ARTICLES

Circuit Break: Mt Druitt

18 November 2011 | Come for a ride as we recce the tracks that helped shape the ARDC... turn one, Mt Druitt Motor Racing Circuit.

If you took a long drive west of Sydney half way through last century you were guaranteed to hit, pretty much nothing. The sprawl of Sydney's suburbia was barely a blip on the landscape. But nestled in the vast expanses of farmland was a birthplace of competitive Australian motorsport - a track where future world champions Sir Jack Brabham cut his teeth.

The venue was Mt Druitt Motor Racing Circuit, located roughly 45 km west of Sydney.

There were no stadiums, no pit garages, no crash barriers, no race control tower... no tarmac, originally either. The racing was raw. Real men need only apply.

The Track
The track was etched into land that housed a decommissioned RAAF landing strip, until it was acquired by the Australian Sporting Car Club (ASCC) in 1948. The 2.9km track incorporated the old runway and taxi ways, and some of the surrounding land. Apexes were marked by 44 gallon drums.

The first race was held in October that year. By 1952 a full road circuit has been laid, measuring 3.6km (2.25 miles).

Steered By ARDC
The newly formed Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) held its first race at MT Druitt on November 30, 1952. It was won by Alf Swadling in an MG TC. The main race was a 50 mile (80km) Handicap. David McKay took the chequered flag in his MG Special.

As the number of race meetings grew, so did the legend of the men racing at the Mt Druitt track - considered at the time to be a stand out Australian race track. Race meetings often attracted over 15,000 spectators.

Mt Druitt was even home to Australia's first 24 Hour Race held in 1954. Complete with a Le Mans start, the race attracted a field of 22 entrants at 2pm 31 January. Bill Pitt, Chas Swinburne and Geordie Anderson drove a Jaguar XK 140 hardtop to victory.

The Chequered Flag
The day that Leo Geoghegan clinched the 1957 ARDC Championship in his 1950 Holden Sedan, November 10, 1957 also became the last full race day held at Mt Druitt.

Race promoter Belf Jones and the ARDC became entangled in a dispute about the future of events at the Mt Druitt circuit. During a meeting in February 1958, the parties failed to reach an agreement.

Shortly after the meeting a section of the race track was vandalised with a ditch digger. The damage to the road was irreparable.

Sprint meetings continued to be held on the undamaged sections of the airstrip, but things were never the same for Mt Druitt.

A piece of legislation proved to be the final nail Mt Druitt's coffin. Under the Speedway (Public Safety) Act 69, introduced in 1957, race tracks (speedway) were required to be licensed. Without a license, the Mt Druitt Motor Racing Circuit closed, making way for a new generation of better equipped venues.