Hillclimb events were a popular motorsport discipline to the extent of receiving live broadcasts up until the 1970s and this occurred on the border of Melbourne’s metropolitan area just outside of Lilydale.
Lakeland Hillclimb was operated by the Light Car Club of Australia and was one of many venues of similar description in the area during the height of the discipline.
The land was located in the bushy outer eastern suburb of Lilydale, the gateway to the famous Yarra Valley wine country and was owned by motorsport luminary Jim Abbott.
Founder of AutoSportsman Magazine and the Melbourne Racing Car Show, Abbott also founded Lakeland in the early-1960s as hillclimbing became a popular pursuit for motor racing enthusiasts.
Not only did amateurs regular enter, but so dd the stars such as Harry Firth, Peter Brock and future Formula 1 driver Tim Schenken, who won the national hillclimb championship before setting off to Europe.
Massive crowds attended Lakeland, Templestowe and Rob Roy, which still remains in operation today despite being non-operational for a period of time. Due to its popularity live television coverage was not uncommon for hillclimbs in both Victoria and New South Wales.
A tight climb, Lakeland started off with a straight heading into a fast chicane before a hairpin as a gradually right turn, which increased in tightness. A short straight followed before the last hairpin led to the finish.
A timing box, scoreboard and various advertising boards featured throughout the venue.
A successful venue, the upkeep of it proved too much when Abbott passed away leading his widow to sell the land to a developer turning it into rural housing.
There are no remnants of the circuit remaining some 40 years since its sale, although there is a pin highlighting where the circuit once was on Google Maps.