History Still Lurks

Catalina Park Raceway, Katoomba

Just meters from the bustling heart of Katoomba’s main street, hidden by the local bushy scrub that will reclaim any dormant man-made structure, is a Blue Mountains motor racing gem, Catalina Park racing circuit. Unlike the wonderful road racing circuits that once dotted the News South Wales landscape, such as Amaroo Park, Oran Park, Hume Weir, and Warwick Farm, the 2.4km circuit still exists. The sound of racing engines may have faded decades ago, but the now derelict circuit lives on - fighting a losing battle against the elements.

Walking a lap of the narrow and undulating circuit, with its splintering wooden walls and rusting Armco railings, provides a glimpse into the halcyon days of motorcycle racing, an almost forgotten era that saw motorcycling legends of the 1960s risk their lives on this dangerous track.

From a motorcycle racing perspective, Catalina Park represented everything that a circuit should not be. The inside of the circuit presented sheer drops to the valley floor, while the outside extremities were lined with old railways sleepers, right to the edge of the bitumen, held in place by vertical posts that protruded above the top rail.

A lap of the circuit commenced on the downhill starting line on what was officially known as KLG Straight, the circuit bottomed out through a gradual right hander leading to the hairpin Dunlop Corner. Then it was quite a climb to another hairpin, Craven A. Next came the most daunting part – the plunge through a left/right kink down towards the pit area and through a very quick right hander at the base of the hill, before disappearing into Energol, or the Tunnel of Love as it was more commonly named. Then it was back up to the KLG Straight to finish the lap. The whole thing was over in a little over one minute.

Catalina’s final fling as a motorcycle venue came at the Katoomba Grand Prix on 7 December 1969. By that stage Sydney had two operating road racing circuits - Oran Park and Amaroo Park - and no-one seemed upset to see Catalina Park laid to rest.

Amazingly car racing at the circuit continued until the late 1990s, although by that stage it was for car club lap sprints only. There was also a time during the 1970s when the track hosted a popular Rally Cross series. Cars used the first half of the circuit before plunging into the gully to tackle a the offroad/rally section. Given he region’s temperamental weather patterns, there was never a shortage of mud to spice things up a bit.

Want to check it out? It’s hidden in plain view in the centre of Katoomba. If you are planning a trip from Sydney you can enjoy the cruisy roads of the Great Western Highway on the way up to the circuit, stop out for a spot of lunch in the well tourist-equipped town, and then head back home through the twisty layout that is the Bells Line of Road which runs through Bilpin back to Western Sydney.

Maybe pack a fold up bicycle or an RC car on the back of your bike and pretend you’re Ray Curtis. Making the sounds of a thumping Manx as you cut laps around this spectacular circuit that heralded the same safe standard as cutting Asbestos without a mask.

Enjoy The Film

Fast Lap Of Catalina Park

In the1990s, racer Andrew Knight captured one of the last snippets of in-car footage of the Catalina Park circuit at racing speed behind the wheel of his Datsun 1600. The footage shows just how daunting the circuit was. Imagine it at speed on a motorcycle.

Did You Know?

Yamaha's Lasting MarkRon Toombs Stars at Catalina's Last Hurrah

Catalina’s final fling as a motorcycle venue came at the Katoomba Grand Prix on 7 December 1969. Leading up to the event, Ron Toombs had proven to be unbeatable on the all-new Yamaha TD2 and TR2, however, stiff competition arrived also fronted in the form of veteran Eric Hinton and young chargers like Laurie Turnbull. Toombs was at his brilliant best on the Yamahas winning the 250cc, 350cc, Unlimited A Grade and Unlimited Feature events. The hard-charging Sydney-sider also established what would stand as the circuit’s all-time lap record 62.15 seconds.

History

Rise And Fall Of Catalina Park

First officially known as Walford Park, unofficially known as The Gully, and renamed Catalina Park after the derelict aeroplane that once floated in the artificial lake at the entrance to the circuit. The idea of constructing a track was first mooted as early as 1953, when members of the Blue Mountains Sporting Car Club began discussions with the local council. The plan was to convert a controversial Aboriginal camp for the Gundungurra and Darug people into a leisure park incorporating a 2.4km racing circuit.

The construction of Catalina Park came with the closure of Mount Druitt in late 1958. The Australian Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) began to take a renewed interest in the “The Gully” project, which had trundled along at a snail’s pace for years. Construction had been hampered as much by a lack of funds and personnel as the weather – a factor that was to plague the facility for its entire existence in motor sport terms. It finally opened in February 1962, the same month as the new circuit at Oran Park.

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History Lurks - Catalina Park

In 1961 a racing circuit opened just outside the Blue Mountains city of Katoomba. While its heyday was during the 1960s, the circuit remained operational until the mid-1990s. Incredibly, the track still exists, hidden by the thick scrub that has been reclaiming the area.

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