New clay a winner for Premier Speedway
The 2025 Easter Sprintcar trail marked the end of the first season running with the new track surface at Premier Speedway and it has been marked as a success.
There was plenty of intrigue ahead of season back in October focused on the track surface.
Premier Speedway management had to go through an exhaustive process over numerous years to replace the troublesome dark-coloured clay.
Around 3000 cubic metres of orange clay rolled in over the off season and the memories of the dramas previously experienced are long gone.
As a result, the season has been one of the smoothest in recent memory for the Victorian venue with the Sprintcar Trail the 13th and final event.
Premier Speedway Manager Michael Parry describes the season as a success.
“Overall it has been a solid season,” he said.
“When you take into consideration the economic climate in Victoria at the moment we did not have the crowd numbers at some events we would have hoped which has also started to hit competitors.
“We are really happy with the racing surface.
“There were a couple of nights where we did not get it quite where we wanted but considering the team is working with a new clay they have done a fantastic job.
“At the first classic we got a lot of feedback saying it was one of the best Classics in recent times.
“It was again a great event for the club which consumes a lot of our energy and it was very rewarding.
“Very happy with year one and the longer time the track curators have it with it can only make it better.
“Some of our recent events show that they have had to do very little track preparation during the night.
“We are aiming to have a surface where we run through the race program unaffected.
“Year one we are very happy and we are certainly well ahead with this surface in terms of what we achieved with the last one.”
With the state of the track surface at what is regarded as the most prestigious speedway in the country one of the most talked about issues in the sport in recent years, Parry admitted it has been a relief that is now all in the rear vision mirror.
As a result, he is excited for the future as they can invest time and recourses into important things that have been neglected around the surface.
“As soon as I walked through the door we had issues with the clay and from my perspective it consumed a lot of time and energy for many on the board,” Parry said.
“Instead of the energy being on the surface it enables us to get back to focusing on the venue and that has been sacrificed a bit since COVID.
“We have had to invest so much time and money into the racing surface and now we need to put that energy into upgrades and improvements around the venue.
“It does not stop but at least we can be proactive instead of reactive.”
Image: Richard Hathaway Photography
