Have more than four hundred horses after the seat of a Ferrari Testarossa And not being able to feel its power was a feeling that, the already deceased Australian Millionaire Dean Wills could not resist.
One day in 1996, Wills stepped on more than the account the accelerator of his Ferrari and a new recruit of the department of the local sheriff hunted him circulating above the speed limit. That infraction led him to a withdrawal of your driving card.
Far from giving up his great passion and letting his supercar They took dustthe millionaire made a decision that would never regret it: Build a private circuit in the back garden of your house north of Sydney.
Licensed to enjoy
Dean Wills He had made a career and fortune in the business of the tobacco companies and member of the Board of Directors, former president and general director of Coca-Cola Amatil, the main bottling of Coca-Cola de Australia.
This good economic position allowed the millionaire to assume the high cost of creating a valuable Collection of supercar and luxury cars. Among the models that treasured In his garage The McLaren F1 of limited edition with registration No. 009, The only McLaren F1 which was sold in a concessionaire in Australia.
It was clear that, not being able to circulate with its supercar on the roads was not going to be an obstacle for the millionaire to enjoy his passion. He immediately got to work to design a racing circuit worthy of formula 1 at the back of his home in Nueva Wales del Sur.
According to collected The Australian edition of the Daily Telegraphthe circuit has a length of 5.1 km and is made up of 22 curves, two lines of more than 500 meters each. The set occupies an area of 40 hectares of land and the cost of construction of this circuit was estimated at 10 million dollars. The work took three years to end, As they pointed out in Business Insider.
Mark Wills, son of the millionaire, told the Telegraph That the main reason that led his father to build a circuit in his rear garden was “the lack of opportunities for sports driving in a safe environment.”
The Wills heir assured that at the end of the 80s the roads in the area were very calm and there was hardly any traffic, so “it was possible to get up early on Sunday morning and go out to drive.”
However, the increase in population in the area made traffic also increase. “It was becoming less and less safe, so we really needed a place we could go where we did not get into situations that threatened our life. Security was the most important, to enjoy driving as manufacturers had designed cars to be driven, without cars or cyclists in the opposite direction. “
A rural track with exclusive invitation
Despite having a route worthy of the best formula 1 circuits, the Dean Wills Speed Track Actually, it was conceived as a rural road through which the millionaire and his friends could circulate at high speeds with their supercar without putting them at risk or them or the rest of the road users. “We never went through our heads to create a racing track, we only wanted a rural road to circulate,” said Mark Wills.
In fact, unlike most circuits, this track does not have gravel exits, barriers or pianos in the curves. In fact, and even has signs that advise at what speed to take each curve, to respect the regulations of a rural track, although it is actually closed to traffic and You can only access with an exclusive invitation of the family or his friends: someone has to answer for you.
Visitors must comply with strict traffic standardsincluding the prohibition of careers or competitions. “All are friends with friends. We know people who invite and trust their criteria.”
Among the illustrious guests to drive through the curves of this circuit are several formula 1 champions such as Jackie Stewart and the great Jack Brabham, who described the private track as the “second best racing track in the world.”
“We do not count the times back, the only way to measure them is how long the pilot’s smile lasts,” said Wills’s son.
In Xataka | The Magarigawa Club: the private luxury circuit in which the millionaires conduct their supercar
Image | Flickr (Alexandre Prevot)