Stylish MGs put through their paces at Gunnedah airport

Keeping an eye out for incoming planes.

The MG Car Club of Sydney rented out the entire Gunnedah Airport for a Motorkhana on Sunday, March 31, as part of the 2024 Centenary MG National Meeting, and organisers had their eyes on the sky in case of emergencies.

"Because it's an airstrip, there is the remote possibility of an emergency landing, so we have to have a trained radio operator to monitor the air traffic and watch for aircraft," event secretary Steve Perry said.

Motorkhana is a low-speed, low-cost motorsport designed to test drivers' ability to control their car.

Contestants steer through a set pattern as quickly as possible; turning, braking, and even powersliding their vehicles in order to shave precious milliseconds off their time.

More than 60 drivers registered to tackle the three patterns the car club has set up at Gunnedah Airport.

Motorkhana is unique to Australia and New Zealand, and the MG Motorkhana is the only one in the country which runs on an air strip.

"Most airstrips are really busy and couldn't do this," Mr Perry said.

"The [Gunnedah] air strip is the only one we know of in Australia that has a track license from Mortosport Australia for events, so what we're doing today isn't happening anywhere else in Australia."

Mr Parry said the support of the Tamworth Drag Racing Association and the Gunnedah Motoring Enthusiasts Car Club were instrumental in making sure the Motorkhana and the afternoon's half-mile sprint went off without a hitch.

"Somebody even organised the weather for us, which I couldn't do, so that was good," he said with a chuckle.

By happy coincidence, the MG National Meeting has lined up perfectly with the final weekend of Gunnedah's annual Weeks of Speed Festival.

Gunnedah Motoring Enthusiasts secretary Geoff Hood told the Leader it's very exciting for their "small club" to.

"All the cars are here and looking pretty flash," Mr Hood said.

"It's certainly something different for us. We've got all these people walking through and seeing the cars with big smiles on their faces."

Motorists from Tasmania all the way up to Far North Queensland have come to Tamworth and Gunnedah for the 100^th annual MG National Meeting, which included a day of car show judging on Saturday, March 30, at Cross Park in Tamworth.

Mr Hood said it was a lot of effort to get everything set up for the MG Motorkhana, but it's all worth it to get more people interested in learning about cars.

"You ever hear the phrase, 'It takes 10 years to be an overnight success?' That's what's happened here with all the planning," he said.

The Gunnedah club will also host the 2024 NSW State Hillclimb at Mount Porcupine in September.

As for the MG National Meeting, Mr Parry said Tamworth and Gunnedah had been a perfect spot for the 100^th anniversary celebration.

"We've got more than 260 people, which means we need a lot of rooms to stay in and a lot of spaces for both sporting and social events," he said.

"There are very few suburbs where you can get all that close together at a reasonable price. In Sydney it would be so much harder, whereas here our hotel is six minutes from the concourse."

The event organiser gave a big thanks MG Car Club Victoria, Motorsport Australia, Tamworth Sporting Car Club, Gunnedah Shire Council, Tamworth Regional Council, and the Tamworth Camera Club for their support.

The 100^th MG National continues on Monday, April 1 with a lap dash and discovery run at Oakburn Park Raceway in Tamworth.

The centenary will conclude with a farewell breakfast at Tamworth's Mercure Hotel on Tuesday, April 2.