Gracefield Track

[skilly035]

Hey,
Not sure if this is where this post belongs, but worth a try!

My grandfather (Gordon Skilton) used to race the Gracefield track waaaay back in his day.
Since I live in Lower Hutt, and sooo many people ask if there is a track closer to Wellington than Manfield, I thought it would be amazing to see Gracefield up and running again.
I heard from my grandfather that it was a great track, and great crowds!
My Dad said as a kid it was his favourite track to watch.
I want to get in contact with anyone I need to get in contact with to try and make this happen.
It's a shame that the sport involves so much travelling for people in the lower North/Upper South Islands.

[BMWST?]

The vic club ran a couple of meetings there after the bigger meetings earlier in the decade
It is a hell of a lot of work to do a street meeting and speeds would be very high there now....
Some infrastructure stuff might be able to be "borrowed" from the wanganui outfit,they helped us do gracefeild.

[Rcktfsh]

Check out the kiwiracer website for some footage of meetings of old from there. Think it was 83 it was resurrected for the Countrywide series, very fast, very bumpy and very scarey and that was on a 250, hate to think what a modern superbike would be like there. Ran again in 84 with a fatality in the F1 race which was the end of it from memory.

[bistard]

Apart from the huge task of running a street meeting,the surface (as in the road) is appalling around Gracefeild now,let alone the amount of businesses that operate out of there now,quite a few trucking companies that operate 24/7
Also another factor to take into account is how much faster modern bikes would be going around there,a very scary proposition

[roogazza]

Check out the kiwiracer website for some footage of meetings of old from there. Think it was 83 it was resurrected for the Countrywide series, very fast, very bumpy and very scarey and that was on a 250, hate to think what a modern superbike would be like there. Ran again in 84 with a fatality in the F1 race which was the end of it from memory.
That late ? I thought it died before 1980, I remember being there last in about 78' ? G.

[allycatz]

I remember going to Gracefield as a teen (15 ish mid 70's) and watching racing...some horrendous crashes...

[Maha]

Never knew the track at all but, watching a DVD recently about the Marlboro Series 77'-78', alot of the riders thought it was arsehole place to ride (back then) one of the overseas riders (Italian I think) said he wont be back. Croz was asked about it and he said '' yeah its bumpy but dont out ride yourself and you wont have a problem''.....

[allycatz]

From memory there were rail tracks intersecting the roads too....corners were pretty severe too..I think it was just deemed too unsafe in the end

[skilly035]

I'm sure that was what was said about the Cemetery Circuit as well?
That was physically demanding for me, but so much fun.
I forgot to mention, I'm talking sidecars :)

[BMWST?]

From memory there were rail tracks intersecting the roads too....corners were pretty severe too..I think it was just deemed too unsafe in the end

corners are mostly more open than wanganui 2 sets of railway lines,one very fast on a crest.The speed would be the biggest factor its basically a square with two corners more than 90 degrees and two less than 90 with the aforementioned crest down in the middle of one of the straights.
As i said the vic club ran two meeting there after the marlboro series,I cant remember the exact date but one year i had just got my Ducati 900 s2

[Rcktfsh]

Trivial Gracefield fact #237....the Yamaha TZ700 made its 1st appearance otside of Japan in the hands of John Boote at Gracefield. Well that was what I was told anyway.

[sugilite]

I've raced there...picture this, day after day, year after year the trucks spill diesel around every corner, there is a concrete wall at the end of a 300 kph straight (modern day superbike) and you cross railway lines at about that speed, the other railway lines are crossed at the crest of a rise while leaning over. Modern bikes have no place at Gracefield. Sidecars would still be dodgy imho

In no way can it be compared to Wanganui, hard to imagine two street circuits more opposed than those two.

[Shadows]

I have a better idea for the faster bikes of today.

Mt. Wainui. The Hutt's answer to Mt. Panorama.

[skilly035]

I've raced there...picture this, day after day, year after year the trucks spill diesel around every corner, there is a concrete wall at the end of a 300 kph straight (modern day superbike) and you cross railway lines at about that speed, the other railway lines are crossed at the crest of a rise while leaning over. Modern bikes have no place at Gracefield. Sidecars would still be dodgy imho

In no way can it be compared to Wanganui, hard to imagine two street circuits more opposed than those two.

I never compared the two tracks. Each course is just as dangerous as the next. I've raced Wanganui, people say that is horrifying. I found it pretty simple really - Paeroa though, that is difficult, and in some cases worse than Wanganui. But, my new found favourite track!

Sidecars can do anything :p solo riders don't seem to want to accept that hahaha. In fact, I could make that a new thread.. Why is it that solo riders have it in for sidecar riders? (not saying that you do btw sugilite)

[jellywrestler]

Gracefield is too fast to run a meeting on simply in this day and age. Wanganui comprises of mostly slow corners, excepting the esses where crashing means usually a wee slide and following riders have a good chance of avoiding the carnage whereas gracefeilds corners are mostly about as fast as the wanaganui esses and when someone goes down theres a bigger mess...

[Howie]

I've raced there...picture this, day after day, year after year the trucks spill diesel around every corner, there is a concrete wall at the end of a 300 kph straight (modern day superbike) and you cross railway lines at about that speed, the other railway lines are crossed at the crest of a rise while leaning over. Modern bikes have no place at Gracefield. Sidecars would still be dodgy imho

In no way can it be compared to Wanganui, hard to imagine two street circuits more opposed than those two.

I agree entirely, I attempted to race there once, in December 1986, (got the white knuckles award for the biggest moment of the meeting approx 180km tank slapper that spat me down the road. I believe that was the second to last time it was run. At that stage the Hutt valley Motorcycle club were running it with help from the Vic club. as Sugilite and others mention, the condition of the seal has got worse, it is all on reasonably wide roads, so speeds would be very high, and it just would not be big bike friendly.

However a street race in the Wgtn area would be great, but you would need to get a lot of support behind it. As the costs would be quite high, and gaining a resource consent would be an interesting challenge in itself.

[StoneY]

I have a better idea for the faster bikes of today.

Mt. Wainui. The Hutt's answer to Mt. Panorama.

YES! Great PLAN dude!

Close MY hill for a day and let us loose, circuit could include Bell road down to the box factory and back up Hutt side through tunnel to WOA side roundabout, rinse and repeat....
Now, we only have to convince the rest of our community to just stay home for 2 days!

I love that hill, and cross it daily

:done: