The South Coast Drag Racing Association, Wimmera Off Street Drag Racing Club and Beat the Heat (Victoria) have all been successful as part of the latest round of funding for Sport and Recreation Victoria’s Community Motorsport Program.
The South Coast Drag Racing Association (SCDRA) in particular will benefit big from this latest round of the program, with the club receiving $428,917.18 for the building and installation of a new modular multi-purpose pavilion at South Coast Raceway, plus associated supporting works.
The funds for the new building are part of the Community Motorsport Program’s Infrastructure Upgrades and Equipment Category latest funding round.
“This funding will be used for the building and installation of a new modular, multi-purpose pavilion for the club and will also support a car parking area, sealing of pit area roads, disability access, solar power and plumbing for this new facility.
“To receive this funding is just amazing for the track. Our current club rooms are very old and in need of replacement – the building was donated when we built the track in 2006 and it was around 15 years old then! So, it is just going to be fantastic for the club to be able to install this new building and the supporting infrastructure,” SCDRA Secretary, Scott Cleary, said.
“We are hopeful that the new building will be installed between January and April of 2023, and we are already in the process of lining everything up now to make that happen.
“It has been quite a process to get the grant application together and we were grateful for all the letters of support from different groups that we had as part of that. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us now, and we couldn’t be happier.”
SCDRA President Andrew Smith said the funding was very important for the Portland race track.
“We are over the moon to have received this funding and it is going to make a big difference to the club and what we are working with at the moment – for sure there are exciting times ahead!” Smith said.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sport and Recreation Victoria for their support through the Community Motorsports Program.
“I would also like to thank Scott Cleary; he has been working hard on this application for months and we are very thankful for his efforts which have allowed us to secure this funding.”
The Community Motorsport Program is part of the Labor Government’s $7.4 million Racing Into a New Era for Motorsport initiative. Motorsport in Victoria supports more than 4,000 jobs and contributes more than $806 million to the Victorian economy. Since 2014, the Government has invested more than $1.1 billion in community sporting infrastructure.
Applications for the fourth and final round of the Motorsport Club Assistance Category of the Program are still open and close on 30 June 2022.