Amaroo Park

Amaroo Park Racewaywas a 1.930 km (1.199 mi)motor racingcircuit located inAnnangrove, New South Wales,in the present-day north-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. Opened in 1967, the road circuit served as a venue for a variety of competitions including theCastrol 6 Hourmotorcycle race, rounds of theAustralian Touring Car Championship,Australian Drivers' Championship,Australian Formula Ford Championship,Australian Sports Sedan Championship,the AMSCAR Series for touring cars, historic racing and others. The last Australian Touring Car Championship round to take place at the circuit was in 1994.

Amaroo Park Raceway

Location	Annangrove, New South Wales
Time zone	UTC+10:00
Coordinates	33°39′3″S150°56′1″E
Owner	Oscar Glaser
Opened	12 March 1967(1967-03-12) Reopened: 31 May 1970(1970-05-31)
Closed	Closed 1st time: Mid-1968 Closed 2nd time: 23 August 1998(1998-08-23)
Major events	Australian Super Touring Championship(1996–1997) Australian Touring Car Championship(1974–1978, 1985–1994) Sun-7 Chesterfield Series(1971–1981) Castrol 6 Hour(1970–1987) Amaroo Park 300(1980–1987)
Full Circuit (1967–1998)
Length	1.930 km (1.199 miles)
Turns	10
Race lap record	0:44.36 (John Bowe,Veskanda C1,1987,Group A Sports Cars)

The Amaroo Park sign fronting Annangrove Road is still in place.

This road (signposted as Hillclimb Drive) was built over a section of the spectator area, and was not part of the actual racing circuit. The actual hillclimb was located some 1.5 km to the north of the main circuit. Today's Everett Pl. was the access rd for the hillclimb.

From 1970, Amaroo Park was run and promoted by the Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) who also promoted theMount Panorama CircuitinBathurst,and later were the promoters of Sydney'sEastern Creek Raceway.

The ARDC lost money promoting the Super Touring Bathurst 1000 from 1997 to 1999 and this circuit was sold to recover some of the loss.

History

Amaroo Park was built by Industrialist Oscar Glaser as part of a plan to build a full motorsport complex.This began with a hillclimb track, as well as a dirt short track, amotocrosstrack, a little usedspeedwaytrack, and finally the main (relatively short) 1.8 km bitumen track. A full length Grand Prix circuit was planned but never built.The name Amaroo comes from the Aboriginal word meaningbeautiful place.

The first motorcycle meeting was held on 26 February with a 30 lap production race won by Larry Simons on aBSA Mk.ll Spitfirein heavy rain.

The official opening meeting, promoted by the Amaroo Sporting Country Club, was held on 12 March 1967 with attendance restricted to members of several motoring clubs, around 1000 spectators visiting. The first event open to the general public was held on 9 April. More events followed, however poor spectator attendances blamed in part on poor facilities lead to the temporary closure of the circuit in mid 1968.

The circuit reopened on 31 May 1970 with much improved spectator facilities and racing now run by the ARDC,with the first of the motorcycle endurance races which came to be known as the Castrol Six Hour run by the Willoughby District Motorcycle Club later that year.

Amaroo Park held its own touring car series from 1971 to 1993, initially as theSun-7 Chesterfield Seriesand then under various names, including the "AMSCAR Series" from 1982.

The complex had ahillclimb,amotocrosstrack, a little usedspeedwaytrack and a short circuit track.

The circuit closed forever after the last meeting was held there on 23 August 1998. The meeting was billed as the "Goodbye Amaroo State open Meeting" with a mix of classes includingSports Sedans,HQ'sand Group N Historic Touring Cars. The final race held at Amaroo Park was a "Butchers Picnic" which included the top 3 cars from the competing classes all in one final race. The race was run as a Butchers Picnic as a salute to the very first meetings at the circuit where the first races run were indeed Butchers' Picnics. The race, called "The Last Race, The Main Event, Amaroo's Final Fling" started at 4:30 pm and was held over 10 laps. It was won by Sydney driver Ray Lintott driving a 4WD, twin-turboPorsche 911 Turbowith a race time of 9:16.4942. The final driver, Andrew Papadopoulos driving anAlfa Romeo GTV,crossed the line at 4:40 pm bringing the curtain down on one of Australia's most popular race circuits after over 31 years of continuous operation.The ARDC also let Arthur Hayes, their No. 1 member (meaning he was card holder #1) wave the chequered flag for the race.

A Lap of Amaroo Park

Phil Wardin hisHolden MonaroSports Sedanat the top of Bitupave Hill in 1980. The road in the background is the run from Honda to the Stop Corner clearly showing the elevation changes on the tight 1.94 km circuit

Amaroo Park started on the short pit straight, and from there the track had a kink to the right up towards Bitupave Hill. The track then turned left and dropped down into the right hand Dunlop Loop and onto the back straight which again kinked to the right and led into the tight left hander at Honda Corner. Prior to 1983, Honda Corner had no runoff on the inside of the track and was earth banking surrounded by a concrete wall. After the turn at Honda, there was another short right hand kink leading up to the tight right hand Stop Corner (sometimes called the Lake Corner). From there it was a short straight up to Wunderlich Corner, with the pit entry on the outside of the turn. Known as Wunderlich for sponsorship reasons, the turn was known during the 1970s as Ron Hodgson Corner due to sponsorship from Sydney's then largestHoldendealer, was the final turn on the circuit and led back onto the pit straight.

