History

TFTR was formed in 1993 and our first President was Greg Collins. Back then TFTR shared the current site with the Templestowe off road RC club (which was formed around 1983). The current site was split approximately in half with the off road track on the section closest to Porter St, the drivers stand in the middle and then TFTR towards the current disabled parking area.

The first event held at TFTR was the 1995 AARCMCC Nationals. This meeting has since been hailed as a milestone in Australian RC car racing as it signified the beginning of purpose built tracks for EP racing.

Renato Benci was TFTR's second President and Ren is still heavily involved in RC through his own business RAB Hobbies. During Ren's tenure (with the assistace of Nic Michaelides who was Vice President), the off road club ceased to exist and TFTR was approached by the Council to take over the land formerly used by the off road club. Council provided an extremely generous budget, which coupled with funds raised by the club, and a great deal of hard work by the members, the track took shape in the layout that we are familiar with today with the brick club house and disabled ramp to the drivers stand. This process spanned a period of over 12 months and included meetings with Council officers and local residents to ensure everyones needs were met.

Below are some photos of the track after the asphalt was laid over the off road area but before the lines were painted.

 

Around 1998 Nigel George became TFTR's third President.

In 2002, Andy Cooke became TFTR's fourth President. This was the same year that the first TFTR Masters Event was held and it has been a feature on Australia's RC calendar ever since.

In 2004 Nigel again took the reins as President and in 2008, after some years of working with the council, successfully negotiated for the council to resurface the track. The track now has grip the equal of overseas tracks and following a great deal of work from club members we now have graduated concrete curbs which slows a car down, should it cut the corner, without damaging it. The latest track refurbishment is shown below:

In 2010 David Stevens took over as President and introduced a number of new facilities including 24x7 Practice Timing. After 3 years David stepped down and Hani Abbas took the reins.

On 8 December 2013 the club formally celebrated its 20th birthday and all of the former President's attended the celebration:

Left to right above: Hani Abbas, David Stevens, Greg Collins, Nigel George, Renato Benci and Andy Cooke

 

In more recent times, the club has been led by John Krilis, Tim Boundy and Glenn Wilson.