Pheasant Wood Circuit, near Marulan, has sold for more than $10 million. Photo: Pheasant Wood Circuit.
If you’ve got more than $10 million to spare and always fancied your own racetrack, you’re out of luck.
Pheasant Wood Circuit at Marulan, about halfway between Canberra and Sydney, has officially changed hands after attracting a flood of interest from buyers around the country.
The 150-acre property sold on 1 June for more than its $10 million asking price, six months after being listed for sale.
While best known for its 1.6-kilometre racing circuit, the property is much more than a place to drive fast laps.
In fact, the owner pitched it as “a complete lifestyle play”.
The track has been open to private track-day, learn-to-drive, and car club events up until it went up for sale. Photo: Biller Property.
The site also includes bush trails for four-wheel driving, horse riding and mountain biking, several dams, guest accommodation and a four-bedroom home tucked away from the circuit itself.
When the property was listed in December, owner Steve Shelley said demand was immediate.
“The phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” he told Region at the time.
“The agent is giving us feedback that he hasn’t seen anything like it before. It’s nonstop.”
Mr Shelley bought the then-Marulan Driver Training Centre in 2016 after falling in love with it during a track day there.
He then spent millions transforming what he described as “a very simple asphalt strip on top of soil” into a modern motorsport facility.
“It was extremely poor … It was broken up, there was no sub-base, no hydraulic controls, no kerbs, no guttering,” he said.
Mr Shelley expanded the circuit from 1.2 kilometres to 1.6 kilometres, widened and reshaped the track and added pit buildings, drainage, race control systems, timing equipment, accommodation, a commercial kitchen, dams and extensive water storage.
“We’ve spent a lot of time making it very, very beautiful and very practical and user-friendly,” he said.
Steve Shelley poured more money into Pheasant Wood than he’d like to admit. Photo: Biller Property.
The name honours Mr Shelley’s great-grandfather, Herbert “Nutsy” Bolt, who was killed in World War I and buried in a French military cemetery named Pheasant Wood.
In late 2022, Mr Shelley bought Goulburn’s One Raceway, formerly Wakefield Park Raceway, and has since spent nearly $7 million on extensive noise mitigation and facility upgrades there.
He said this meant Pheasant Wood Circuit wasn’t getting the “support she needs”.
“We want to give somebody else an opportunity to love her as much as we did,” Mr Shelley said when the property was listed.
“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.”
The final sale price of more than $10 million is what Mr Shelley needed 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,” he said.
It’s not clear whether the track will remain accessible to the public, but One Raceway stands ready to offset the loss to motorsport, track days and car club events.
“Let’s say somebody wants to run it as a commercial enterprise. We would, of course, allow them to continue with bookings, but if they want to keep it for themselves, we could certainly cater to any spillover of requirement at One Raceway,” Mr Shelley told Region.
Mr Shelley was contacted for further comment.
