5 of Sydney’s lost racetracks

1. Westmead Speedway
Despite only being opened for a little over a decade, Westmead Speedway held hugely popular weekly events in front of enormous crowds. Located in Western Sydney on the site where Westmead Hospital is today, the 800-metre track and its benchmark facilities opened in the mid-1950s at Parramatta’s showgrounds and hosted both two and four-wheeled events. Its close proximity to Westmead’s train station meant it was very well attended by race fans, but was closed at the end of the 1968 racing season to make way for the hospital.

2. Catalina Park
Located 90 minutes west of Sydney in the Blue Mountains township of Katoomba, the 2.2km circuit operated between 1960 and 1969 and its lack of run-off areas made it notoriously dangerous. The circuit remains intact to this day and while its largely overgrown and somewhat hidden by thick shrubbery and trees, it’s completely accessible with armco, signage, track boundaries and even the podium all still in place. An area of the circuit lined either side by timber railway sleepers was named The Tunnel of Love.

3. Amaroo Park
Located in Annangrove in Sydney’s north west, Amaroo Park was opened in 1967 and hosted various two and four-wheeled events, including the first 13 years of the running of the iconic Castrol 6-Hour production race. As well as the undulating 1.9km road racing circuit, Amaroo Park also boasted a Speedway oval, a dirt track, a motocross track and a hill climb course. It succumbed to Sydney’s urban sprawl in 1998 and was redeveloped into residential housing. The signage is still in place on Annangrove Road, but apart from the odd motorsport-themed street name, there’s very little evidence giving the area’s once rich racing history away.

4. Oran Park
Unlike Amaroo, today’s Oran Park Town which is built on the site of the now-closed Oran Park racetrack, has very much retained its motorsport heritage. It opened in 1962 as a 1.6km circuit and was lengthened to its two-track layout 11 years later in 1973 and it was the first time a bridge was incorporated into any Australian racetrack. Before it was its own town, it was located in Narellan in Sydney’s south west and featured the kidney-shaped 1.9km South Circuit as well as the 2.6km long GP Circuit. It hosted both the 1988 and 1989 rounds of the Superbike World Championship and the motorcycle lap record is held by Mat Mladin which he set in 1995. Like Amaroo, the dazzle of property development dollars saw it demolished in 2010.  

5. Sydney Showground Speedway
Surely one of Sydney’s longest-running race circuits, Sydney Showgrounds Speedway can lay claim to holding events for 70 years between when it opened in 1926 right through to its last race hosted in 1996. Located in Sydney’s Moore Park, the venue was first raced first by solo speedway riders and became a hugely popular venue for four-wheeled speedway and stock cars. Though its enormous popularity would eventually be its downfall. The circuit’s weekly Saturday evening events would often attract up to 30,000 spectators and the complaining by local residents over noise and lack of parking soon prevailed and racing ceased in 1981. The track remained as part of the showground’s amenities and the various motor racing events made one-off appearances at the circuit through to its 1996 closure to make way for Sydney’s popular and rather noisy Entertainment Quarter and Fox Studios.