Red Dust Racers
By Graeme Cocks
Yes Graeme Cocks is correct when in his preface he writes “… you will not find a Maserati or a Ferrari in this book. Neither will you find a Senna or a Nuvolari. What you will find is Fords, Chryslers and Austins, and a bunch of local blokes and a few ladies who worshipped the thrill of speed.”
This mammoth 470+ page book has been 20 years in the making and features the story of the little known motor racing venue by the name of Lake Perkolilli, which is 625 kilometers east of Perth, Australia and 23 kilometers northeast of Kalgoorlie. It’s not quite a lake as we would imagine it, but being located in typical Australian arid scrub it’s a red claypan that measures 2.1 kilometers long by approx 1.6 kilometers wide. Importantly, it’s flat and denuded of any vegetation.
Inevitably in those early days where there were automobile clubs there was racing and the first recorded use of Lake Perkolilli was in 1914 for a combined motorcycle and car meeting.
Not only does Cocks include the story of that first race meeting, but also the individual race results. Interestingly, the first motorcar race for WA was at Lake Perkolilli resulting in Studebakers in first, second and third places. Motor racing at Lake Perkolilli continued through WW1 despite the majority of competitors being on active duty. Following hostilities racing continued and Cocks provides details of events, makes of cars, driver details and even the extraction of racing fuel from such local plants as grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) and zamia palm.
“… you will not find a Maserati or a Ferrari in this book. Neither will you find a Senna or a Nuvolari. What you will find is Fords, Chryslers and Austins, and a bunch of local blokes and a few ladies who worshipped the thrill of speed.”
During the mid-1920s Lake Perkolilli was used for record breaking under the auspices of The Royal Automobile Club of WA. These included a six-cylinder Chrysler running 1607.87 miles in a 24 hour period.
Lake Perkolilli was certainly on the map, but as the author tells us it was the advent of WA’s popular “round-the-houses” racing in such major towns as Albany that tempted drivers and spectators away. However the location being natural didn’t go away as we are then provided with information on the time trials that were held at Lake Perkolilli during the 1970s, which was followed by the discovery of the area by hang gliders in the late 1990s. Subsequently, there have been re-enactments at Lake Perkolilli with one as late as 2014, headed by the author in his reconstructed Chrysler Silverwings. Red Dust Racers was shortlisted for the International Historic Motoring Awards, the judges for which included such luminaries as British five-time Le Mans winner Derek Bell, McLaren car designer Peter Stevens and Pink Floyd drummer and historic car collector and racer Nick Mason.
This is a must-have publication for anyone with an interest in the history of Australian motorsport and those who realize there is more to it than Phillip Island and Bathurst. Just 1,000 copies of Red Dust Racers have been printed and are available direct from the author on the website www.motoringpast.com.au at Au$149.50 plus shipping. The first 500 buyers of the book will receive a reproduction of the 1914 Goldfields Motor Club metal car badge. Published by Motoring Past Vintage Publishing.
