08 Feb 2016 Border Mail, Albury-Wodonga (General News) by Shana Morgan FIFTY race cars, classic cars and even a passenger bus had their smoothest drive ever when they experienced the first laps on Winton Raceways improved track. Benalla Auto Club members were given the honour of starting their engines after the ribbon was cut to launch the upgrade on Sunday. They only drove at 60 per cent of the top speed to look after the new baby, which had just been completed. Auto club president Barry Stilo said resurfacing the entire track and re-profiling corners would improve the flow of the circuit to make vehicles glide to the best of their advantage. Its quite fitting that it will be the members who will be the first to drive on the brand-new surface of what is ultimately their track, he said. The works were completed in eight weeks over summer. Winton Motor Raceway operations manager Wayne Williams called it the best surface in Australia. Its been talked about for a lot of years, he said. The black stuff was a small portion of what we did. We had a lot of drainage, the track edges are a lot better than what they used to be. Mr Stilo was part of the 1960s bulldozing crew which cut out the original Winton track and as a driver, also held early track records. He has been to most race meets over the past 50 years and stood proudly on the trackside on Sunday. I know many people are eagerly anticipating the lap times that will be recorded throughout the year, so youll have to throw out all your old charts and start all over again, Mr Stilo said. (Winton) has got a dynamic that I just dont understand. Its still as popular today as it was 50 years ago. The Victorian government provided $1 million to the project, which Northern Victoria MP Jaclyn Symes said would improve Benallas tourism value by $10m per year from $35m to $45m. Its very important for the local members, but also attracting those large events the V8s and the superbikes, she said. The Winton Motor Raceway is now set to become Victorias premier regional racing venue. Caption Text: GREEN LIGHT: Northern Victoria MP Jaclyn Symes and Benalla Auto Club president Barry Stilo were excited to officially launch Wintons new track surface. Copyright Agency licensed copy (www.copyright.com.au)