Entering the 1990s, Queensland was in need of racetracks following the closure of Surfers Paradise International Raceway and Darlington Park appeared to be the answer.
Located in south-east Queensland, Darlington Park was the vision of Tony Stephens after he purchased the land in 1986.
Two years later, Stephens’ vision for the land was revealed to be a race track and almost immediately it was in the courts.
Work on the proposed circuit was taking place during the court case against the local council and ramped up when it was successful as goals included hosting an Australian Touring Car Championship round in 1989, before possibly hosting Formula 1.
The layout was challenging featuring sweeping bends, elevations, long straights and everything to make it an exciting layout.
Tony Longhurst and Frank Gardner aided in the early design progress before opening what is now Norwell 8km from where Darlington Park was situated.
Skid pans, a hillclimb course and go-karts also featured at Darlington Park, but other items like walls were not in place, gravel tracks were lacking, while trees surrounded the circuit leaving track safety at a premium.
Other problems around the layout included the circuit situated hard up against the property lines and a tight area between sections leaving minimal room to put in run-off.
Many model launches were held at the venue and V8 Experience also ran there during its time.
Stephens passed away in 2005 and the land was divided into various uses, namely the Empire Industrial Park.
The Darlington Park circuit has many stories and is one of those what ifs in Australian motorsport.