From 1983 to last Sunday Lithgow District Car Club life members Beach Thomas and Les Taylor have fought to get a motorsport venue in the Lithgow area to conduct hillclimbs and a range of other events.

Some 38 years later the Yvonne Martyn Memorial Motorsport Park was finally officially been opened by the Vice President of Motorsport Australia Graeme Emerton and local Member Paul Toole.

Special guests included Steph Foran, niece of Yvonne Martyn and Maria Harvison, sister of the late Liz Roberts who had not only the clubrooms named in her honour but also the very first event after 21 years, a motorkhana.

Unfortunately just as the opening ceremony started so did the rain but it certainly didn't dampen the excitement and sometimes emotional speeches by guests and club life members.

A grant of $50,000 from the government was critical in having a brand new access road completed while another $9900 in funding meant a new remote timing control system could be purchased.

And now all is ready for this weekend's Liz Roberts Memorial Motorkhana which also marks the grand opening of the complex in what is the first event in 21 years to be hosted by the club.

Member for Bathurst Paul Toole MP paid club president Les Taylor a visit to see the new equipment and improvements to the precinct.

"The Park is a unique motorsport/driver training complex in the community, providing driver training for children aged 12 years upwards, with the Confederation of Australian Motorsport (CAMS) Ignition Program," Mr Toole said.

"The precinct also provides a venue for hill climbing, motorkhana, rallysprint and khanacross events which draws competitors from all over NSW, so it's important to maintain the infrastructure and modern equipment for visiting competitors.

"I congratulate the members of the Club on their successful grant applications and commend them on their ongoing development and improvements to the facility."

Mr Taylor said the funding brings the park up to standard when it comes to competitions and events.

"Thanks to Paul we're now able to upgrade our whole timing system, something that that really brings us up to modern standard," he said.

"We appreciate the government's support as it really helps us continue to serve our members and the broader community in the best way we can."

READ MORE:

The Liz Roberts Memorial Motorkhana was contested over four courses, each contested twice, with the outright winner being Bathurst's Geoff Sims from young Scott Sims and Josh Hunter.

Sims also won the Junior Class from 12 year old Chloe Wootton, class B went to Jason Ribbons, class C to Chloe Wootton, class F to Geoff Sims and Class G to Portland's Barry McMahon at the wheel of his historic open wheeler.

Shannon Sims claimed the honour of being the fastest female with young Chloe Wootton in second place.

The club wanted to give a huge thank you to Helen and Gwyn Mullholand of Orange who stepped up to carry out the event secretary and steward positions, the Portland Tidy Towns Committee who did an amazing job feeding everyone from their BBQ, Tanya Aussell with her Mint Brew Coffee Van and the club members who did a fantastic job running the event in such adverse conditions.

Competitors went home with smiles on their faces and vowed to return to the Yvonne Martyn Memorial Motorsport Park in a few weeks time when a Khanacross will be contested.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: