ROMA SPEEDWAY EMBARKS ON NEW ERA WITH THREE STAR SAFETY UPGRADE!
Patience, persistence and a lot of hard work has produced significant upgrades at Roma International Speedway, paving the way for a new era starting this easter.
A new catchfence boasting six cables spearheads the improvements, elevating the track safety rating to 3 stars, and opening the opportunity for every division of Speedway to compete at the venue.
Club President Shannon Blackburn was excited by the completion of the project, labelling it as one of the toughest projects he’s been involved with personally and professionally.
“It’s a massive relief and reward to see this all become a reality. The team has worked so hard to put Roma Speedway on the map, and now we’ve done everything we can to roll out the red carpet for every division to come and race here.”
Just five hours west of Brisbane, the mining town has had a growing interest in Speedway since its inception as Weraki Speedway in the 1970’s, and despite extensive challenges over the years under its name as Roma International Speedway, is now set for a fresh phase of attention thanks to the latest improvements.
“We’ve faced a lot of adversity over the last few years, with everything from break-ins to having our reputation nearly ruined by rogue monster truck operators, but one by one, the town and divisions are discovering who we are and how keen we are to have them come and be a part of what we’re doing, so it’s an exciting future ahead.”
“DMac Civil have been amazing with their support for the cables and fence reinforcements, and the Maranoa egional Council have also helped us financially with the new toilet block and supplied the gravel for the pit area, so we’re thankful that the town is starting to see what we’ve been trying to achieve and getting on board.”
The list of improvements includes:
- New catch fence with 6 x 13mm cables around track perimeter, with mesh now on track side of posts
- Reinforced every second catch fence post
- Track widened from 11 meters to 18 metres
- New transponder box
- Gravelled pit area
- Extended bar area
- New pit ticket box
- New PA from amplifier to cables and speakers
- New toilet blocks for spectator area
- New toilet blocks for pit area (to be installed in off season)
- New control tower (to be installed in off season)
Roma Speedway is a unique shape with an almost triangle appearance from above, and the feedback from the drivers is that they love the challenge of turn one almost being a hairpin, but it’s a lot more manageable now with the track being widened.”
Speedway Australia CEO Daren Tindal was astounded by the club’s efforts, inspiring the semi-retired racer to potentially put the helmet back on for a run around the venue.
“Seeing what this team has achieved from what they started with is truly astounding. It’s certainly given me itchy feet to get back behind the wheel because that shape looks really challenging and a lot of fun. I highly recommend to all clubs to book a date at Roma on their calendar for next year and rewqard these guys for their efforts!”
Photo credit: Stephen Edgley – Racing Fix Media