CANBERRA (ACT)
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1951 - MOUNT GINN SPEEDWAY
The Mount Gin Speedway was originally established in 1951, It was named after Billy Ginn a well known old Canberra identity who was part of the Ginn family who owned property in Canberra.
9th March 1962 |
Some people say it was on the side of Mt Majura and wasn't a speedway at all but a dirt circuit with left and right turns and went up and down the hillside, It's also been said it was at the old Starlight Drive In, at Canberry Fair, on the other side of lake George, on the northern side of Antill Street. That part of Antill St didn't exist in those days - or at least wasn't sealed. The dirt track extended over the hillside to the north and east of Canberry Fair.
Kids who lived near the old Watson High used to ride bikes up there to watch whenever they heard the cars fire up - four or five times a year, on the other side of Lake George.
The venue was still operational in the early seventee's. The entrance was opposite the old Benders Horse Riding School ? The spectators would park on the side of the hill and have a goog view of the track from there. The track was basically flat with a slight slope away from the spectators. It was an oiled track so was extremely slippery in the wet, the shape was like a bowler hat. The long straight was past the spectators then a left hand hairpin, a short straight, Then a ninet'y degree right hand bend, a long left hand sweeper, short straight, a forty five degree right and a left hander back onto the straight.
The car club controlled the venue, the bike club were joined by the cars and run on the same days, Sometimes seperate car or bike meeting were run. The Motorcycle Sportsman Club ran the Terry McDonald Meeting in about 1970, it was a fantastic day with many top line riders attending.
It was an awsome time in Canberra then, it used to draw a huge crowd on Sunday mornings and was really exciting for yong and old. One might remember individual cars and drivers, Jimmy Brooks the plumber who raced Breer Rabbitt, The Pulford brothers were big as well with some mean stock cars mainly in deep purple tones, Terry and Peter Pulford are still in their motor based business in Canberra not hard to find at all, Dave Wignall is still around as well
Mount Ginn Raceway closed after the 1975 - 1976 season had completed.
(Editorial compiled from various sources by Alan Baker) |
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1959 - CANBERRA TIMES NEWSPAPER REPORTED
22nd September 1959
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PETER GURBIEL
Becoming one of Australia's most successful and highly respected speedway promoters was the furthest thing from Peter Gurbiel's mind when he had his first taste of speedway action as a Canberra teenager.
Tinkering around repairing the dents and dings from family and friends motor vehicles in his own back yard, lead him to having a crack at stock car racing at Mount Ginn Raceway, winning a number of feature events in ACT, Sydney Showground, Liverpool and Westmead.
The step from speedway competitor to speedway promoter came as a natural progression when the Canberra Stock Car Club, the club he was president of, was told of the imminent closure of the Mount Ginn circuit.
On behalf of the club, he successfully negotiated with Bernard Morrison a local businessman who owned a sheep station on the outskirts of Queanbeyan to finance the construction of a speedway on his property with the club support, That speedway opened in June of 1970 and became known as Tralee Speedway.