This message was edited on
December 21, 2006 at
09:04:34 PM by Andre
The above two posts should help, but let me add.
There are five states and three territories in Australia as follows:
New South Wales - Sydney (pop 4.5 million)
PCR is the only Sprintcar track and it is within sight of the city skyscrapers. PCR is the only venue in Oz that run full WoO 410 spec. The vast majority of internationals race here for that reason. The international season starts on Boxing Day and is highlighted by the $50,000 to win on 5,6 January and ODU VI. All up around 25 American drivers will race here.
The weekly car count is massive (around 65) but at the top level there are only about four or five that are of genuine international standard (read would hold their own in WoO). Leading drivers include Kerry Madsen, Trevor Green, Robbie Farr and Troy Little. It is also home to Max Dumesny and Garry Brazier when they are not on tour and expatriates Peter Murphy, Lynton Jeffrey and Brooke Tatnell.
Queensland - Brisbane (pop 1.8 million)
Brisbane International Speedway (BIS) is the main sprintcar track, and their international season is also from Boxing Day onwards. The local Sprint car association is MSAQ. The main series is the Comp Cams Series which all take place at BIS. The term Archerfield and BIS is interchangable.
Shaine Matthews, Jon Allard and Michael Carber races from Boxing Day, to be joined on New Years day by Bud and Brent Kaeding. The local standard is strong, and I am not too sure that the American visitors will necesarrily get the better of the locals.
Weekly car count for club meetings are up to 35. Brisbane is home to Titan Racing (Reeeve Kruck/Darryn Pittman). Competition is very even and they have not had a repeat winner this season!
Victoria - Melbourne (pop 3.9 million)
The state sanctioning body is SRA. Unlike NSW and Queensland, there is no single dominating Speedway venue. The SRA Series (Eureka Garages & Sheds Series) is run at a number of regional Speedways, the main ones being Avalon, Premier, Nyora, Moama and there are a few others.
Weekly car count is very good at 35 to 40. Their top guns are Matt Reed, Mike van Bremen (MvB), David Murcott and Grant Anderson. All will give good account at the highest international level.
Premier Speedway in the regional city of Warrnambool host the most prestigious race on the Aussie calendar, the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic.
South Australia - Adelaide (pop 1.2 million)
The main speedway is Speedway City just outside Adelaide. Sprintcars are not as well organized from a state sanction perspective as the other states, but is getting better. Luke Dillon, Phil March and Steven Lines are their top guns.
Other speedways that host sprint cars are Riverview (Murray Bridge) about an hour from Adelaide, as well as Bordeline (Mt Gambier).
Western Australia - Perth (pop 1.8 million)
Home to one of the best speedway/drag racing facilities in the world, Perth Motorplex in Kwinana Beach. Often the speedway is simpy referred to as "Kwinana".
The Sprintcar Entrant Group is the state controlling body, and the series is AHG Series. Kwinana is the hub, but racing also takes place at regional cities eg Bunbury, Kalgoorlie and this year also Esperance and Albany.
Dean Jacobs, Brock Mayes and Wayne Johnson (last season) are their stable of internationals. Ryan Farrell and Ken Sartori are two locals of world class.
The big events in the states are the Krikke Boys Memorial Shootout in Bunbury and the Nanovich King of Wings at the Motorplex.
Shane Krikke is Brooke Tatnell's local car owner. Geoff Kendrick is Mayes car owner, and both are top notch big money operations.
Tasmania - Hobart (pop 0.3 million)
Tasmania is an island of the Victorian coast to the south east of the mainland. Three speedways share the sprint car racing, Latrobe, Carrick and Hobart. The top drivers there are the Redpath brothers, Adrain and Jason.
The Australian title will be held at Latrobe in February
Northern Territory - Darwin (pop 0.2 million)
Due to the nothrern location on the continent, the NT races to the northern racing season, ie in the Australian winter. Extremely good quality, with Danny Reidy, Jamie McFaddin, Ben Atkinson and Warrenne Ekins holding their own in any company.
World Series Sprintcars
It is the only national sanction tour and has been in existence for 21 years. Run on a very similar basis to WoO. Races take place in every state except New South Wales.
WSS has about 14 contracted drivers of which the top ten could compete at any level in the USA (ie WoO). Jason Johnson is currently leading the points, followed by Max Dumesny and Garry Brazier.
General Info
PCR runs 410 and everywhere else it is 372 ci. At the start of next season, the whole country goes 410. Massive opportunities to bring your 410 over here, race for a couple of meetings, and then sell it of the an eager local market, where demand (for 410s) will totally outstrip supply for at least the next three years.
I am going to do a D.I.Y. kit for teams wanting to bring over cars, race and the sell locally. Probably publish it mid 2007.
Hey, I did not really set out to write a "war & peace" novel, but heck I love this stuff! Hope it helps!
www.sprintcardaily.com
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