Dirt track racing returns to Gold Coast

Racing will return to the Gold Coast’s only motorcycle dirt track for the first time in three years this Saturday (October 20), when the Mike Hatcher Junior Motorcycle Club (MHJMC) holds its Grand Opening club race day.

The venue of Casey Stoner’s first race win will come alive with the sound of junior dirt track racers for the first time since September 2009, following a successful battle by Queensland’s second-largest dirt track club to meet the Gold Coast City Council’s stringent noise regulations.

After more than 30 meetings with the council, more than 6500 emails, 25 acoustic test sessions and 3500 hours spent by club president Mike Findlay, MHJMC was granted a three-year lease to hold meetings at the fully refurbished Mike Hatcher Park circuit in Labrador.

Since reopening for practice and a simulated race day in recent weeks some 120 members have joined MHJMC, which has been based at the Captain Cook Drive venue since 1985. Mike Hatcher Raceway hosted a total of seven Australian dirt track title events between 1987 and 2007, as well as numerous Queensland state titles.

Apart from Stoner, a host of Aussie world champions also started their careers at Hatchers. Five-time world GP champion Mick Doohan, triple world Superbike champion Troy Bayliss and three-time world speedway champion Jason Crump all raced at Mike Hatcher Raceway as juniors.

Entry for this weekend’s Grand Opening will be free for spectators, who can witness a full day’s racing across a range of junior dirt track classes, including 50cc demonstration (PeeWees), 50cc Division 2, 65cc, 85cc, 85cc Big Wheel, 100cc, 125-250cc Under 16s and 125-250cc Under 19s.

Gates open at 7.00am, with sign-on and scrutineering from 7.30am and a riders’ briefing at 8.45pm, followed by practice and then racing. A full canteen and bar service will be available.