Townsville Motorcycle Club want to be included at motorsport precinct
Embattled Townsville Motorcycle Club has been left out of DriveIt NQ, despite producing world class talent that could raise the profile of the sport if included.
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Embattled Townsville Motorcycle Club has been left out of DriveIt NQ, despite producing world class talent that could raise the profile of motorsport if included.
Located at Calcium, the multipurpose $25 million motorsport precinct will have the ability to host world class events at it’s speedway, drag strip and a 3.5km track once completed.
Townsville Motorcycle Club president Russell Fabbro said his club hasn’t even had a look in, despite its star talent like MotoGP ace Jack Miller used for promotions and helped get the deal over the line.
He said it could be a game changing opportunity to raise the profile of the sport locally for a club that’s struggling financially to maintain its operations.
“To sum it up, it would do for motorsport what the new stadium did for the Cowboys, it would be the same boost and we need it in Townsville,” Mr Fabbro said.
“We’re one of the disciplines that would benefit the most from an opportunity like that and to think we didn’t even get a look in is pretty disappointing and pretty disheartening.
“I’d just like them to rethink it, have another look. We’ve managed to have Australian champions come out of this club and yet we’re just a blip on their radar.”
Mr Fabbro said the club, which boasts nearly 300 members, was operating on its bare bones and wanted a track that would emulate the standard of their riders, while also inviting a new generation of talent to develop.
“We struggle here with the clay base track and then it makes it more expensive for us to prep and sort the track because every couple of months we’ve got to bring in loads of sand which is money the club doesn’t have,” he said.
“At the moment we’re pretty much on borrowed land from Motorcycling Queensland, they give it to us at next to nothing and we hold events here and they make money out of us via the rider levy.
“We’ve seen heaps of kids have to give up or try other sports and it’s sad really and I don’t like seeing good talent fall through the cracks and not live out their dreams and reach their full potential.”
However, until $12 million is secured through funding the final stage of the project remains in limbo. The final stage includes a speedway, a drag strip and a 3.5km track.
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Townsville bred speedway star Josh Grajczonek credits his world ranking to his hometown club.
Now in his 12th season, the 30 year old professional rider spends eight months of the year competing in premier and elite leagues across Europe before returning to Townsville for the other four months.
Mr Grajczonek said his home club kick started his obsession with the sport that’s won him world titles.
“My very first motocross meet was here and I got on to the dirt track which is the other discipline run here and then that led on to speedway,” he said.
““I’ve been fortunate enough to win 7 or 8 league titles while over there and a few big events as well.
“I’m in the top tier in England, top tier in Sweden and Denmark and second division in Poland which is the hardest league.
Just as any professional athlete would, Mr Grajczonek said he treated his racing like a business. He said it was just a bonus that his job allowed him to live out his dreams.
“We race in 7 man teams, it’s basically like rugby league and we have teams that verse each other, there’s league titles and stuff,”
“I race six times a week usually so I’m just on a plane every day and I’ve got two set ups – one in England and one in Poland, it is a business.”
Local flat track champion Kayden Downing spent four months racing professionally in the US in 2019, now he’s using his lessons to mentor up and coming riders.
Currently ranked number two in Australia for flat track and was the overall winner at the last Super moto meeting, the 24 year old said it was the trip of a lifetime to compete overseas.
He said nothing could compare to races like the Daytona International Speedway and Buffalo Chip Sturgis Rally.
“Growing up as a kid all you want to do is go over and race overseas and I went and did it so it’s cool,” he said.
“It was definitely an eye opener just to see the amount of people that race and how much effort put in – they would get about 4000 people at them.
“They up their game over there and I learnt so much so I’d like to say that yeah, I can pass that on to the young guys here.”
Originally published as Townsville Motorcycle Club want to be included at motorsport precinct