Similar to what he’s done at Wakefield Park (now One Raceway), Steve Shelley rebuilt Pheasant Wood Circuit from the ground up. Photo: Biller Property.
Ever wanted your very own racetrack, just one hour, 20 minutes from Canberra? You’ll just need to find over $10 million in the couch cushions — and then get in quick.
One Raceway, formerly Wakefield Park, near Goulburn, might take the spotlight as our closest motorsports facility, but just a little further up the Hume Highway is Pheasant Wood Circuit, at Marulan.
Listed by its address of 8 Prairie Oak Road, it’s now up for sale – and according to owner Steve Shelley, the response has been “immense”.
“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” he says.
“The agent is giving us feedback that he hasn’t seen anything like it before. It’s nonstop.”
The listing of the 1.6-kilometre circuit marks the end of a significant chapter for Shelley, who bought the then-Marulan Driver Training Centre in 2016, long before he would go on to purchase Wakefield Park, now rebuilt and rebranded as One Raceway.
But his relationship with the Marulan site stretches back even further.
“In 2014, I went to the facility to have a track day with some mates,” he recalls. “I really enjoyed the fact that I was on a privately owned motorsport facility, and I said to the owner, Garry Willmington, if ever he wants to exit, please give me a call first.”
The track was founded as the Marulan Driver Training Centre by Australian racing driver Garry Willmington. Photo: Biller Property.
Willmington, an Australian Touring Car Championship driver who had founded the centre while also managing Wakefield Park, kept that promise.
“Literally a couple of years later, he called me up one night and asked me if I was still interested … I drove down the next day, and we started a conversation, which didn’t take too long … Over a week or two, we’d negotiated and shaken hands.”
Shelley paid $3.6 million for the property, but it was vastly different to what it is today.
“It was extremely poor … It was broken up, there was no sub-base, no hydraulic controls, no kerbs, no guttering,” he says. “It was basically just a very simple asphalt strip on top of soil.”
Steve Shelley (left) and Cameron Hill at One Raceway, Goulburn. Photo: Cameron Hill Racing.
What followed was a comprehensive rebuild: expanding the track from 1.2 kilometres to 1.6, widening and reshaping it, installing kilometres of cabling and concrete walls, adding full hydraulic controls, drainage, marshal posts, pit buildings, guest accommodation, a commercial kitchen and cafeteria, race control systems, timing equipment, dams and extensive water storage.
“We’ve spent a lot of time making it very, very beautiful and very practical and user-friendly,” Shelley says.
So proud of it was he, the name honours Shelley’s great-grandfather, Herbert “Nutsy” Bolt, who was killed in World War I and buried in a French military cemetery named Pheasant Wood.
The result has become a favourite among track-day regulars, motorcycle riders, drift fans, junior drivers and car clubs.
“We get a lot of compliments on how beautifully it is presented … It’s like that every day of the year,” Shelley says.
Like its Goulburn sibling, the circuit has also faced its share of neighbour complaints — but Shelley says hard work has helped build goodwill.
“When we first bought it, there were a lot of disputes with the neighbours, but we managed to build relationships with all of them, and also have very strict noise controls at our race meetings … We found that’s a winning formula.”
Shelley estimates he would need offers “well above $10 million” to break even.
“I’ve spent many, many millions on it, which I won’t divulge … if I am to break even or make a little bit of money out of it, that will be a win.”
But money, he says, isn’t driving the sale.
“It’s basically a lifestyle choice,” he says. “My wife and I have got a lot going on in our lives … and we want to really focus all of our energies on One Raceway. Pheasant Wood has become non-core compared to the rest of my responsibilities.”
He hopes the next owner will continue the care he can no longer give.
“We want to give somebody else an opportunity to love her as much as we did … I’ll openly admit I’m not giving her the support she needs. Hopefully it finds its way into the hands of somebody who loves and appreciates it like we did.”
Shelley says One Raceway stands ready to receive event bookings if Pheasant Wood Circuit does go to a private buyer. Photo: Biller Property.
Interest so far has come from all directions — high-wealth individuals, clubs and families seeking a rural lifestyle with motorsport on the doorstep.
“It’s not just a motorsport circuit,” Shelley says. “It’s actually a complete lifestyle play … horse riding, minibikes, dirt bikes, four-wheel-drive trails, go-karts, grazing opportunities. And it’s only one hour 50 from Sydney and one hour 20 from Canberra.”
Given the volume of inquiries, Shelley expects to run a formal expressions-of-interest campaign and hopes for a result before Christmas.
For clubs and training providers that rely on Pheasant Wood, he says One Raceway is ready to help if needed.
“Let’s say somebody wants to run it as a commercial enterprise. We would, of course, allow them to continue on with bookings, but if they want to keep it for themselves, we could certainly cater to any spillover of requirement at One Raceway.”
Pheasant Wood Circuit is listed on realestate.com.au.
