One Raceway, Goulburn, is almost ready to go. Photo: One Raceway, Facebook.
Work on the former Wakefield Park Raceway near Goulburn is “90 per cent finished, 90 per cent to go”, according to the track’s new owner, with the final touches almost as intensive as the massive redevelopment already completed.
But it’s under a deadline to reopen.
Steve Shelley, who also has the Pheasant Wood Circuit in Marulan under his belt, bought the track from the Benalla Auto Club (BAC) in April 2023, with plans to completely redevelop and reopen it around the middle of 2024 under the new name of ‘One Raceway’.
He has now confirmed it will reopen for the first weekend in October, when the sixth round of the Australian Superbike Championship rolls in.
“They used to hold it at Wakefield Park … and would love to come back and showcase our new circuit,” he says.
Wakefield Park was one of only two racing circuits in NSW approved for motorsport use, the other being Sydney Motorsport Park.
But the 2.3-kilometre track was closed indefinitely in September 2022, after a long-running saga between BAC and the Goulburn-Mulwaree Council ended in a court ruling that limited race days to four days a month. The club judged this “unviable” and effectively walked away.
Mr Shelley says various motorsport bodies, including Motorsport Australia and Australian Auto-Sport Alliance (AASA), as well as “everyone from the neighbours to the Goulburn mayor”, are excited to have it coming back.
“There were a lot of problems with not just noise, but the way the noise wasn’t managed,” he says.
“We’re building relationships rather than breaking them.”
Around 12 million tonnes of dirt were moved to construct sound barriers around the track. Photo: One Raceway, Facebook.
One of the most obvious changes to the facility are the 12 million tonnes of earth piled into giant sound walls at the northern and southern ends, designed to “restrict the amount of noise that goes across the valley, as well as doubling as great vantage points”.
Whenever it rained, large amounts of water would also flow through the site and out onto Braidwood Road, which “caused all sorts of problems”, so Mr Shelley says drainage has also been improved.
The track itself now includes 13 turns, up from 10 turns, and banked corners. But a key part of the redevelopment was making it bi-directional, a world-first for a permanent motor racing circuit.
“We’ve created two circuits where you can travel clockwise, and anti-clockwise in what we now call the Shelley circuit,” Mr Shelley explains.
The site has been plagued by drainage issues for years, but no longer. Photo: One Raceway, Facebook.
Or as the slogan goes, “two circuits, one raceway”.
“We’ll definitely have more opportunity because this second circuit will create a significantly higher level of interest,” he adds.
“There are people who travel from far and wide to go to this place in Goulburn, and we think being able to run both clockwise and anti-clockwise is going to be an enormous drawcard.”
Over the last few weeks, it’s been a scramble to apply the finishing touches – laying asphalt, shaping kerbs, installing electrical equipment, landscaping and fencing, and building crash barriers, not to mention all the cleaning and painting.
And even after October, there’ll be more work to do.
Steve says the old building next to the pit lane, which previously housed medical equipment and media rooms, was “dangerous and redundant” and will be replaced with an all-new facility once the DA comes through from Goulburn council.
“In the longer term, we’re also going to introduce a newer, bigger and more professional pit lane, together with pitlane garages. But that’s down the track. We’ve got to get open and operational so we can produce some revenue.”
The Australian Superbike Championship from 4 to 6 October will be followed a couple of weeks later by the sixth round of the Speed Series, for “two very significant motorsport events just in one month”.
The first motorsport event arrives on 4 October. Photo: One Raceway, Facebook.
Members of the public will also be able to try their hand at driving around the track in regular track days.
But the facility won’t just be about motorsport.
“We’ve very focused on low-noise or no-noise producing events and community-type events, such as show-and-shines, car boot sales and farmers’ markets,” Mr Shelley says.
“We want to open the place up in good time for the community to come and enjoy the place and do things other than motorsport.”
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