
were also a big draw and the Speedway hosted the 1980 Australian Sidecar Championship as well as numerous Victorian Sidecar title meetings.
The introduction of clay to the track surface in the early 1990s saw bike racing off the program at Avalon Raceway. Sprintcar racing had been the biggest draw in Australian speedway since the late 1970s and the clay surface suited this type of oval track racing. Since this time Avalon has been a regular of the World Series Sprintcars
World Series Sprintcars
World Series Sprintcars is a Dirt track racing series held in Australia for Sprintcars. It is the richest and best known Speedway series in Australia....
and was also the home of the Australian Speedcar Grand Prix
Australian Speedcar Grand Prix
The Australian Speedcar Grand Prix is an annual dirt track racing meeting held 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 at Perth's Claremont Speedway, not long before the 1/3 mile Showground...
from 2003 until 2010.
The outright qualifying lap record holder for Avalon raceway was set by Ian Lewis in a Sprintcar
Sprint car racing
Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa....
with a time of 11.805 seconds on 29 October 2005. The outright race lap record is held by Brooke Tatnell with a time of 12.129 seconds, set on 8 December 2010, also in a Sprintcar.
Lap Records
as of 10 June 2011. All have a 1 lap rolling start.- Open SprintcarsSprint car racingSprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa....
: 0:11.805 - Ian Lewis, 29 October 2005 - Super Sedans: 0:15.850 - Mick Nicola - 4 April 2005