At the fastest part of the circuit, the run up to Bitupave Hill, the faster cars (Sports Sedans,Sports Carsand F5000) were able to reach just over 220 km/h (137 mph). Dunlop Loop, Honda and the Stop Corner were generally regarded as the best passing spots on the track.

At its closing the outright lap record for the 1.94 km circuit was 0:44.36, set byJohn Bowein 1987 driving a5.8L ChevroletpoweredVeskanda C1sports car.

Australian Touring Car Championship

Amaroo Park first held a round of theAustralian Touring Car Championshipwhen it hosted Round 4 of the1974 Australian Touring Car Championship.The race was won byPeter Brockdriving aHolden Dealer TeamHolden LJ Torana GTR XU-1.The circuit would go on to host 15 rounds of the championship between 1974 and its last ATCC round in 1994. The last race was won byMark Skaifedriving hisGibson MotorsportHolden VP CommodoregivingHoldenthe bookends on Amaroo Park's participation in the ATCC.

Year	Winning Driver	Car	Team
Group C
1974	Peter Brock	Holden LJ Torana GTR XU-1	Holden Dealer Team
1975	Bob Morris	Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34	Ron Hodgson Motors
1976	Charlie O'Brien	Holden LH Torana SL/R 5000 L34
1977	Allan Moffat	Ford XB Falcon GT Hardtop	Moffat Ford Dealers
1978	Allan Grice	Holden LX Torana SS A9X Hatchback	Craven Mild Racing
Group A
1985	Jim Richards	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1986	Robbie Francevic	Volvo 240T	Mark Petch Motorsport
1987	Jim Richards	BMW M3	JPS Team BMW
1988	John Bowe	Ford Sierra RS500	Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
1989	John Bowe	Ford Sierra RS500	Shell Ultra-Hi Racing
1990	Jim Richards	Nissan Skyline HR31 GTS-R	Nissan Motorsport Australia
1991	Tony Longhurst	BMW M3 Evolution	Benson & Hedges Racing
1992	Mark Skaife	Nissan Skyline R32 GT-R	Winfield Team Nissan
Group 3A 5.0L Touring Cars
1993	John Bowe	Ford EB Falcon	Shell Racing
1994	Mark Skaife	Holden VP Commodore	Winfield Racing

AMSCAR Series

Main articles:Sun-7 Chesterfield SeriesandAMSCAR

One of the features of Amaroo Park's history has been the AMSCAR Series for touring cars, created by Amaroo's promoters, the Australian Racing Drivers Club and staged annually from 1982 to 1993. Popular with spectators and easy for Sydney'sChannel 7to telecast, it became the backbone of the Sydney touring car scene, a scene which once consisted mostly of privateers who have largely disappeared since Amaroo closed, with the major touring car teams now operating fromMelbourneand south-eastQueensland.On many occasions these events featured larger grid numbers than did the rounds of the national levelAustralian Touring Car Championship.This was mostly as the large number of Sydney privateers who usually filled the grid in the nationally televised (by Ch.7)Bathurst 1000,rarely raced outside of NSW or Queensland due to limited budgets.

The AMSCAR Series had its origins in Amaroo's ownSun-7 Chesterfield Seriesfor touring cars, first held in 1971 and was won by Sydney's Lakis Manticas driving aMorris Cooper S.This would continue, under various names relating to series sponsorship, through to 1981. It was only from the beginning of the "Group A"category in Australia in1985that the headline teams started appearing in the series on a more regular basis, with part of the reason being that as Group A was new to Australia in 1985, the AMSCAR Series gave teams valuable testing under race conditions (also because from 1985 Amaroo would hold an annual round of the ATCC).

Frank Gardner'sJPS Team BMW and its drivers Jim Richards andTony Longhurstdominated from 1985 to 1987 (Richards in the 635 CSi was unbeaten at Amaroo in 1985 winning all 12 AMSCAR races, the ATCC round and theEndurance Championshiprace), whileGibson Motorsport,first with Nissan and later withHolden,also contested the series in the later years of Group A and into the new5.0L V8formula introduced in1993,with Jim Richards winning in the team'sNissan Skyline GT-Rin 1992 whileMark Skaifewon for Gibson driving aHolden VP Commodorein 1993. Other top line teams to contest the AMSCAR series after the switch to Group A were Peter Brock's Holden Dealer Team (later known as Mobil 1 Racing), Dick Johnson Racing, 1988 series winnerColin Bond'sCaltex CXT Racing Team,Tony Longhurst'sBenson & Hedgesteam (evolved from JPS Team BMW), as well asRobbie Francevic's Volvo team.

