THESE days, if you travel to the top of Mount Kembla you’ll see a host of junior riders tearing up Wollongong Motorcycle Club’s legendary scramble track.
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It’s an opportunity some may take for granted but, if not for the efforts of the WMCC, it’s an opportunity they may not have.
WMCC’s foundations date back to 1920 but it was in 1965 when Australian Iron and Steel Pty. Ltd offered an area of company property at O’Brien’s gap, Mount Kembla for a race track the club truly sprung to life.
The club gained quick renown for it’s junior training program, earning the NSW Road Safety Council’s certificate of merit in 1970.
It was a program that produced the likes Terry, Adrian and Anthony Gunter, Brian, Graham and Wayne Martin and Doug Platts among others.
However, the Speedway Act that governed racing in NSW still prohibited riders from racing until the age of 17, something the club lobbied tirelessly and successfully to change.
As the club pauses this Saturday to celebrate it’s 50th anniversary at Mount Kembla, it may well be the club’s greatest legacy.
Anthony Gunter recalls the lengths he went to to get a ride in at the track.
“In those days you couldn’t get a ACU licence until the age of 17 because of the speedway act which meant as a junior rider you rode for fun and no competition,” Gunter said.
“As time went on the club allowed some of us to race club days on the motocross track and also on the short circuit track up the top where the mini tracks are today.
“I was also allowed to do the travelling marshall duties at open motocross days so I would do a lap after the winner went past the finish to make sure the track was clear.
“Another way of getting some riding in, because a lot of the work up at the track was done manually, there were always working bees so the safety fences and tyre walls met the requirements for track licencing.
“You would work in the morning and have a ride later in the day – no work no ride.
“I can’t remember what year that we were allowed to ride junior trials before we turned 17 but it was really the first signs of things changing for the better for younger riders.
“Without the track being there I may not have had the opportunity to follow my passion for motocross and have the career that I had.”
That career includes three national championships and a three Mr Motocross championships, one of many state and national champions the club has produced in it’s 50 years at Mount Kembla.
Past and present members are invited to celebrate the milestone at the Novotel, Wollongong on Saturday to toast to the club’s past and future.
Enquiries contact Ken Spooner: 0439724228