Untold History: When the red dust motor racers put WA’s outback on the map

It is a claypan which is flat, hard and dusty. The red dirt is a very good clue about its location — the outback of Western Australia. It may seem like an unlikely place to be known nationally and internationally as a top-rated place for motor sport. And yet that is exactly what Lake Perkolilli was in the early days of car and motorbike racing in this country. For a time during the 1900s it was even said to rival some of the great race tracks of the world. Eventually the continued setbacks from economic depression, two world wars, and new forms of vehicle racing saw Perkolilli slide into decline. And yet its legendary status lingered, and it has slowly been brought back into focus ahead of another instalment of red dirt racing later this year. WA motoring historian Graeme Cocks has documented the rise and fall — and rise — of Lake Perkollili, about 35km north-east of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, near Kanowna, in his book Red Dust Racers. The story of racing at the lake began in 1914. Motoring was in its infancy in WA in 1914, and just 409 people were employed in “coach and motor body building, cycle and motor works”. About 1700 cars had been imported into the State, Cocks writes. But among those who had an interest in the automobile was Joseph Ruttle, who ran a cattle station he called Perkolilli, and in 1914 he suggested to the newly formed Goldfields Motor Club Lake Perkolilli would make a good venue for a motoring event, Cocks writes. Reporting on the offer, the Western Argus newspaper on April 28, 1914, said the lake “is several miles wide, and as level as a billiard table”. “An enjoyable picnic and sports gathering could be held at small cost,” the paper said. The Kalgoorlie Miner reported on May 7 about plans for “a grand motor picnic” to be held at Lake Perkolilli. “The scheme is to charter motor cars to carry the public to the picnic grounds at a nominal fare, and there have races for cars, motor cycles, side-cars and many other events of a like edifying and interesting nature,” it said. Cocks writes interest and hopes were high, and there was already talk about Lake Perkolilli becoming the “Brooklands of the West’’ — a reference to the racing circuit near London, where speed records had been set since its opening in 1907. The first picnic and sports meeting went ahead on May 31. The Kalgoorlie Miner reported on June 2 that “the day was all that could be desired for the occasion”. The road to the event “presented rather an unusual sight to see clouds of dust dotted at fairly regular intervals, when viewed from a distance”. “There were about 38 cars present on the lake and about 300 people in all, a great number coming in sulkies and bicycles. “The racing was of an exciting character, and some very fast times were put up as a consequence, of daring riding round the circular course, which measured one and three-quarter miles, laps being done by the 7 h.p Indian and 6 h.p. Henderson at the speed of over a mile a minute,” the Miner reported. Cocks told The West Australian in 1914 “there were very few, if any, roads in WA where you could go flat-out in a car or motorbike, because the roads were just so bad”. “So this was sensational, it was a perfectly flat track where you could go flat-out and go as fast as you could until you broke it,” he said. With more events in June and August, news of the venue spread fast. Cocks noted a July 1914 article in Adelaide’s The Mail newspaper that enthused “Brooklands of Australia discovered in Western Australia”, and even drew comparisons to the famous Indianapolis speedway in the US. “It is quite a picturesque sight to see the lake with its vast flat and hard surface . . . fringed with scrub and small trees, while to the west is a large range of hills,” the paper reported. “This Western Australian course must be very solid, for it is stated that a horse drawing a dray with 200 gallons of water aboard went across it and not a trace of either could be seen.” The final event of 1914, on December 27, saw some entrants camp at the lake overnight to prepare for the racing the next day. “It was the start of a tradition which spanned the decades with the bush around the rim of the clay pan peppered with campsites — but always a separation between the motorcycle riders and the motor car racers,” Cocks writes. It also saw the first major car accident. “The race regulations were unusual,” Cocks writes. “Each car had to have a chauffeur and four