Geelong Karting Club

The Geelong Karting Club is a Kart racing club based at Beckley Park, Corio north of Geelong. It owns the Beckley Park International Racetrack.

Beckley Park International Racetrack

The track is 745 metres long and on most parts is 8 metres wide. It is made from bitumen and can hold up to a maximum of 32 karts in any single class.

It provides modern colourbond cover for the outgrid, to protect drivers from heat and rain while waiting for their event. There are medical facilities, with members of racesafe as resident medical officers, Providing medical facilities and expertise. It also has canteen facilities.

There is an electronic lap scoreboard for both drivers and spectators to monitor what lap the drivers are on.

History

The Club was formed in 1960 by a large group of enthusiasts.

The first president of the club was Lyall O'Brien a well known motorcycle dealer today handling Montesa bikes. The youngest person present Max Findlay was 11 years old. The original venue proved popular but not permanent and a new circuit was established at the Caravan Park on the Coast past Point Henry.

One event from those days was when T.V. personality Hal Todd crashed and flipped over the fence. This track was home for the Geelong club for some 7 years where the club actually concreted the complete circuit of 500 metres by hand at working bees. The property was sold after the owner died and the club was without a track, again.

The next track was built on the Belmont Common beside the Barwon River and this bitumen track was home for the next 15 years. In 1979, the Corio Shire was approached to see if any land was available in their district as a track on the Melbourne side of Geelong was more desirable, closer for Melbourne karters. The area of the present track was occupied and the Geelong club combined with the Victorian Road Race club to build the first 750 metre sprint and 1 km road race circuit on the East Coast of Australia.

The 1992 event was held with 530 entries. At the 1992 event the stars included Adam Clarke, Garth Tander, Jason Bright, Mark Webber and Darren Hossack and six years earlier Drew Price, John Faulkner and Russell Ingall, who won the Reed Light event.