from Ipswich Kart Club
As the Ipswich Kart Club heads into “The Bob Edyvean” KA100 Titles meeting early next month (May 2nd), Bob kindly prepared the commentary below for the club’s record.
A snapshot of Bob’s accomplishments:
- IKC President 1982-1990
- Karting Queensland President 1990 -1993
- IKC Life Membership awarded 1994
- AKA Vice President 1994 -1996
- Karting Queensland Life Member awarded – 1997
- AKA CEO 1997 – 2000
- AKA Life Member awarded 2000
Enjoy the Read.
How IKC came to be at Willowbank
by Bob Edyvean
Based at Mt Crosby in 1982 we were starting to hear rumours of noise complaints from local residents. The track was also becoming outdated and in need of serious repairs so it was inevitable that the need to relocate was nearing .
It was brought to our attention that a large portion of land in the Willowbank area was given to the Moreton Shire Council by the Federal Government to be used specifically for motor sports. Enquires were made and the first of many meetings was held and it was quite obvious that we would require the blessing of the drag club as their concern was being the dust from a dirt track would have a detrimental effect on their high performance engines.
An informal meeting with Drag Club President John Winterburn & Secretary Dennis Syrimis was convened and when I advised them that we raced on a asphalt track the mood soon changed and I was given the royal tour and advice of the full complex. I soon after received a letter with their stamp of approval & best wishes. As a result an inter club friendship developed.
As time went on more meetings with the council and the eventual approval was granted subject to conditions. It should be noted that at this point in time, the meetings to date were between myself the chairman John Nugent, the chief engineer Norm Crasswell and Councilor Bruce Casos who was also a committee member of the drag club.
Time to now take a serious approach to the project, a club with approximately 32 members and a bank balance of around $30,000 and a project with an estimated cost in excess of $200,000.
Next a design of the actual track was in order to enable costing, members were requested to submit plans/designs of the actual racetrack, the successful design was submitted by club member Ken Cooper, a mines engineer/surveyor.
The actual plans and working drawings were drawn and submitted by long time club member Drene Jamieson of Jamieson Drafting Services (no cost involved.)
Time to clear the land, not easy as with all councils removal of trees is a no no, however we won’t go any further into that.
As you can imagine the cost of clearing a block of heavily timbered land would be very expensive. Nearby was an open cut coal mine with a large number of heavy machinery on site owned by Leo & Green so red face and tail between my legs I fronted their office where I met the owner Ron Leo (who turned out to be one of life’s real gentlemen), I explained the situation I needed a large parcel of heavily timbered land cleared and the problem was we had no money. He looked at me and said he would give us some help, the deal was he would give us two D 9 bulldozers and supply all of the fuel and we would compensate the drivers. My first thoughts were drivers wages would be expensive I asked how much and his reply was they don’t work for money on weekends. The cost was 1 carton of beer per driver per day, this deal was settled on a hand shake.
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On completion Ron called in for an inspection and advised that whilst the timber was pushed into heaps to be burned, we should be cleaning the small sticks etc. with a stick rake. My reply was “what’s a stick rake” It turns out it is some type of metal frame which is towed behind a vehicle which turns up the small sticks etc. A number of so called stick rakes were manufactured on site by members, the tow vehicles was not a problem, one of our members (no names mentioned) was a high ranking officer with the local armed forces (CMF) who arranged for driver training to be carried out at Willowbank, the most effective being a large army truck towing a cattle grid (no idea where the grid came from, I only know it was not there at the end of the day.)
Time to draw up specs and call for quotes on the actual track. Fortunately I was good friends with John Pizzaro (14 times national champion) who offered his assistance and advice, having just been involved in an advisory capacity in a similar situation at a southern track. He introduced me to the manager of Bitupave who turned out to have an endless amount of knowledge on specs for race tracks.
Three quotes were called for including one from Moreton Shire Council. After much deliberation it was decided that even though the council quote was the highest it was awarded to them, members fearing that if any difficulties arose, the council was more inclined to offer the best results. It was a good decision as a number of problems did occur mainly with drainage and areas where the land had subsided due to the removal of the larger trees, all issues were handled professionally by the shire council Forman/overseer Mr. Bevan Margotts.
As this project was progressing, karters could see that this was real and a steady influx of new members was evident which added to our depleted funds.
Whilst previous informal discussions had been had with the Commonwealth Trading Bank it was now time to make it formal. End result, we could only borrow the amount required if some of the members went guarantee for the full amount. This was not as simple as it sounds, however we made it happen and we were on our way.
As a reward the members who acted as guarantors for the loan were offered free fence signage if it could be beneficial to them. Signage was then at a cost made available to other members as well as the general public and sponsors these funds were made use of as we progressed.
Now to the infrastructure to bring the complex to a lock up stage the fencing was a priority. The first part of any fencing is the post holes, earlier we had purchased an old tractor, old but in very good condition we only needed a post hole borer. Low & behold on arrival Saturday morning next to the tractor was a post hole borer. One week later all holes were bored the tractor remained but the borer was missing (no questions asked, no answers given – sometimes it pays to be dumb).
We were fortunate to have three club members namely Russell Plumb, Les Balmer, and Garry Plumb who were fencing contractors and with help from members made short work of the fence.
Control Tower, Besser blocks and bricklayer were donated by a friend of someone, Tiles and the Laying was at no cost by way of club member Graham Vellacott, Windows were and supplied and fitted at no cost by Gold Coast member Tony Glidden of Window Exchange Service, Benches and kitchen cupboards supplied and fitted at no cost by club member Jim Cleveland of James Ross Manufacturing, Electrical again by member Greg Topping at no cost not sure how the materials came to be on site I believe it was from a friend of his friend.
A large amount of fill was required to level the areas outside the track and the pit area, club members Rodney and his uncle Don complete with two semi-trailers delivered many loads I believe it was supplied by a friend of one of their friends, not sure how but a few days later it had been spread and levelled.
At this point in time all the road base was in place and all profiles were set, unfortunately it failed the compaction tests in a number of places due to where large trees had been removed. It was now that our decision to accept the most expensive quote was to pay off, all softer areas were dug out and filled with heavier materials including large rocks. It passed the compaction test so down with the bitumen (we now have a track) more new members arriving more money looking good, a couple of well attended working bees and we now had the ripple strips at the corners.
Toilet block, the trenches were dug pipes laid floor walls and roof all in place (no cisterns) As luck would have it the annual Scout Jamboree was held at Collingwood Park and at its conclusion all items were being sold at a very cheap rate as you would believe, there was not much interest in second hand toilets so as a result and at Black Friday prices, I returned home car and trailer loaded with toilets. Plumbers/Club members Rob Jensen and Brad Guest on stand-by waiting to install them.
Spectator mound. There was a need for a grandstand (no money) A spectator mound sounded like a good and cheaper alternative. Down to Ron Leo once again, I explained what a spectator mound was and again he agreed to help the first truck load of fill arrived (you guessed it too big to fit in the gate) a number of smaller trucks followed complete with a dozer and a roller. Ron advised that if we would sprinkle grass seed he would have one of his trucks water it on a daily basis as required.
A few members armed with paint brushes adding final touches and we are ready to go.
- First official practice late November 1989
- First trial race on 3 December 1989, attracted a record of 153 entries.
- Official opening by the Right Hon Mr. David Hammil Minister for transport
THIS COMPLEX WAS BUILT BY RACERS, FOR RACERS, AND MANAGED BY RACERS
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