Mick Ronke RIP
— Terry O’Neill Statement
Vale Mick Ronke A Great Man Who Passed Away Too Young
On Monday evening one of the truly great men of all time in Australian motorsport passed away. He was someone I was very proud to call a friend.
Michael J Ronke, or as nearly everyone called him Mick, was one of those very rare people who knew what he wanted to do and achieve in life and spent all of his time doing it. He loved motorsport and his beloved Winton Raceway so much so that he spent nearly every one of his waking hours there seven days a week. He had several rare qualities that you only find in a good person, one was his word was his bond and if he said he would do something he always followed through.
To say he was a bit of an enigma would be an understatement, I would suspect that very few people knew the real Mick, on the outside he appeared brash, distant and a man of few words. But if you got to know the man he was very bright, engaging and showed a wit and dry sense of humour that often had you sitting there wondering what the hell had just hit you.
To say he was very focussed on doing the right thing and growing motorsport, whether it be on four, six or two wheels would be an understatement. One often hears of someone being described as a visionary, my experience says few people deserve that title. Mick is one of those who does deserve the title of visionary, he understood all aspects of motorsport and was prepared to introduce far sighted changes that have and will continue to reshape motorsport in this country for the better for a long time to come. His whole life was focussed on achieving the betterment of motorsport and to that end his legacy will live on, of that I have no doubt.
Mick had another private side to him, one that he didn’t often share, he was very proud of and loved his sons Matt and Adam dearly, often when they weren’t around he would speak about them and their various achievements and escapades, he did this on a regular basis with both Gloria and I over the years. He was a very proud father and when he spoke of his sons his whole face would light up with a beaming smile.
As I said I’m very proud to have called Mick Ronke my friend, both Gloria and I will dearly miss him and the friendship he showed us. Our sincerest and heartfelt condolences go out to both Matthew and Adam and the rest of his family, work colleagues and friends at this terribly sad time.
The funeral service for Mick will be held at the Jim Ronke Corporate Centre at Winton International Motor Raceway next Tuesday the 7th May at 1:00 pm.
— M.A. Statement
Motorcycling Australia’s (MA) CEO, David White, has released the following statement regarding the death of one of motorcycling’s respected racetrack administrators, Mick Ronke.
“We were deeply shocked and saddened to hear about the loss of Mick Ronke. Mick died after suffering heart problems and passed away peacefully with his family by his side.
Over the 25 years that I have worked with Mick, I have always found him to be a passionate supporter of motorsport and a leading administrator. He will be sorely missed in the motorsport community.
On behalf of MA I would like to extend our sincerest condolences to Mick’s family and all those who knew him.”
