On Thursday night the BDRA held a meeting at the Bairnsdale RSL to outline its recovery and development strategy for the recently vandalised Bairnsdale drag strip. Local drag racers from Bairnsdale and also from as far away as Canberra and Sydney attended to ask questions about BDRA plans for the future of the facility. Police and council representatives also attended.
Attendees were assured that wilful damage done to the facility recently would not stand in the way of BDRA development plans. The meeting also confirmed that local enthusiasm for continued racing at all levels once the track is rebuilt is extremely strong. Additionally, support and commitment has been flowing in from all over Australia and even America.
BDRA spokesman, Mike Trahar, later said, “Adversity really brings people together. We knew locals wanted growth for the track but we’re amazed at the support flowing in from diverse sources, including people who’ve never even been to a drag race before.”
So, despite the unnecessary setback, the future of the facility looks brighter than ever.
ANDRA, the governing body of drag racing in Australia, has offered its full support for the track and Pro Modified Australia has committed to an annual Slamfest event at the track once it’s refurbished.
Trahar said the BDRA is choosing to view the wanton destruction positively as the creation of a “blank canvas” that will permit the track to be rebuilt to world-class standards. The organization invites input from local racers and supporters and other interested parties.
Support and suggestions regarding events and infrastructure can be lodged at bairnsdaledragway@yahoo.com
The BDRA is looking forward to working with local racers and enthusiasts, racers from all over Australia, the Bairnsdale Council, Police, the CFA, St John’s Ambulance and all of the community organizations set to benefit from drag racing at the new facility.
Rather than proving to be a major setback, the willful destruction of this community asset is actually having a galvanising effect and has set the agenda for establishing Bairnsdale as the permanent host of Australia’s newest and greatest eighth-mile drag racing facility. The BDRA wants to thank everyone who attended the meeting, and those who communicated by alternative means, for their invaluable support in building the new Bairnsdale Dragway.
The track was torn by the previous lease owners Bairnsdale Motor Sports Club (BMSC) upon legal advice to remove all the clubs assets from the site.
BMSC made the following statements to East Gippsland Shire Council officers in regard to the damage.
“We are liable for the surface. If someone else races on that surface and has an accident and gets killed, we are liable,” BMSC vice president Peter Cadby said.
“According to your contract we are to leave you the council with 265 metre’s of track. You’ve got that, you’ve got the complete run-off area. You just haven’t got the racing surface, because if we left it there, we were liable.”
