VOLUNTEERS and members at the Myrtleford Speedway Club are busily preparing for their upcoming race day on Sunday, March 2, featuring a 'micro-sprint' class race to bring the bumper-to-bumper action to town.
"We're looking forward to hosting another race at our facility," Myrtleford Speedway Club president, Glen Walch said.
"Our main class race will be the 600cc 'micro-sprint' division.
"They're a highly modified small vehicle with a custom-built chassis and a sport-bike engine, like a Yamaha motor.
"This type of racecar is very popular up and down the east coast at the moment and the organisers are very interested in hosting a race at our Myrtleford Speedway.
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"The micro-sprint race is like a contact sport: there's lots of bumping into other vehicles on the track," Mr Walch said.
"The goal is not to shove each other off the track, but it's become a feature of the race; with the high speeds and the number of vehicles on the track, the spectators really love it.
"This will be our third-time-lucky attempt to host a micro-sprint race here; we've been rained-out twice before, so fingers crossed it'll be fair weather on the day."
Myrtleford's upcoming races will also host a 'compact speed-car' division, the Australian Championships of which will be held at Wangaratta's speedway the night before.
"There will be a lot of spectators at Saturday night's event, so we'll use that day as a practise day for our racers," Mr Walch said.
"But, while they're in the area, we hope those spectators will drop by to see our event on Sunday.
"I'll be a really good shot in the arm for the club if we can get about 1000 attendees.
"Originally, the Myrtleford Speedway hosted these compact speed-cars, bikes and sidecar events years ago.
"We haven't run a compact race in Myrtleford for over 20 years, so we're very excited to see them return.
"At the moment, there'll be no bikes or side-car events because we have to update our fence.
"Hopefully by the middle of this year, our upgrades will be complete and we'll be the only venue to offer these three types of races in the country."
In the meantime, the Myrtleford Speedway Club plans to host the Victorian Racing Ride-On Mower Championships over the ANZAC day weekend, as they continue to improve the venue.
"All the earthworks we've done recently has tripled our spectator capacity," Mr Walch said.
"So, in the future, all we'll have to do to prepare for upcoming events will be to mow the lawn and we'll be ready to go.
"It's not just about grading the track for our competitors; our plan is to look at the bigger picture and update all the facilities on site so everyone can enjoy a great day out."
Mr Walch said canteen sales and money raised from spectator entry will help to pave the way for future events at the speedway.
"Anyone interested in getting involved, either in the competitive side or people who want to socialise who are keen on racing, are very welcome to get in contact and help out on race days," Mr Walch said.
"They are welcome to drop in at the events, introduce themselves to the canteen workers who will point them in the right direction for who to speak to on the day."
The micro-sprint race day will begin at 10:30am on Sunday, March 2, with $20 entry for adults, $10 entry for students aged 10 to 16 and children under 10 may enter for free.
For more details and updates, visit the Myrtleford Speedway Club Facebook page.