passengers. “Taxi driver Robert Disberry in his Ford Model T had four passengers: Mr Jack Stout of the Government Savings Bank in Boulder and Mrs Esther Fisher from the Recreation Hotel in Boulder and her daughters Doris and Florence.” As cars in the four-mile raced slowed down from an estimated 45 to 50 miles an hour (about 72km/h-80 km/h) it appeared a bolt sheered from the front suspension. causing the wheels to splay to either side, throwing everyone out and crushing the car’s radiator and brass lights, Cocks wrote. The car remained vertical with two back wheels in the air, but fortunately the occupants were not seriously injured. The world was by then heading into the horrors of World War I, and many men from the Goldfields enlisted to do their bit. “Lake Perkolilli continued to host events during the Great War (WWI) until there were few members of the Goldfields Motor Club left to organise the races,” Cocks writes. After the war ended in 1918, interest in cars, and in racing them, grew rapidly. In 1920 there were 3400 cars registered in WA. In 1921, this had grown to 4180. Motor racing at Perkolilli was revived, and the next decade produced its glory days. “In that period it became legendary, and people used to come from all over and camp there for the week,” Cocks told The West Australian. “The big motorcycle firms in Perth and some of the car distributors would go up there and set up camps in the bush around the claypan, tune the bikes and cars for the week, and race on the weekend. “It was talked about in newspapers in the US and the UK, particularly by the car dealers that were promoting their brands. “I’ve even seen an article in the Harley-Davidson magazine in Japan where they mentioned Perkolilli.” There would be lines of cars around the track at a time when such crowds were only really seen in Perth at cricket and football matches, Cocks said. “To get that many people to a claypan in the middle of the bush was just amazing,” he said. He writes in Red Dust Racers that 2000 people in buses, and 300-400 cars went to the lake for the event on April 12, 1925. As the crowds grew, the Eastern Goldfields branch of the Royal Automobile Club secured the grandstand from the Coolgardie Racecourse. It was transported to Perkolilli on a dray pulled by camels and re-assembled in time for the April 4, 1926 race meeting. The grandstand could accommodate 1000 spectators under shade and “ladies’ retiring rooms” were also built, Cocks writes. That year also saw Harry “Cannonball” Baker ride his Brough Superior bike at 94.73mph (152km/h), setting a new State record. In 1927 Billy Attwood and Arthur Colliver in a Chrysler set new Australian 24-hour and 1000-mile distance records. Over 24 hours they covered 1607.87 miles (2587.6km), beating the old record of 1479.75 miles (2381.4km). They broke the 1000-mile record by 38 minutes, covering the distance in 14 hours, 35 minutes. It was a high point. But Perkolilli racing was facing a decline. Speedway began at the Claremont Showgrounds in 1927, the Depression of the early 1930s took a toll, round-the-houses racing in Albany took some of the attention, and World War II, which began in 1939, brought new pressures, including petrol rationing, Cocks told The West Australian. After WWII ended in 1945, Lake Perkollili as a race venue was all but forgotten, with just occasional events. A small group of MG owners found their way to the claypan in 1989, and from 1994 Perkolilli began to be used for hang-gliding. Cocks and a group of vintage motorsport enthusiasts went out to Perkolilli in 1997 to mark 70 years since the first 24-hour speed record was set on the claypan, and have returned regularly since then. “Every time we went back more people have wanted to come,” Cocks said. ”It is just a natural claypan in the bush that regenerates itself every year. “As long as the surface has time to recover, it is still just as good as it was in 1914.” The Red Dust Revivals at Perkolilli were born, with the last one held in 2022. The next will be held from September 29 to October 5. Cocks said already, owners of 190 vintage vehicles and 70 bikes had expressed interest. For the souvenir program this year, he is focusing on 1925 and unheralded mechanics. He said he hoped readers would contact him if they had photos in family albums, including of Isaac “Dick” Crawcour, who won the WA championship at Perkolilli in April 1925 driving a Chrysler.

Untold History: When the red dust motor racers put WA’s outback on the map

The No. 1 source of news for every West Australian