It has now been just over a decade since Ravenswood International Raceway closed, marking the end of just over 30 years of history.
Of course the sport moved on to the world class Perth Motorplex, but plenty of memories remain at the venue that really brought drag racing in Western Australia into the mainstream.
There were some rough times endured at the strip but it became one of the main venues for the sport nationally, perhaps peaking with the running of the 1990 Nationals.
Many more points rounds for national categories were run at the track, attracting top racers including many of the touring international stars of the 90s such as Gary Densham, Glenn Mikres and Scotty Cannon.
The track record finished at a respectable 5.15 from Rachelle Splatt at its final event in 2000. The speed record was held at 295mph by Ancel Horton in his jet dragster while the fastest wheel driven run was a 283mph blast from Lloyd Jones in the Southside Engine Centre Nitro Funny Car.
Recently a group has formed on Facebook to bring together some old photos from the track and posted were some photos of the track as it now exists by Dave George.
Not much is left now, but there is enough to still stir a few memories.
Looking back towards the startline from the northern mound, where the majority of spectators would sit. The rusting grandstand can be seen near the startline (more pictures of that later).
On the track looking towards the mound. The race track serves as a runway for the current property owner.
The startline end of the northern mound. This area used to be separated by a fence from general admission as you could walk from the pits on to this grassed section. It was particularly popular with bike and junior dragster racers whose pits were on the northern side of the staging lanes.
Standing on northern mound looking towards the startline. Some of the red paint can still be seen. The tower and most other infrastructure are long gone. A lot of it can be found at Collie Motorplex.
This sign has seen better days.
The very end of the braking area and turn off. There was a short sand trap after this, then some bush, then the perimeter fence (which right up until the venue’s closing had a stretched section from John Handley making it all the way through and hitting the chain link in his supercharged dragster, now run by Brad Baker in Modified at the Motorplex).
Turn off meets up with return road. As the only road into the pits this section could get quite busy at times.
On the centreline looking back towards the start line. Like Kwinana the staging lanes were right behind the start line.
Here’s a better picture of those aforementioned lanes. On the right were the bike and junior pits, on the left was typically where the “big boys” would park. Behind the bush is the Murray River.
I like this picture, looking towards the finishline from the middle of the track. Just think of all the memorable passes that went down here.
View of the finishline. More than a few Funny Cars came storming through here on fire.
Traction is probably a little iffy these days!
The main grandstand was the first one built, quite solid in its day. It sat right next to the control tower and corporate suites.
Two more grandstands were later added. I can remember seeing both Allan Dobson and Jim Carter on fire from here.
A lone path from the spectator car park to the mound.
Hope you enjoyed these photos. Just remember that the site is private property and the owner does get a little cranky at people going on there without permission. So just enjoy these photos and let your memories be.
