What do you do when you lose your driverโs license belting your Ferrari Testarossa on Sydneyโs Pacific Highway? For a former CEO of Coca-Cola Amatil and owner of a sizeable supercar collection*, the answer is fairly simple: build your own private racetrack.
Dubbed The Farm, the track boasts 22 corners over a length of 5.1 kilometres including two straights measuring around 550 metres each.
The family have refused to confirm how much cash they poured into their driving mecca which took three years to build. Despite a price being likely a few million, itโs abundantly clear that all costs werenโt covered as the track features no crash barriers or gravel pits โ only signs indicating recommended corner entry speeds.
In an interview some years ago, the former CEOโs son proudly proclaimed that racing is not allowed: โWe donโt do lap times, the only way we measure it is how long the smile lasts.โ They went on to say that the track was motivated by a lack of opportunity for โspiritedโ driving in a safe environment.
โIt never really entered our minds to create a race track, we just wanted a country road to drive on.โ
โIn the early days, it was possible to wake up early on Sunday morning and go driving,โ they said. โIt was becoming increasingly less safe so we really needed somewhere we could go where we wouldnโt get into life-threatening situations. Safety was the most important thing, to be able to enjoy driving in the way manufacturers designed the cars to be driven.โ
โItโs all friends of friends,โ they said. โWe know the people who are inviting (other people) here and we trust their judgment.โ Those who have done a few laps include motorcycle champion Casey Stoner, the โFlying Scotโ Sir Jackie Stewart, and Formula One great Jack Brabham. According to the ownerโs son, Wayne Gardner described the road as his second favourite circuit in the world behind Suzuka in Japan.
Access to tracks in Australia outside organised manufacturer events is not easy nor cheap โ a crying shame considering some of the press vehicles that sit outside the BH office. For those who havenโt driven on a track at full noise, I can only describe it as lifeโs greatest automotive pleasure. Flying down a straight at 250km/h or pulling over 1G laterally in a corner instils a reassessed respect for human engineering capabilities, something you canโt quite capture on the morning commute. In this regard, we can certainly see where theyโre coming from โ especially considering some of the personal vehicles in their collection, which includes a McLaren F1.
Recently, the exclusivity of The Farm has suffered as it has been somewhat commercialised to โwipe its noseโ of any bad stigmas, allowing rentals for corporate events. The track is also (interestingly) approved by the New South Wales Police, who use the road to practice high-speed pursuit tactics and tire spikes.
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*name redacted
