Does anyone remember when they used to have regular Go-Kart race meetings on the weekend at Pontville? We used to go there in the 70's - I have a memory of one of the later times which would tie it to about 1976, but it was around before that, and possibly for a while afterwards.

Anyhow it was on Brighton Road where the old Army camp used to be (my recollection is that something army related was still there at the time, but I might be wrong). Later it seemed to turn into some equestrian club. Now it's the Brighton Football Club ovals.

I remember a part falling off one of the karts as it whizzed by, and me running out and grabbing it and burning the crap out of myself. I also have a memory of riding my bike around the track, presumably not on a race day. This made me feel like I was on Mount Panorama!

The 70's was a great time to be a kid in southern Tas if you were into motorsports, as there seemed to be tracks and meetings all over the place. I have loads of memories of The Richmond Speedway, too. I knew all the names of the drivers who raced on the Tasmanian circuits back then, and have great memories of crowding up to the fence while the rest of my family were probably sitting on the tailgate of the EH Holden station wagon eating 20c 'hamburgers' from the food van.

I used to especially look forward to the demolition derbies. There was nothing quite so invigorating as seeing adults legally running into each other in cars til most of them expired with panels hanging off them and steam pouring out of the radiator. It seems all the more destructive when you consider how much a working example of just about any of those cars would be worth today.

I'm pretty sure the Tasman Bridge disaster killed the Richmond Speedway, because it closed not long after that, and it had been thriving beforehand.

If you look on Google Earth you can still faintly see the outline of the old track in a paddock between the second and third right turns north of Richmond on Colebrook Road.