Lakeside Park History

Lakeside Park, formerly known as Lakeside International Raceway is a motor racing circuit located in Kurwongbah, City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. It is 30-kilometre (19 mi) north of Brisbane, and lies adjacent to Lake Kurwongbah.

The circuit was known as the spiritual home of Queensland motorsport and was built by volunteers and borrowed machinery in the 1960s. The 2.410 km (1.498 mi) circuit opened on 19 March 1961 and was closed in mid-2001. The circuit reopened on 5 April 2008, with a race meeting held the following day.

Lakeside was built between 1959 and 1960 by the Queensland Motor Sporting Club. The opening meeting was staged on Sunday 19 March 1961, and the first international meeting was held the following year.

Touring cars were a mainstay of the circuit's popularity, with the venue hosting the single race Australian Touring Car Championship titles in both 1964 and 1967. Following the change to a series format, Lakeside staged rounds of the ATCC in most years from 1970 to 1998.

Although national championship racing was still being held at the circuit in July 2001 declining revenues, mounting debts, court proceedings, an increasingly hostile local council and competition for event with the nearby Queensland Raceway led to the circuit's closure in 2001.

During the seven years the circuit was closed, several organisations and activist groups made up of competitors, fans and driver training advocates have campaigned to have the circuit reopen.

'Friends of Lakeside', led by Robert Hardacre and Trevor 'Shelby' Beutel compiled much data relating to the history of Lakeside and were able to initially have the circuit listed on the Queensland Heritage Register, which is the main reason why the local council were prevented from demolishing the track and facilities. Friends of Lakeside is a small group with the aims of preserving Lakeside as the home of historic and modern era motorsport for all.

'Lakeside Motor Racing Enthusiasts' is composed of both car and motorcycle aficionados from 17 to 70 years old who come from various motoring fraternities and niches.

During the refurbishment a tunnel was also added underneath the circuit just before the foot bridge. The circuit is now 12m wide on the exit of Shell Corner, previously it was 8m wide at this point. The Bus Stop was not resurfaced, and neither was a short stretch between Hungry and Eastern Loop. The majority of the bumps were removed during the resurfacing. Further upgrades following these works in 2011 involved removing the Armco barriers on the inside of the track on the exit of Karousel. A sand trap was added and the runoff area increased and concrete barriers installed. The track reopened after the refurbishment in early 2009 and has remained open since, although its ongoing operation is under threat due to repeated breaches of the venues' 70 dB noise restrictions.