KELLERBERRIN (WA)
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KELLERBERRIN. RECREATION GROUND.
The now Kellerberrin Speedway Club began life racing on the Kellerberrin Recreation Ground that was situated out near to Flour Mill. It is believed that the club only ever held two race meeting's there, before shifting in the early 1960's to a rough track on a dry lake south of town before a track was built around the outside of the trotting track in town.
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KELLERBERRIN. TROTTING TRACK / OVAL SPEEDWAY.
This track over time has been referred to as the Trotting Track or the Town Oval Speedway as inside the trotting track was the town Football Oval. The circumference of the trotting track is 806 metres, and the speedway was on the outside of that ?.
The speedway racing events that were held at the Kellerberrin Town oval. May have been organised and promoted by the Claremont Speedway Pty Ltd group, The days program was made up of Solos, Sidecars, Tq's, Midgets Sedan Cars and Supermodifieds. (further information here contradicts the earlier information. The actual race track was just a gravel roadway that surrounded the football field, this is were the spectator cars parked during the footy games, around the outside of that was a sleeper wall, with the trotting track on the outside of that ?. iam going with the later.
The Trotting track did have lights but the speedway track was a distance away so the speedway club errected their own lightning system to light their own track.
Some problems started to appear at the track after Wally Mather would loose his life after flipping his car and Neil Bartlett was also killed in an accident.
Racing did continue at the Trotting track and with more safety improvements put in place, the racing got more competitive and to win a driver had to spend more money on there car's, so competitor's just drifted away as they couldn't afford to race, so with that the spectators also fell away.
(editorial: Allan Baker)
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Driver's listed for the Trotting Track Speedway
George Cole [Kellerberrin]Alan Cole [Kellerberrin]Ray Reid [Yorkrakine]Frank Morley [?]Tarz Cooper [Trayning]Jacobsen Brothers [?] |
Allan Mather [?]Wally Mather [?]Neil Bartlett [Northam]Les Barnes [?]Malcom Hudson [Trayning]Terry Lee [Tammin] |
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Graeme Carger recalls: as a young fella i remember me and my mates would watch the days racing at the oval sitting up on top of the diving platform at the local swimming pool
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KELLERBERRIN. SPEEDWAY PLANNING.
As a result of these race meeting's at town oval, a lot of interest was raised around the town, to build a purpose built speedway track.
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Graeme Carger recalls: as a young Keller boy i had enjoyed the speedway racing as a spectotor at the oval, so when the group started fundraising to build Kellerberrins new speedway, i was old enough to help, I was a part of a group that went out hay carting for local farmers, getting paid $300 a day with all moneys going to the building of the new speedway.