62 replies to this topic

[guido]

I can tell you one main reason that people will not use and patron the tracks and areanas' is for the reasoning that if you do a burnout on the street it costs you nothing but rubber and wear and tear on the vehicle. BUT if you have to goto a stip or a venue somewhere it costs you something more its costing you 10 - 40 in entry etc etc no matter what you say to people they will always be not willing to pay even if its legal at the strip they still look at the initial 10 - 40 to get into the place as apposed to oh i might loose my car for 24 48 hours and $300 fines etc. willing to be flammed or banned this is my opinion.

Chris

[WYT_GTR]

I think that until a complex gets built within an hour or so of Cairns you will always get dickheads on the street up here.

To drive a street car 4hrs to Townsville, race it, and have the possibility of breaking it and getting stuck in Townsville isn't very appealing.

When you look at the other option of hiring a trailer and getting a tow car the dollars start adding up very quickly.

You should have a back up plan from the start before driving the car... if it breaks down ill do this.... if it is in an accident I do that.... don't wait for something to happen to decide what to do next.... that's where you lose money.....

[Force Fed]

as it has been said, the townsville drag strip is going to be "deleted" within the next few years. the previous owners (kingson's) sold it and the surrounding area which included the entire strip, the go cart track AND the paintball area and speedway.

[sinister]

How can you have a back up plan?

"If my car breaks I am walking home" is about the only plan you get!! All good if you live in the 'Vile but when you're 350km away your choices are limited!! My car doesn't get on a tow truck but if it did 350km tow would be awesome to pay for. The average streeter doesn't or can't afford to have a trailer or ute full of spare parts and tools to fix things. 350km is a long way..... but I suppose 700-800 is further!!!

[UDLOOZ]

sinister Posted Today, 08:17 PM
How can you have a back up plan?

"If my car breaks I am walking home" is about the only plan you get!! All good if you live in the 'Vile but when you're 350km away your choices are limited!! My car doesn't get on a tow truck but if it did 350km tow would be awesome to pay for. The average streeter doesn't or can't afford to have a trailer or ute full of spare parts and tools to fix things. 350km is a long way..... but I suppose 700-800 is further!!!

Of course you can have a back up plan... If you take your car to the drags expecting to run good times there is a 50/50 chance you will bust something.. Take it there on a trailer.. And yes it does get expensive but your not running it every weekend it would be an odd trip every couple of months if that..

And you cant tell me that if they had shit hot facilities in place you wouldnt make the effort to get down to t'ville to have a go???

[sinister]

It's not really practical for a streeter to find a tow car, find a trailer and tow a car that far... I don't think so anyway. I have taken it to have a go but drove it there and back. Keep in mind it is a couple hundred bucks for us to just drive there and back, race, eat, etc if we just drive.... not so bad if you live in the 'vile

Even if it was a billion dollar complex I wouldn't go more than I do now.... too much goin on to bother fixing my car

[raytriplej]

My point exactly, you can have all the backup plans in the world, but if things go wrong without a trailer and a tow car you are stuck being "billy no mates" in Townsville.
This will be the same when Townsville strip closes and you Townsville guys and girls have to get to and from Mackay.

Maybe the go is to pay top cover at RACQ, then after you drive down, race, break it, then push it outside the track and pretend it was caused by normal driving not racing.

I don't support street racing either, but someone who does a burnout in edmonton (cairns), and lives at earlville (cairns), 20ish km's away, can get home (and more importantly to work on monday) without too much of a drama.

Cairns - if it is to reduce it's street racing, needs a permenant facility with regular meetings.
Townsville - if you loose your strip, your street racing occurances will increase.

[protd]

this is why i have always towed my car to the track, not because it cant make it there under it's own steam, but because it's the easy option and no dramas if it breaks, i own a trailer and a car to tow it, but when you get there you get called a trailer queen, i'd rather be a trailer queen than a wanker who cant get his car home..

if i lived in townsville i'd have no trouble driving, but a 800km round trip is just not worth the hassle's imo..

[sinister]

^^ that is it.

Trailer queen over stuck in TSV any day.

[WOJAus]

My point exactly, you can have all the backup plans in the world, but if things go wrong without a trailer and a tow car you are stuck being "billy no mates" in Townsville.

Yeah that would be a massive hassle.
This is more of a question than anything else, but I was wondering if you guys have ever noticed this issue come up in local politics? Particularly a couple of years ago during the last state election?
Because the federal election is coming up in a month or so, I was thinking of calling around to the local candiates and asking them if this was going to be part of their election campaign or whatever (ie SOMETHING to catre for you guys in the area).
The problem is that even though most people would consider the Kart Track (and I think the Dragway) part of Townsville (which is a part of the electorate of Herbert - think George Colbran and Peter Lindsay) apparently they are actually part of the electorate of Kennedy (think Bob Kattar). This is what I was told when I called George Colbran's offices this morning. So really, theres nothing that the federal government in Townsville can do about it even if we whinge to them. And I really don't think Bob Kattar is going to give a stuff about a race track in his electorate. But then, I think it would be a lot of work to make any politician come to the party for a new track...

