MEDIA RELEASE

Long Lease Locks in Lakeside

For Immediate Release: 18 December, 2007


Brisbane, Queensland - Supporters of Queensland's Lakeside Raceway received an early Christmas present this year with the Pine Rivers Shire Council and Wrexmere Pty Ltd (Queensland Raceway) signing off on a long term lease to operate the historic circuit on Brisbane's north side.

The agreement for 30 years, with an option for 10 years, obtained State Government Ministerial approval and will insure the facility celebrates its 50th anniversary on 19 March 2011.

Lakeside Motor Racing Enthusiasts president Ian Milton said,

"We're delighted and relieved by the news, but if we want to get on the track, everyone will have to pitch in and do their part - there's no more excuses for sitting on the sidelines."

When asked what the major challenges were to getting club-level motor racing back to Lakeside, John Tetley of Queensland Raceway said,

"We have all the usual major project hassles including red tape, availability of scarce resources, etc."

Mr Tetley said that an initial $1.2 million has already been secured to invest on rebuilding infrastructure and,

"The rest will depend on how wisely we invest the initial capital input and how many people come and spend their money there."

"We're targeting and hoping to re-open the driver training in February or March next year. Racing, maybe June, depending on a lot of variables including re-education of competitors and neighbour management."

Pine Rivers Shire Councillor Mike Charlton was very excited to declare the situation as "all systems go!" He described the council's vision for Lakeside as,

"Preservation of an iconic motorsport site embracing historic, commercial and club motorsport activities, combined with life-saving driver and rider education and community events."

Cr Charlton said that a legal action in the Planning & Environment Court between the PRSC and Mr Ron Curtis is "unlikely to delay" and is confident in their legal advice because it is "tried and tested" law. Last month a local newspaper article revealed that people had been listed as co-applicants without their permission. The action has been adjourned until 23 January, 2008.

Mr Milton pointed out the significance of events,

"An historic moment is occuring for the people of Queensland, and particularly the motorsport community, because I can think of no other example of a motor racing circuit in Australia being brought back from the brink like Lakeside."

"On behalf of LMRE members, I would like to extend a sincere invitation to anyone who has a passion for motorsport to help us get this deal over the line by registering on-line to help reconstruct Lakeside. You don't need to be an engineer, just bring the right attitude. To be part of history, please visit this site and fill in the form - www.queenslandraceway.com.au/qrformlake.php. "

For more information visit www.lakesideraceway.com.


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cool, a lot of people are going to be very happy about this (and a few unhappy no doubt)

about time f***ers!

A mate of mine was a fire marshall at lakeside 15 years ago so i went to many meetings there what a f***ing awesome race track i was there for v8 touring car round and got into the main tower ( over the track ) and had a quiet chat to frank gardner and tony longhurst and some bloke named Alan Jones (driving packleader car at the time) whilst support program cars roared away under our feet good to hear the news its on the go again i do hope they have fixed the drainage problems that shut down quite a few race meetings ( when it used to rain )

i drove the xxxx hq out there for a day, and had a great time, its a great track

just down the road. it'd be just like going to the local for a few scooners.

I wouldn't mind going for a burn around there if my car manages to hold up :(

not a bad lap ^

I can't wait, I've never even been to lakeside, but I can safely say I'm already sick of the hour+ it takes to get to QR from the northside

been a long time coming.

i just about grew up out there coz my old man raced there all the time.

can clearly remember as a little tacker getting told to f*** off by dick johnson while walking right thru the middle of his tent :)

About time! Great news though. I also grew up there. Monthly event at the races or so. Fanf***ingtastic.

rad, a nice break from the QR paperclip



im told its not nearly as forgiving if you come off the black stuff tho :\

oh hell yea. used to go there with dad to watch the hq's and truck racing. such an awesome layout!

Hope this doesn't affect the cyclists, Cycling Australia has been using the closed Lakeside track for years to run Saturday morning criteriums.

Coming down that final hill = :D

Fastest I've hit is 78km/hr but I know a few A grade blokes that have been 90km/hr+

thats what everyone is worried about, the cyclists

Fastest I've hit is 78km/hr but I know a few A grade blokes that have been 90km/hr+

thats slow as s***

i was doing 160km/h

i hope we can drift it. there was talk of noise restrictions preventing a lot of motor spots from getting on this track. didn't it close down in the first place due to people living to close to the track and complaining about the noise?

yes

nice one :D although i doubt it will ever be like the good ol' days of lakeside open days when you payed one of the nielson boys $20 for a full day at the track! thems were the days ;p i had some great n s***house times at lakeside... lapped @ 1:12 on my venerable '86 vfr750 ... won the wheelstand compitition at an eigth mile drag meet on my cbr900r ... & crashed my cbr600r n almost lost my kneecap n was in redcliffe hospital for 2weeks. good times.. good times. ;D

i was doing 160km/h

lols! pretty quik! heh.

the reason it closed down wasnt as simple as the golf nerds complaining about the noise... there was some s***ty local government chicanery that had to do with zoning but i have forgotten the full story now... my bro-in-law that races sidecars would know.

Awesome, I love Lakeside.. can't wait until they get the V8s back there.

lapped @ 1:12

the bike track was slightly different to the cars eh?

i was lapping 1:15s i think, id have to check the certificate

yeh bikes use the bus-stop after volvo carasel but cars bypass it & can run straight down under the pit bridge to hungry which makes the track considerably shorter & faster for cars.

haha, when we were there, a group of us (from kfc) were all doing the driving, and one of the girls actually scared the instructor enough for him to pull the plug on her;

he was white as a sheet when he came in;

protip for budding race car drivers, dont lift off throttle mid corner, i believe she went off at hungry repeatedly and nearly killed them both doing it through the kink