Perth’s only bike track still on hold; 473 days later
MORE than 300 bikes and a whole bunch of goodwill rolled up to the steps of Western Australia’s Parliament House this morning, in a show of solidarity and a mass plea for the Barbagallo bike ban to get sorted out.
Forecast rain never eventuated, and there also was no sign of Motorcycling Australia, Motorcycling WA, the WA Sporting Car Club, the Minister for Sport and Recreation, or any of his bureaucrats — on the podium at least. But the message was loud and clear. WA’s motorcycle community needs its track back.
Most of the rally participants made the ride from Barbagallo Raceway down the freeway to the House On The Hill, where they met stragglers, late starters and a static display of race bikes.
Speakers told the crowd that the bike ban at Barbagallo had removed Western Australia’s most important motorcycle safety facility, making reference to the motorcycle training activity at the track that stopped late 2016 and hasn’t been seen since.
They also spoke of a hole in WA’s sporting landscape, saying an entire sport had been “put on hold” 473 days ago and had effectively been on hold ever since.
The key stakeholders met several weeks ago and put together an action plan aimed at getting some motorcycle activities — but not racing — back on the track in the short to medium term.
The Motorcycle Racing Club of WA has proposed a 100kmh speed limit at the most contentious section of the track as part of that process, and that proposal is now being pondered by Motorcycling WA.
But a return to racing still appears a long way off. (Learn more here.)
We rode to Parliament House with our trusty Nikon to capture these shots.
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