Illabo's famed speedway hosted its first event for the year at the weekend.
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More than 300 spectators turned out to witness the 35 vintage speedsters, sidecars and solo bikes take to the dirt track for the Shannons Classic event.
"It was our best spectator event yet," said GasWorks president and event organiser Kerry Phelan.
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Arriving on March 9, racers kicked up the dust on the nearly conditioned track, representing a culmination of more than three years' work.
"The success of the weekend was due to a combination of proactive track preparation and of the continued support from the speedcar fraternity all over the nation," said Mr Phelan.
"It was an absolute success, people were saying this was the best it's ever been."
Track performance has also helped organisers identify a unique value to the speedway that was overlooked prior to the weekend's meeting.
"We're seeing a new market here for sprintcars to use the speedway as a test ground," said Mr Phelan.
"A lot of tracks around the country are closing down because they're too close to the city and there's a noise restriction.
"But ours remains open so people can come down and use the track to try out their speedcars."
Anecdotally, Mr Phelan said one gentleman had purchased his speedcar on March 8, before travelling to Illabo that afternoon.
"He turned up and it wasn't working so he had a day to fix it up before the races on Sunday," Mr Phelan said.
"If he had turned up on Sunday and that was the first time he'd been able to try it out, he'd have to wait until May before he could have another go."
However, the two-day event at the weekend was somewhat marred by the absence of a few notable guests. A total of eight national titles competitors were expected at the meeting, but only one showed.
Only Ron Trounson Junior made the trip from Victoria to be there for the scheduled demonstrations.
His father, Ron Trounson Senior won the national sidecar title in 1952 aboard a JAP Sidecar outfit.
His presence, Mr Phelan said, made up in small part for the others' absence.
"It was a disappointment on Saturday because the show we were anticipating just didn't translate," he said.
"What [Ron] did was excellent, he was really fantastic on the track."
Illabo's speedway will hold its next race meeting in April, at which time the GasWorks Garage crew will launch their driver-training program.