Lavington Wheelrace.

In the early nineteen-seventies track cycling was a major part of the Australian sporting calendar during the summer months. The Tasmanian Christmas Carnival series attracted the best riders from all around the world while carnivals were also held in regional Victoria and in Melbourne where the prestigious Austral Wheel was run at the former Northcote velodrome.

The sport was on a high and crowds were enthralled with the colour and speed of racing under lights. In late February of 1973 the Lavington Sports Club held the inaugural Lavington Wheelrace, part of a two-day carnival that was billed as the richest of its type anywhere in the world. It was the brainchild of club president, Mr.Col Donnelly, and with total prizemoney of $17,000, the carnival was able to attract athletes and riders from all over the land.

The club had spent $115,000 erecting four light towers which illuminated the whole oval and track.They were between 90 and 130 feet high with 60 lamps on each one providing fans with the clearest night carnival ever staged in the country. 1970 World Sprint Champion, Gordon Johnson, was one of five riders off scratch at the carnival while 1972 Munich Olympian, John Bylsma, a seven-times national pursuit champion and one of the world’s best, was making his debut at the carnival as a professional cyclist. Tasmanian scratchman, Frank Atkins, took out the inaugural Lavington Wheelrace, covering the 3200 metres in a time of three minutes, 28.9 seconds to set a new Australian record for the distance. Atkins was clocked at a sizzling 25 seconds for the final lap of the wheelrace, reaching speeds of up to 60 km/hr.; the win regarded as one of the most devastating displays of track cycling ever witnessed in the country.

The quality of riders at that first ever carnival was top shelf. Along with race winner Atkins and Johnson there was then 29-year-old New South Wales champion, Keith Oliver; Ex-Olympian Hilton Clarke from Victoria; Newcastle’s Bob Ryan and 1969 Australian Road Race Champion Bob Whetters also from New South Wales.

Johnson had contemplated retirement following his severe handicap at the Wangaratta Carnival in the weeks leading up to Lavington saying that he was ‘racing for peanuts’. Craig Price from Hadspen, Tasmania rode off the 300 metre mark in the final. Later in 1977, Price would ride into cycling folklore as the runner-up to fellow Tasmanian, Danny Clark, in the Burnie Wheelrace final, the performance by Clark regarded as the finest track ride in this country’s cycling history. A crowd of ten thousand crammed into the arena for the final night of racing in the 1974 carnival. Tasmanians again figured in the wheelrace final filling the first four places. Devonport’s Kevin Jamieson taking the honors from Frank Atkins and Ian Jamieson with Ivan Richardson back in fourth place.

 Fans were treated to plenty of spills in the ’75 carnival with fourteen riders injured in crashes on the first night of racing, ten of them were transported to hospital. Danny Clark won the wheelrace final from the consistent Atkins with Keith Oliver back in third place. In 1977 major races on the carnival were televised into lounge rooms around NSW, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania thanks to the ABC. A Madison featured for the first time at the carnival with fifteen teams competing over 50 kilomteres on the Saturday night.

Victorian Phil Sawyer combined with Englishman, Gary Wiggins, to lap the field on their way to victory. Victorian scratchman, Hilton Clarke, took the honours in the 1978 wheelrace final and collected $5,300 for his efforts.In 1981 the carnival was increased from two days to six and unfortunately for organisers it was interrupted significantly by rain. Powerful Victorian scratchman, Laurie Venn, won the wheelrace final from Western Australia’s Damien Buswell (125m) and Wangaratta’s Ian Petts (65m).

Fiery New South Welshman Shane Sutton took out the ’83 final riding off scratch which may have inspired organisers to include boxing at the carnival the following year. A tournament was held on the Saturday night while Champion Tasmanian axeman, David Foster, thrilled the crowd winning the World 400mm Underhand and the 300mm Standing Block titles during the carnival.Queensland’s Miami Beach rider, John Kennedy, won the wheelrace final in a time of 2: 10.3 seconds. The Border Mail newspaper reported on Tuesday February 28 that the future of cycling at the Lavington Sports Club carnival was in ‘jeopardy’. It followed a ruling which prevented amateur cyclists from riding on the first day of the two-day carnival.

 The club applied to hold a Pro-Am program at the 1984 carnival for the first time. The NSW League of Wheelmen were happy with the proposal, however, the Victorian Amateur Cycling Union were not. An amateur carnival had been arranged for Leongatha in Victoria on the Saturday which ruled out all amateur riders from competing at Lavington on the corresponding day.In 1985 professional riders boycotted the carnival as crowds began to dwindle. Wangaratta pair Glen Clarke (20m) and Dean Woods (15m) fought out a thrilling wheelrace final with Clarke prevailing in a time of 3:20.85. Sports Director of the club, Mr.Stan Blakemore said in the Border Mail on Tuesday the 26^th of February, “I’m disappointed the city doesn’t support major productions”. “We have wracked our brains to come up with variety like boxing, woodchopping, sky-diving and a fireworks display to supplement the carnival - what else can you do?”

 In 1986 the race was renamed the Albury-Wodonga Wheelrace. The writing was on the wall, perhaps just not for the Lavington Wheelrace but for track cycling in general in this country. Having said that, prizemoney of $30,000 was still on offer and it remained, at the time, the richest carnival of its kind in the world.Stephen Kilpatrick became the first local rider in the race’s history to win the wheelrace final, beating Tasmanian Price and Victorian Eric Bishop in a time of three minutes and eighteen seconds. NSW League of Wheelmen handicapper, Mr.Terry Sumner, came under fire from backmarkers at the carnival with his marks. Scratch markers faced huge gaps to reach a strong group of riders off the middle marks and failed to figure in any handicap finishes during the carnival.

 Organisers continued to experiment with the carnival and in 1987 they added a 10,000 metre roller-skating derby. Canberra rider, Neil Stephens, won the wheelrace off scratch defeating Laurie Venn. Stephens had taken out the prestigious Burnie Wheel on New Year’s Day earlier in the year and would later go on to success on the road winning a stage of the Tour de France in 1997.A major turning point in the carnival’s history occurred in 1989 when a new velodrome adjacent to the old one was constructed. It measured 250 metres in circumference as opposed to the old one of 300 metres.

 Echuca rider, Mark Dove, took out the first wheelrace final on the new track defeating the unlucky Price who had been runner-up the year prior. Price rode at every carnival winning two scratch races at the inaugural carnival back in ’73. It was the third time he had finished second on the podium in the wheelrace.Things were not looking good for the new track however. According to reports in the Border Mail (17/1/1990) the new velodrome became a safety concern among riders. The Victorian Country Championships were subsequently moved from Lavington to Shepparton. Many riders had raised safety concerns with the 12-month old $250,000 velodrome.

The Australian Cycling Federation President, Mr.Jack Graham, inspected the track. In his report he stated he was unhappy with the surface as the concrete had formed corrugations on some parts of the track. Local rider and three-time national champion, Wayne Nicholls, saying in the Border Mail that many top cyclists now avoided Lavington as the track had become too dangerous.1989 was to be the final running of the Lavington/Albury Wodonga Wheelrace. The new track was built only thirteen months prior to the ’89 carnival and according to some, it had been constructed far too quickly in order to get that carnival underway.

 

Despite the carnival prizemoney increasing to $37,000 late into its history, locals failed to support the event and crowds quickly dwindled. The days of 10,000 people turning up to watch a thrilling night of action back in the early seventies were long gone.