Motorcycle racing at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth has been suspended indefinitely after a safety audit found there were “extreme risks” at the track.
The findings were handed down to the Western Australian Department of Sport and Recreation on Friday, just one day before yet another fatality at the popular circuit in Perth’s northern suburbs.
Chris Adley, 21, became the sixth person in 16 years to die from a motorcycle crash at the circuit on Saturday. It was the second death at the track this year.
A safety audit of Barbagallo was ordered in June after growing concerns about safety for motorcyclists at the track.
Many people had said the tyre barriers and concrete walls were too close to the track, and the use of sand in the run-off areas was also dangerous. Sand compacts when something hits it and many circuits around the world had moved to using a graded aggregate instead.
The WA Sporting Car Club, which runs the track, said the department has advised it was in the club’s “best interests” to stop all motorcycle activity at the track indefinitely.
The department has no power to enforce that recommendation, but the car club says it is taking the recommendation seriously and a number of events scheduled for this weekend have been cancelled.
The audit report proposes changes to the track that would make it safer, but it is understood those changes would cost millions of dollars and the future of motorcycle racing at the circuit is now uncertain.