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A "country road" course


KBGr4

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Not quite sure if its been discussed anywhere on the forum before but out of curiosity does anyone know Mr Dean Wills the owner of this beautiful "country road" not a race track....of course ;-)

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/love-of-fast-cars-and-a-lost-licence-drove-this-private-world-class-track/story-e6frfq80-1226533204151

Living as I do on the central coast I would love to have a look at the "road" in question.

 

So who knows Dean?

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Ok, this is going to sound weird, but my mate's son runs a drift car, which is tuned by the same guy that tunes the track owners cars.  I didn't ask for names or numbers at the time.

 

Apparently, they once had a drift day there, but the neighbours complained about the tyre squealing.  

 

The other thing that I have heard is that the Ferrari club occasionally have a track day there.  So if anyone knows somebody there, it may be worth an ask.

 

One thing that may deter the owner from allowing others to run a club day is of course, insurance.

 

Another rumour:

Dungog Council has money set aside to build a track, just needs someone to buy the land that they have in mind.  They build and lease the land from the land owner for 10 years, then hand back or extend the lease.

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The other thing that I have heard is that the Ferrari club occasionally have a track day there.  So if anyone knows somebody there, it may be worth an ask.

 

 

 

 

I can confirm this. My old boss took his 458 there once (invited by Ferrari).

 

Also few of my mates have been there on a Lotus sponsored day to drive the then new Evora.

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These guys may have organized a track day (or two) at that location - http://www.trackschool.com.au/cc-track_days.html

 

 

From their website:

 

 

Venue

Exclusive, secret, yet to be disclosed venue situated on the Central Coast hinterland just over an hour's drive north of the Sydney CBD. Location guide will be provided upon final booking.

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Post from a mate on another forum (his impressions of "The Farm"):

 

 

 

The place is like the putty, bells line, old pac hwy all rolled into 5KM with no fuzz anywhere in sight (unless they are using it for themselves)


To the track school day.
The instructors were Boz, Dean Evans, David Sieder, Dave Potter, and one other guy i cannot remember his name.
The cars that turned up. R35 GTR, GT3, F430, 360 modena, Z06 Corvete,Lotus Elise (SC) (Steve you know this guy), 350Z, TME EVO, 2x EVO8's, F6 Ute, M5, C63 AMG, Golf GTI action-smiley-069.gif, Civic (highly modded, turned up on a trailer),

Boz introduces his team and then introduces Mark the guy that owns the place.
They stress several times that it is not a racetrack and that it is a private rd. No timing, no racing each other, No posting videos (of full laps) or photos to the interwebs, that show the house or too much of the track.

We go out and do a track walk/drive of sorts, stopping several times to point out the most dangerous bits of the track.
Then with an instructor in each of the cars we go out on the track, 4 cars at a time for 15mins laps plus a cool down lap. then next group of cars.

Next time out you can choose to have an instructor if you want.
Rince an repeat.

Place is hard to describe. Lots of very late apexes, tight and twisty fast in some sections. It's a very challenging piece of road. More twisty country road than racetrack.
No run off with some big dirt banks that can make a big mess of a car if you come off. Max speed i got the GTI up to (slowest car on the day) was 170 in 4th before coming back to a 2nd gear corner.

Thankfully the weather was kind and the GTI stayed on the track. Very much glad for the AP racing brake fluid and the hawk pads. The Z06 and the TME EVO boiled there fluid towards the later sessions.
Much much more challenging that Wakefield or Eastern Creek, lots of elevation change, the only place that is kind of similar is haunted hills, from the chat i had with Dean.

Anyway if you have a spare $595 and want somethign a bit different than a propper track day then this would be ideal. You can have pleanty of space between you and other cars, there is no pressure to drive super fast and it just like a country road
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Okay not promising anything but I may, repeat may, be able to arrange a visit. We will need an instructor which will of course cost something. Anyway my friend heads up there fairly regularly and will ask. No promises though ppl.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

That place is called "the farm". and its a great track. I dont think it would be too hard to organise a day there especially if the NSW porsche club was involved.

 

The guy that owns it actually built it for himself to flog his personal collection of supercars. They also film a lot of car and bike commercials there.

 

Once i buy my porsche, i will join the club and try to organise a car day there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just snagged myself an invite: 10 cars and 10 bikes only.

 

The bikes are coming from Deus ex Machina.

 

Bloody Brilliant.

 

 Does that mean you're inviting the rest of us to join you?

 

 

 

Fuch you CAMS[/

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You betcha, but not in the way you might think.

 

The invite came out of an idea of mine for a "Goodwood-esque" event to be held in Australia. "The Farm" looks a likely venue but obviously the owner needs to agree :).

 

So let's see how we go.

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  • 9 months later...

 

The invite came out of an idea of mine for a "Goodwood-esque" event to be held in Australia. "The Farm" looks a likely venue but obviously the owner needs to agree :).

The owner would also need to gain development consent for such an event and I suspect such an activity is not permissible under the Development Control Plan for that area. I suspect he is currently flying below the radar with his current use and relying on the goodwill of his neighbours.

Not trying to be a kill joy but there are some obstacles.

How about Mt Panarama for a "Goodwood-esque" event? It's got the infrastructure and history and I'm sure there would be tourism dollars available to support if it was timed away from the other events.

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I think the limiting factor with Bathurst would be getting a timeslot to close the road for a weekend/week

 

Would also need the international draw for celebrities/racers/other car types to come out

 

I think there is enough of a history within Australia to do something though

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