North Arm Speedway
| The Place Where Champions Now Gather | |
|---|---|
| Location | Grand Trunkway, Gillman, South Australia 5013 |
| Coordinates | 34°49′25″S 138°31′21″E / 34.82361°S 138.52250°ECoordinates: 34°49′25″S 138°31′21″E / 34.82361°S 138.52250°E |
| Capacity | 5,000 |
| Owner | Government of South Australia |
| Operator | Speedway Riders' Association of South Australia Inc. |
| Opened | 26 July 1981 |
| Closed | 1997 |
| Major events |
Australian Solo Championship Australian Under-21 Solo Championship South Australian Solo Championship South Australian Sidecar Championship Jack Young Memorial Cup Kevin O'Connell Memorial Harry Denton Memorial Shield |
| Speedway | |
| Surface | Dolomite and shale |
| Length | 0.173 mi (0.280 km) |
North Arm Speedway was the first dedicated motorcycle speedway ever built in Adelaide, South Australia and was located in the industrial suburb of Gillman. It was run by the Speedway Riders' Association of South Australia and ran from 1981 until its forced closure in 1997.
North Arm Speedway was South Australia's first dedicated senior Solo and Sidecar track. Previous tracks (other than the Wayville Showgrounds in the late 1920s and early 1930s which ran before car speedway became popular) in both Adelaide and around the state had generally catered to both bikes and cars.
The speedway was opened on Sunday 26 July 1981, by the Speedway Riders' Association on land owned by the South Australian Government. Following the closure of Rowley Park Speedway in April 1979, the only Dirt track racing venue in Adelaide was the new Speedway Park, which has a clay surface, something that suited the increasingly popular car racing, but not motorcycle speedway. Despite the bikes racing in the early years at Speedway Park, the nearest speedway to Adelaide which suited bike racing was some 80 km away at the Riverview Speedway in Murray Bridge, which during the speedway season (generally October to April) only ran meetings every second Saturday night. With many of South Australia's riders based in Adelaide, the decision was made to build a motorcycle only venue in Adelaide with a Dolomite surface where weekly meetings could be run.
The track itself was approximately 280 metres (310 yards) in length, which while considered small by Australian track standards (when it was built, most Aussie speedways were usually 350-550m in length as most run cars as well as bikes with Speedway Park itself being 430 metres (470 yards) long), it was roughly the same length as most tracks in Britain where most of the top riders rode professionally. The safety fence was a 2m high chain mesh fence on top of a 1 ft high wooden retaining fence. Lights were eventually installed for night meetings in 1985, although spectator capacity was only around 5,000 (more with extra seating for Australian Championship meetings).
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