Rear view mirror look at Timaru’s Levels Raceway as it celebrates 50 years

Tucked away on the quiet outskirts of Timaru is a venue which has set hearts racing for half a century.

Levels Raceway will soon celebrate 50 years but today’s venue is a far cry from the South Canterbury Car Club’s humble beginnings that would eventually lead to the land purchase for the track in 1965.

Levels founding member Ray Egan, 85, and original South Canterbury Car Club committee member, Dick Dodds, 82, recently reflected on those early days and the raceway.

Egan’s father was one of car club’s original presidents. The club, formed in 1947, used to race at a track at Saltwater Creek.

However, in 1954, then Waimate Mayor Alex McRae, a car enthusiast himself, wanted to bring racing to Waimate. Promising good representation from him and his council, the Waimate 50 race was born.

“It did put Waimate on the map,” Egan said.

About 2500 hay bales were placed along the Waimate roadsides for the races.

“We did all that,” Dodds said. “Nobody got paid.”

After two days spent setting up the bales, “our fingers were bleeding,” Egan said. “It was bloody hard work.”

When road racing in Waimate was eventually deemed unsafe by Motorsport Association New Zealand (MANZ), the  car club moved its road racing back to Timaru.

However, with road conditions rougher than Waimate, it was clear road racing could not go on in Timaru either, as road races slowly started to fade throughout New Zealand.

“It was partly the speed of the cars but also because other clubs around the country didn’t put the money and the effort into it like we did,” Dodds said.

“It’s the same as your drugs and everything else isn’t it, 90 per cent don’t use them but it’s that one section who have to do something wrong.”

In July 1965, the  car club decided to purchase 35 acres of land at Falveys Road, Levels, to establish a racing circuit. The land was purchased for £100 an acre.

It was originally land used for the the Timaru airport terminal, and the air traffic control building was used by the club up until 15 years ago when it was demolished, and replaced.

The previous track used by the club at Saltwater Creek had claimed many hours of back-breaking work with little to show for it, with only one meeting being run each year.

The car club’s July 1965 meeting minutes stated, “With our new circuit, when completed, we should be able to draw some of the country’s top line drivers.”

“That’s the original talk about it happening,” Dodds said.

“We were pleased to get rid of that day of racing and move out to Levels,” Egan said.

“We moved out there because it was quiet, there were no residents out there.”

Dodds said the rewards of their hard work are there today.

“The businesses all supported it [the track],” he said.

Egan and Dodds said the first 50 years at seen some big changes.

“The track has been altered,” Dodds said.

“When we first built the track it used to have the grass bank that’s around it, it used to slope up from both sides, then they had to chop it down straight.

“It was fine. It wasn’t a problem, but then all of a sudden you had to have drums for the safety aspect, which has become worse and worse and worse.”

Levels Raceway didn’t just draw some of the country’s top line drivers when it opened in 1967, but some of New Zealand’s finest motorsport drivers were born and bred in South Canterbury.

Leo Leonard, to name one, first competed at Waimate in 1959 as a 19-year-old. He drove in a number of long-distance events, including the Benson and Hedges 500, and earned himself a place in a Ford Sierra Cosworth alongside fellow New Zealander Robbie Francevic in 1986 at Bathurst. His son, Mark Leonard, has been navigating for four-time Bathurst champion Greg Murphy in his rallying outings.

New Zealand rally driver Hayden Paddon is also from South Canterbury. Paddon was a Production World Rally champion in 2011, and won the New Zealand Rally Championship in 2008, 2009, and 2013.

Former Prime Minister David Lange, a racing enthusiast in his own right, also raced at Levels in its early days.

“He was a bloody good driver,” Egan said.

“There’s been a lot of good people from South Canterbury drive.”

The wife of New Zealand race-car designer, driver, engineer and inventor Bruce McLaren, worked at a chemist in Timaru, and was ironically bridesmaid at Dodds’ wedding.

“We’ve had a long connection,” Dodds said.

“Ray’s maintained his connections too.”

Looking at more recent times, Dodds still attends regular meetings at Levels.

“We haven’t been on the committee for years but we’ve had some great car racing guys come through over the years who’ve turned into international racers.

“For us it’s been a good career and a good journey and a lot of fun. For all the hard work we did, we got the return with all the fun we had with the guys.

“This is history.”

“It’s a great asset,” Egan said.

Current South Canterbury Car Club president Kevin Pateman said he’s working really hard to get as many old faces as possible back to the club for the 50th celebrations.

The club hit half a decade late last year, but decided to celebrate the jubilee early this year so celebrations didn’t interfere with the Christmas period.

He said Kiwi motor sport legend Paul Fahey is one big name travelling down from Auckland for the event.

“One of his old cars is definitely going to be here,” Pateman said.

Pateman said they have had a large amount of support of veteran racers wanting to enter the events and bring their cars.

His message to South Cantabrians was to come along and enjoy the celebrations.

“There’s going to be some great cars here.

“The cars are absolutely spectacular.

“They look good and sound good.”

About a decade ago, it was decided the raceway was in need of a new track, which would cost about $1.5 million. The track is still in the process of being resealed, with only one segment remaining. With support from organisations, namely Trust Aoraki, Pateman was adamant “it can only be done in Timaru mate.”

“What we basically did was we identified each year we would do a segment of the track.

“To get one and a half million dollars together to do the track in one hit just wasn’t feasible.

“About eight years ago I went and had a chat with Trust Aoraki to see if I could get some interest from them to support us.”

Trust Aoraki recognised the asset Levels Raceway provided to the community.

“We’ve been really lucky over the last eight or 10 years with the funding that they’ve come on board and given us for our project.

“In big cities it just doesn’t happen.

“Community mate. It’s amazing, and it all filters through to the amount of sponsorship we get from companies.”

Trust Aoraki recognised the jubilee, and got on board with additional funding.

“That’s the significant impact that they’ve had on this club in the last 10 years,” Pateman said.

The Levels Raceway 50th Anniversary Celebrations will start at the raceway at 9am on January 26. The chequered flag will fly at 5pm on the Sunday.

 – The Timaru Herald

Source :Stuff.co.nz

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