WOJ

PS. Sorry if I'm hijacking the thread...just let me know and chop my posts.

[WYT_GTR]

How can you have a back up plan?

"If my car breaks I am walking home" is about the only plan you get!! All good if you live in the 'Vile but when you're 350km away your choices are limited!! My car doesn't get on a tow truck but if it did 350km tow would be awesome to pay for. The average streeter doesn't or can't afford to have a trailer or ute full of spare parts and tools to fix things. 350km is a long way..... but I suppose 700-800 is further!!!

Maybe have some money set aside as a last ditch effort to get your car back to cairns or where ever from the track by tow truck or how ever..... spending money on having your car moved should provide more piece of mind than leaving it in a different town or city unsupervised..... while you are back home working trying to work out how the f**k are you gonna get your pride and joy back home..... it isn't that hard actually.

Sometimes 400 bucks sitting somewhere not touched can really help you out when the unimaginable happens...

just common sense really.

[The Don]

this is why i have always towed my car to the track, not because it cant make it there under it's own steam, but because it's the easy option and no dramas if it breaks, i own a trailer and a car to tow it, but when you get there you get called a trailer queen, i'd rather be a trailer queen than a wanker who cant get his car home..if i lived in townsville i'd have no trouble driving, but a 800km round trip is just not worth the hassle's imo..

ya trailer queen :Pwhy dont you just drive it down to brizzy and back without popping the bonnet or changing anything and race it and then drive it home thats how your ment to race SO ive been told by heaps of real racers

It's not really practical for a streeter to find a tow car, find a trailer and tow a car that far... I don't think so anyway. I have taken it to have a go but drove it there and back. Keep in mind it is a couple hundred bucks for us to just drive there and back, race, eat, etc if we just drive.... not so bad if you live in the 'vile :PEven if it was a billion dollar complex I wouldn't go more than I do now.... too much goin on to bother fixing my car

im sure you know someone with a car trailer

Edited by The Don, 13 October 2007 - 01:31 PM.

[sinister]

It won't get on a trailer or tow truck.... it is far too low. Been a bit of a dilemma on two occasions when I had to tow it because I quite simply couldn't. Getting on hoists is sometimes an issue. Last time I went to get a wheel alignment they asked if they could take off the front bar!!! I can't even jack it up to work on it with a hydraulic jack. I have to use a scissor jack to get it up a bit to get a hydraulic under it. Real pain in the ass sometimes.

[lxtorrie]

Simple...take trailor + hoist.
I have had to do that a few times....hoist up the front of the torrie then chock it onto a trailor.
Thats my 2c anyways

[UDLOOZ]

It won't get on a trailer or tow truck.... it is far too low. Been a bit of a dilemma on two occasions when I had to tow it because I quite simply couldn't. Getting on hoists is sometimes an issue. Last time I went to get a wheel alignment they asked if they could take off the front bar!!! I can't even jack it up to work on it with a hydraulic jack. I have to use a scissor jack to get it up a bit to get a hydraulic under it. Real pain in the ass sometimes.

Good excuses not to run a decent time i think??

Naa but seriously if your dead set about running your car you find ways to do it... But its all off topic anyway!
No matter what happens the strip in the ville is GONE!! How long till a new venue arisses? Who knows? But i can bet the bottom dollar street racing and ilegal skids and stuff will be at an all time high..

[Sivart]

No matter what happens the strip in the ville is GONE!! How long till a new venue arisses? Who knows? But i can bet the bottom dollar street racing and ilegal skids and stuff will be at an all time high..

Cant agree more!

[n0nac-s15]

^^ true that.

seen that comming the seccond they announced the closure of the racing facilities in the ville

[Jason Broadhurst]

I must be one of the only guys who disagrees with this slightly.

While I do wish there was more motorsport I could get involved with around townsville, I dont think it would stop the people doing illegal things on the street one bit at all. I have raced in 4 sprint series, khanas, been to the drags plenty of time and I still have the occasional street race, and my bet is the person I am racing hasn't taken his car to the track reciently.

The problem is, the people who do crazy stuff on the road, do it for the adreniline, the fun and the spur of the moment excitement it gives. Now I have seen my fare share of amazingly stupid/crazy/illegal things on the street(pretty much weekly), and I can tell you a lot of the people were regulars at street meets, sprints and hillclimbs just like me.

It is a shame things are closing down, but buisness is buisness and if there isn't enough money in it, thems the breaks.

There is also a lot of people who say they would go and race a drift even or other events if they were held, but I dont see any of them at khanas which is about as much fun as you can have in a car! Thats the problem. A lot of talk and not all that much action (in organised events that is)

My 2c.

[jlord16]

No im prity sure i alredy said stuff along those lines, making you the first person to share my views lol

[Jason Broadhurst]

Get off my bandwagon