Got our backsides Trackside!

21 January 2016 / Story: Grant Webber Photos: Grant Webber

The Hunter Chapter’s first social night of the year found us heading toward Trackside restaurant in Gosford. Seven cars with twelve people met at Morisset straight after work in perfect MX-5 summer weather; the end of a hot day with the sun still up but no longer melting faces! A 7.30pm booking necessitated a reasonably straight run down the Pacific Motorway, with a short detour via Ourimbah and Lisarow to put us on to Manns Road and on to Trackside, where a couple of Central Coast based members met us.

 

Bad pun run report titles aside (with due apologies/acknowledgement to Mike Raymond!), Trackside is an excellent place to visit for the motoring enthusiast. The owner has a long history in Australian motorsport and the interior of the restaurant is full of memorabilia and even full size race cars. The display vehicles change over time, with the current collection boasting a Group A Ford Sierra Cosworth from the British Touring Car Championship, a very pretty little (original) Mini Cooper, a Fiat 500 Abarth from a recent Bathurst 12 Hour campaign and an open wheeler in McLaren-esque livery from Mika Hakkinen era; though as it was not moving it was easy to mistake for a 2015 McLaren-Honda! Trackside is easy to access on the corner of Manns Rd and Central Coast Highway, and the surrounding large shopping precinct means parking of a night-time is easy.
 

 

After a fantastic meal and a few tall tales it was time for the run home, taking in some more MX-5 friendly roads. A quick left at Narara put us on to Mangrove Road and a great uphill blast toward Strickland State Forest. After crossing the M1 Motorway at the top of “Ourimbah Hill” we turned right on to Dog Trap Road for the downhill mogul-run in to the back of Ourimbah. From here we followed the old Pacific Highway through Kangy Angy to Tuggerah, then Old Maitland Rd, Hue Hue Rd and Wyee Rd to Morisset. The cooler air and the darkness provided the perfect setting for a short but enjoyable drive.

For those interested in our run, particularly the under-appreciated Mangrove Rd/Dog Trap Rd combination, a link to a map is below:
https://goo.gl/maps/3tgg6iXvsQo

More photos HERE & HERE