Sebastian Calderon, Murray Pioneer

Riverland motorsport enthusiasts are celebrating the return of racing at a popular local venue after months of work to address safety concerns surrounding speedway facilities.

Renmark Dirt Kart Club president Jayne Gelston says the club was “thrilled” after regaining its track licence and successfully hosting a major long weekend race meeting that attracted competitors from across Australia.

The club’s licence was suspended in March after Dirt Karting Australia identified safety concerns with the Riverland Speedway-based track, placing the future of several events in doubt and forcing members to undertake significant remediation works.

“On March 21 we lost our licence because of an unsafe track,” Ms Gelston said.

The club’s efforts were rewarded on May 23 when officials approved the upgraded circuit during an open practice day, clearing the way for racing to resume.

“We’ve taken lots of work to rebuild the track, and on May 23 we had an open practice day, where they approved the track,” Ms Gelston said.

The approval came just in time for the annual long weekend event run in conjunction with Loxton, a fixture Ms Gelston said had been taking place for decades.

“During the long weekend we run with Loxton every year, we’ve been doing that for as long as I can remember,” she said.

“We had a very successful meeting, everybody was very positive and the track was fantastic.”

The meeting attracted competitors from interstate and delivered a welcome boost for the club after a challenging few months.

“We had a really successful weekend, we had people from Darwin, Western Australia, Northern Territory, and Victoria,” Ms Gelston said.

“They loved it, this place was packed out.”

Ms Gelston said the successful return to racing was a reward for the volunteers, sponsors and members who had worked tirelessly to restore the venue.

“It was so good, for not only the club, but all the members that have put in all the hard work and all our sponsors that have helped us out, contributed, done their little bit or big bit in some cases,” she said.

The successful meeting marks a significant milestone in the club’s recovery following the licence suspension and provides renewed confidence for the future of dirt kart racing in the Riverland.

This article appeared in Murray Pioneer, 17 June 2026.