New Hi-Tec Surface Gets Thumbs Up at Toowoomba
29/06/15…Pam Franz…courtesy of Hi Tec Oils Toowoomba Speedway Media
Current and former National Champions have given an emphatic “thumbs up” to the new white-clay racing surface at Toowoomba’s Hi-Tec Oils Speedway after a private testing session on Saturday night.
Current Australian Late Model and Super Sedan Champion, Darren Kane joined former Australian Speedcar, 360 Sprintcar and 410 Sprintcar Australian Champion, Robbie Farr along with a host of guest racers to test the very unique surface that was trucked into the Charlton venue from the north of Toowoomba over the last month.
With limited preparation and watering prior to the mid-afternoon start, the white clay was left untouched for the entire evening of testing, giving track curators an idea of how the surface would respond to a full race meeting.
“We had a multi-lane racetrack for the whole night,” Farr said, having turned some 70 laps over the night, “ and we didn’t change tyres once!”
“It was like a smaller version of Warrnambool, and we were running wherever we wanted all night. It was just fantastic, and if that’s what it’s like with 6 cars on the track at once, I can’t wait to get out there on September 19 with a full field.”
Darren Kane shared Farr’s sentiments, rating the track as “very racey, very smooth and definitely a driver’s track.”
“I can’t believe we drove away without wearing any tyres, and it was like the track stayed pretty much the same the whole session. I’m thinking the top was actually getting better than the bottom later on which is perfect for racers and fans alike. I loved it, and with it being so white, the track visibility was fantastic,” he said.
With just under twelve weeks until the venue hosts the first round of the Ultimate Sprintcar Championship – QLD on September 19, a number of significant additions will be made to the track infrastructure, including an infield water source, pit lane improvements, a new public address system and a forty-square metre video screen and editing suite that will broadcast on the Clay-per-View system through the track’s soon to be released new website.
Hi-Tec Oils Speedway Events and Operations Manager, Ben Bishop was thrilled with the test session also, labelling the test as a huge success.
“The team put a lot of research into this clay before it was put down, and full credit goes to Darren Jackson, Nick Speed, Cameron Ware and Gavin Deeth for their amazing work. And to have all the awesome volunteers here to be a part of the test was fantastic. We have a great bunch of very passionate people here in Toowoomba who are determined to join us in not just building a better facility, but a fresh and fun culture that enjoys taking our sport to the public. I’m very proud of them all, and very thankful to the teams who offered the their time and talent to assist us in testing the track. We are very fortunate to have such great people in our corner!”
The track calendar will be released within the next week. Check the Facebook page and website for updates.