The spiritual home of Australian motor racing, Phillip Island was the brainchild of Light Car Club official Bill Scott, who was asked by the local council to design the circuit, using existing roads where possible, as a draw to visitors. For many years the island could only be reached by ferry, and until the construction of a bridge, cars had to be transported to the track by boat! Motorcycles also raced in separate events on a similar combination of dirt roads. You can visit a cairn commemorating the circuit at: S38° 27.821 E145° 12.130.
Heaven and Hell were a.bc miles apart
The straights were d.ef miles long
Scott planned the dirt and gravel track on public roads and came up with a curious way of measuring the track, devising a system with a horse and cart whereby, knowing the circumference of the wheel of the cart, and fitting a clicking device, he drove around the track, counting each click and adding up the distance travelled. Bill named the various sections such as Needle's Eye, a narrow cutting where overtaking was not possible.
Assuming he used a 7-foot diameter wheel and started with a
click, ghi is one 11th of the number of clicks Bill would have
counted over the stated track distance
You will find a facsimile of the Heaven Corner sign in a QR code at the starting co-ordinates on the service road. The second-mentioned 4 digit number is kmno.
Research the month in which the first Australian Grand Prix was held, which is j.
In 1928 the first Australian Grand Prix was held over 16 laps of the circuit, giving a total of 170km. The winner was Arthur Waite, the Australian-born son-in-law of Herbert Austin, driving a factory backed, supercharged, Austin Seven.
Get back on the track, travel b.ce kilometres east and enter the service road on the left. Don't worry if you miss that turn as you can enter it further along from Irving Road. Continue along the service road until you arrive at the next corner sign.
(Please ignore her outfit, it has been added for modesty’s
sake – for the uncensored image go here.)
Note the sign's co-ordinates then add S 0.0ho & add E 0.a00 to find the next pit stop.
The second digit of the phone number on the bus stop timetable is p.
There were 10,000 spectators for the first event and in the following years the popularity of 'The Island' grew. In 1929 the race distance was doubled to 336km. Arthur J. Terdich had a runaway victory, averaging 99km/h over the rough dirt track and initiating a winning streak held by Bugattis until 1933. This car is in the Powerhouse Museum collection and you can view it here.
Research the Type of Terdich’s Bugatti; qr is the sum of the number and the digit corresponding to the suffix.
Continue following the track to:
S 38° dp.mna E 145° kh.jbm
Look for a vertical black on yellow sign and note the bottom number, which is s.
Then race off again to:
This was the track’s intersection with Pyramid Rock Road.
On New Year's Day in 1935, the Light Car Club of Melbourne held the Centenary 300 Mile Road Race. The so-called “longest race ever held in the Southern Hemisphere” was marred by a number of accidents. In the 34th lap, at the Needle’s Eye, Campbell Graham’s MG leapt many feet into the air before spinning over and over. Both Graham and his riding-mechanic Alfred Peter were killed upon impact. A photo of their car, race ready and sitting on the sand at Phillip Island prior to the race, can be found here.
However, you will safely approach the power pole at S 38° 28.sbp E 145° 1j.bef and note the first two numbers after WG on the black and white sign, which are tu.
Research the racing number of Graham and Peter’s MG PA 0595; this number minus 13 is vw.
Drive slowly, look carefully and you might spot Saltwater Creek on your way to:
The last two digits of the first-mentioned 4-digit number on this sign are
xy
The final digit you need is the number of arrow signs on the roundabout at Hell Corner minus j, which equals z
The original track layout was altered slightly over the years,
but by 1935 the track could not really cope with the speeds being
attained and had fallen into disrepair. There had been a string of
serious accidents and there was pressure to move the race. After
1935, the Grand Prix moved to other venues.
The cache commemorating these halcyon early days of Australian motor sport is located at: S qr° xy.tzi E gho° vw.epu
We acknowledge Gonefishen07's generosity in allowing us to adopt this venerable cache.