Photo: Graham Baker PDL MustangEnding an era, the co-existing and multi-purpose venue that was the Levin Motor Racing Circuit fell unceremoniously as a bulldozer ripped through the circuit in early 1976.
First used on the 14th January 1956 it fell a year short of its 21st birthday; its last meeting being the 7th December 1975. As competitor numbers declined and the hey-day of international stars passed, a halcyon era was the pre-cursor to a turbulent ending of a well used venue. In its declining stages, little was kept in the form of documentation. Much of its ending is speculative, mainly from the recalling of tales.
There right from the inception to its final ever meeting, Laurie Jensen was a face many knew but never saw beyond the grid.
“I was in charge of the pit area – that was my job. We had a dummy grid where we lined all the cars up before they were to go round the half-circuit in their start position,” he said as he told his version of events.
“The crowds went down because the boy racers were doing about the same speeds from their home to the circuit as the race cars were doing around the circuit. It was no big deal to come to a race meeting in Levin, or anywhere else.”
“The final meeting wasn’t held because of lack of patrons at the earlier meetings – the last two or three. Syd Jensen was then in control, he came to a meeting and said ‘well do you want to run another meeting or not’. We decided in our wisdom or otherwise, it would be a loss, so said no cancel it – finish. That was November 1975.”
“The gates closed; the racing club were without a few bob they were due for and that was the end of it. Then later, the racing club tore up the old circuit – which is now all gone and has been for many years.”
Ian ‘Jack Jack’ Easton remembers the final race meeting held at the circuit: “It was a long distance race. In fact I’ve got quite an interesting story about that day. Steve Millen and Jim Richards had a Monaro HQ which crashed coming on to the front straight – it hit the barrier. Mark Sheehan fixed the thing up enough to drive it back home, but didn’t make it – he tipped it in to a lagoon near Atiamuri.”
As a youngster, now a Steward, Ken Douglas recalls his first days in the sport as the circuit entered its last couple of years. Progressing from being crowd control marshal to working in the pit area, he was the only one to make a full day of it before the circuit was pulled up:
“I think there was a bit of bad blood between the two clubs, something like the lease had expired or was just about to. The Levin club tried to hire the circuit from the Racing club for the last day. The Vintage Car Club hired it instead and invited the Levin club to join in. That was the Sunday and Monday morning the bulldozer moved in with the rippers. The Levin Racing Club wanted to put in a new training track and it was the ends of the track that had to go.”
There driving that day before the circuit was to be ripped up, Ken remembers it was summertime – more likely January, of 1976: “I was driving an Austin Cooper S, still got the same car to be honest. I wasn’t the last on there but I went ‘till basically tea time. I have an idea someone was still driving ‘till it got dark and they couldn’t drive anymore – that they could say they really were the last.”
With the area used by the circuit now used for horse grazing and training, Ken says the last time he visited the area parts were still identifiable: “Last time I walked around was about ten years ago. What was left was completely overgrown, just rubble and odd little patches. I know just after that much of that rubble was cleared away and turned in to paddocks for the horses - I don’t believe there is any of the original little features still standing.”