The increasing national popularity of the Australian Touring Car Championship, improvements in Channel 7's ATCC telecast, and the 1991 economic recession which saw a number of privateer teams only racing in the two ATCC rounds in Sydney and the Bathurst 1000, all gradually reduced the grids until the AMSCAR Series was discontinued after the 1993 season. It was revived in 1997 and held at the ARDC's two circuits, Amaroo Park and Eastern Creek, but with the major teams holding exclusivity to V8 Supercar events, the mostly Sydney-based privateers were not numerous enough to make the series viable and the series folded after 1997.

Amaroo Park 300

Between 1980 and 1987, Amaroo Park ran what was usually the second endurance race of the touring car season (theAdelaide International Racewayendurance race usually preceded it by two weeks), though it was not until1983that it became a round of theAustralian Endurance Championship.

The races were held over 155 laps of the 1.94 km (1.20 mi) circuit for a total of 300.7 km (186 mi). The 1984 Silastic 300 was the only race held under wet conditions. The final race in 1987 was known as the Hardie Irrigation 100 due to the distance being shortened to 100 laps rather than the usual 155.

Amaroo Park 300 winners

Year	Event Name	Winning Driver(s)	Car	Team
Group C
1980	CRC Chemicals 300	Peter Brock John Harvey	Holden VB Commodore	Marlboro Holden Dealer Team
1981	CRC Chemicals 300	Peter Brock John Harvey	Holden VC Commodore	Marlboro Holden Dealer Team
1982	CRC Chemicals 300	Alan Jones Barry Jones	Mazda RX-7	Barry Jones
1983	Silastic 300	George Fury	Nissan Bluebird Turbo	Nissan Motor Company
1984	Silastic 300	Gary Scott	Nissan Bluebird Turbo	Nissan Motorsport Australia
Group A
1985	Better Brakes 300	Jim Richards	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1986	Better Brakes 300	Jim Richards	BMW 635 CSi	JPS Team BMW
1987	Hardie Irrigation 100	Jim Richards	BMW M3	JPS Team BMW

National championship rounds

Rounds of various Australian motor racing championship were held at the circuit.

Australian Drivers' Championship

Year	Driver	Car	Entrant
Australian Formula 1
1981	Alfredo Costanzo	McLaren M26Chevrolet	Porsche Cars Australia
Formula Mondial
1985	John Bowe	Ralt RT4Ford	Chris Leach Enterprises
1986	Terry Ryan	Ralt RT4Ford	Terry Ryan Automotive
Australian Formula 2
1988	Barry Ward	Ralt RT30Volkswagen	Barry Ward
Formula Holden
1989*	Neil Crompton	Ralt RT20Holden	Boylan Racing
1989*	Simon Kane	Ralt RT21Holden	Clive Kane Photography
1990	Mark Poole	Shrike NB89HHolden	TAFE Team Motorsport

* Amaroo hosted two rounds of the1989 Australian Drivers' Championship(both held on the same day).Neil Cromptonwon Round 7 andSimon Kanewon Round 8.

Australian Formula 2 Championship

Year	Driver	Car	Entrant
1972	Larry Perkins	Elfin 600B/EFord	Provincial Motors
1973	Leo Geoghegan	Birrana 272Ford	Grace Bros – 5AD City State Racing Team
1974	Bob Muir	Rennmax BN6Ford	Bob & Marj Brown
1975	Geoff Brabham	Birrana 274Ford	Bob & Marj Brown
1980	John Smith	Ralt RT1Ford	John Smith
1981	John Smith	Ralt RT1Ford	Ralt Australia
1984	Peter Glover	Cheetah Mk 7Volkswagen	Peter Glover
1985	Peter Glover	Cheetah Mk 8Volkswagen	Peter Glover
1987	David Brabham	Ralt RT30Volkswagen	Australian Motor Racing Pty Ltd
1988	Barry Ward	Ralt RT30Volkswagen	Barry Ward

Australian Sports Car Championship

Year	Driver	Car	Entrant
1976	Ian Geoghegan	Porsche 911S	Ian Geoghegan
1977	Alan Hamilton	Porsche 934 Turbo	Porsche Distributors
1978	Ross Bond	Bolwell Nagari	Ross Bond
1980	John Latham	Porsche Turbo	John Latham
1986	John Bowe	Veskanda C1Chevrolet	Bernie van Elsen
1987	John Bowe	Veskanda C1Chevrolet	Bernie van Elsen
1988	Ray Hanger	RennmaxFord	Ray Hanger

Australian Sports Sedan Championship

Year	Driver	Car	Entrant
1980	Jim Richards	Ford XC Falcon Hardtop	Jim Richards
1981	Tony Edmondson	Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTVChevrolet	Donald Elliott

Lap records

The official fastest race lap records at the Amaroo Park are listed as:

Category	Time	Driver	Vehicle	Date
Full Circuit: 1.930 km (1967–1998)
Group A Sports Cars	0:44.36	John Bowe	Veskanda C1	17 May 1987
Australian Formula 2	0:46.52	Arthur Abrahams	Cheetah Mk 8	21 June 1987
Super Touring	0:50.157	Brad Jones	Audi A4 Quattro	20 July 1997
Group A Touring Cars	0:51.800	Alan Jones	BMW M3 Evolution	6 June 1991