Popular Queensland Raceway gains a reprieve
But first there's a small mound to climbOne of the venues where Mick Doohan, Daryl Beattie and Casey Stoner cut their teeth as juniors, Mike Hatcher Raceway on the Gold Coast, was to be permanently closed by the local council -- well so we thought.
The Bikesales Network has now learnt that competition will continue at the popular speedway and dirt track venue for another two years instead of falling into the clutches of developers -- but only if a 6m mound is built around the Arundel site.
Doohan was aghast at the original decision by the council to close the venue. The mayor of the Gold Coast council is former long distance running great Ron Clarke.
"He's lost me in apparently not realising the Gold Coast needs facilities for the kids to ride," Doohan told AMCN. "If the kids don't have a track they may go and ace in the hills, and that's when accidents happen."
Clarke said that the decision to end motorcycling activities was not an easy one for councillors to make.
"I appreciate that it means a lot to the 75 junior club members who ride there, but I also understand the discomfort suffered by nearby residents due to dust and noise," he said in a Gold Coast Council media release. "On balance, I believe we had to protect the amenity of the residents."
Mike Hatcher Raceway has hosted a number of Australian and state championships over a 30-year-period, with the last major event the 2008 Australian senior dirt track title.
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