Lakeside Park

Lakeside Park at a glance

Location

Kurwongbah, Queensland

Type

road course

Length

2.41 km (1.498 mi)

Turns

8

Surface

asphalt

Opened

1961

Owner

Australasian Raceways Holdings (John Tetley)

Address

Lakeside Road

Website

lakesidepark.com.au

Track map and layout

Lakeside is a tight, tree-lined 2.41 km circuit squeezed onto the shore of Lake Kurwongbah, and drivers and riders have long rated it as one of the country's best-flowing 'proper' road courses despite its short length. The lap opens with a fast run into the tightening Karrussell, drops through Hungry Corner and the Eastern Loop by the lake, and works back past Shell Corner before a chicane known as the Bus Stop, added in 2014 to slow entry onto the final complex, leads back onto the front straight. Because the whole site is hemmed in by the lake on one side and residential development on the other, there has never been room for a longer 'grand prix' configuration; the layout used today is essentially the same eight-turn shape the circuit has raced since 1961, give or take the modern chicane and periodic run-off improvements.

Named corners and sections

• Karrussell. A fast, tightening early corner named for its similarity to Germany's Nürburgring Karussell.
• Hungry Corner. A demanding mid-lap corner regarded as one of the circuit's key overtaking spots.
• Eastern Loop. The section of track that follows the shoreline of Lake Kurwongbah.
• Shell Corner. A sponsor-named corner on the run back toward the front straight.
• The Bus Stop. A chicane added in 2014 ahead of the final corners to reduce entry speed.

Configurations

Events and race weekends

Lakeside now runs as a Queensland club and state-level venue rather than a national one, hosting rounds of Queensland motor racing and motorcycling championships, historic and demonstration meetings, and its own programme of drive days, ride days and corporate driving experiences. The standout date on the calendar is the Lakeside Tribute, first run in 2011 for the circuit's 50th anniversary and now an annual weekend mixing modern club racing with historic cars and bikes that once raced there.

Getting there and parking

Lakeside Park is at Kurwongbah, on Lakeside Road beside its namesake lake, about 30 km north of central Brisbane and close to Petrie and Strathpine. It's an easy drive from Brisbane via the Bruce Highway and local arterial roads; there is no train station within walking distance, so a car is the practical way to get there for both spectators and competitors. Brisbane Airport is the nearest major airport.

• Brisbane Airport (BNE) · about 40 min drive

Parking

General spectator parking is available on-site for race meetings and events; specific arrangements vary by event, so check individual event listings.

Lakeside's 70 dB noise restriction limits some event types and running hours, so check an event's schedule before travelling if you're planning to attend for a specific session.

Hotels and camping near Lakeside Park

Lakeside doesn't have the multi-day camping culture of a national venue like Bathurst, so most visitors base themselves in nearby Brisbane suburbs rather than at the circuit. Petrie, Strathpine and North Lakes have the closest hotel and motel options, typically 10-15 minutes' drive away, while Brisbane's CBD is under an hour away with a much wider range of accommodation for anyone combining a visit with a city stay.

Where to look

North Lakes and Strathpine have the largest concentration of hotels and motels near the circuit, with Petrie and Kallangur offering additional budget options a short drive away.

Track days, driving experiences and lap records

Unlike the other circuits in this guide, Lakeside is fully open to public track days and driving experiences. The venue runs its own Trackplay programme, including 20-minute Family Cruising laps for road-registered cars, timed Fast Laps sessions, and Rolling/Static drag sessions on the front straight, plus Moto Ride Days for motorcyclists; a Motorsport Australia RACERS licence is required for the faster sessions. Third-party operator Driving Events also runs structured driver-training days, coaching and Motorsport Australia licence testing at the circuit.

Who runs days here

• Lakeside Park Trackplaycar
• Lakeside Park Moto Ride Daymotorcycle
• Driving Events (Queensland Driver Training)car

Typical cost: Trackplay Fast Laps from around A$45 per 15-minute session; Family Cruising from around A$20 per 20-minute session

Lap records

Spectator guide

Lakeside's grandstands and lakeside vantage points date from its years as a national venue and still give a good view of most of the lap for club meetings and the annual Lakeside Tribute, though crowds are far smaller than in the circuit's 1970s-90s touring car heyday.

Seating

Grandstand seating remains from the circuit's national-level era; capacity figures for the current club-racing configuration are not published.

Best places to watch

The Eastern Loop by the lake and the run into the Karrussell are popular vantage points that let spectators see cars through several corners in sequence.

Weather

• Jun-Aug: Brisbane's mild, dry winter; the most comfortable months to attend a meeting
• Dec-Feb: Hot and humid, with a real chance of afternoon storms

History of Lakeside Park

A circuit built by volunteers

Lakeside opened on 19 March 1961 on a former dairy farm at Kurwongbah, built largely by volunteer labour and borrowed machinery under the Queensland Motor Sporting Club, and quickly became the state's premier permanent circuit. Its tight, undulating layout by Lake Kurwongbah drew top-level competition almost immediately, including the Tasman Series from 1962, with Jack Brabham winning the inaugural round, and full Australian Grand Prix status in both 1966 and 1969. Drivers and riders who raced there over the following decades read like a who's who of the sport, from Jim Clark, Jackie Stewart and Graham Hill to local heroes Dick Johnson and a young Will Power.

Three decades as a national venue

Through the 1960s to the 1990s Lakeside hosted the Australian Touring Car Championship almost every year from 1967 to 1998, including the famous 1981 title decider won by Dick Johnson, along with the Australian Superbike Championship from 1983 to 1990. Johnson himself described it as "a real driver's circuit, one of the few left in the country outside of Bathurst," a reputation built on its tight, technical corners and unforgiving lack of run-off.

Closure, revival and a quieter second life

By the late 1990s Lakeside was losing major events to the purpose-built Queensland Raceway, which opened at Ipswich in 1999, and mounting debts, legal disputes and an increasingly unsympathetic local council pushed the circuit to close in 2001. It sat dormant until Queensland Raceway's operators took a 30-year lease from the Pine Rivers Shire Council and reopened it in April 2008 as Lakeside Park, investing around A$1.2 million to bring the track back to a usable standard. The new operators made clear from the start that Lakeside would run as a local and state-level club venue rather than chase national championships again, a role it still fills today under Australasian Raceways Holdings, with the annual Lakeside Tribute keeping the circuit's historic significance alive alongside its ongoing club racing, ride days and driver-training programmes.

Frequently asked questions

Other tracks nearby

• Queensland Raceway · 60 km · road course
• Surfers Paradise Street Circuit · 96 km · street circuit
• Morgan Park Raceway · 147 km · road course
• Newcastle East Street Circuit · 644 km · historic circuit (defunct)
• Amaroo Park · 740 km · historic circuit (defunct)
• Sydney Olympic Park Street Circuit · 758 km · historic circuit (defunct)