Promoters of Canberra's proposed V8 Supercar race remain positive about the progress of talks with the ACT government around their Exhibition Park-based event concept, after the prospect of a round staged in the territory was again the topic of speculation on the weekend.
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To use Exhibition Park would demand upgrades to existing infrastructure, a new modular, multi-purpose building for the pit facilities, extensive civil works such as drainage and the widening and re-laying of existing 12-metre internal roads with a polymer-rich asphalt mix. However the price tag of running the event was claimed by the promoters as "cost neutral" from year one.
"I would love to be able to get a Canberra race up in the ACT - we should be able to go to every state and territory," V8 Supercars board member and five-time champion Mark Skaife said during a race broadcast in Tasmania.
"But one of the things you've got to do is you've got to do it cleverly - and they don't happen easily," Skaife added.
"If you've got a street race somewhere for instance, it's a huge amount of money and a huge amount of government assistance [is] required ... but we do need to do more racing."
There 12 events on the Supercar calendar, and at least one in in every state and territory - with the ACT as the notable exception.
A Canberra consortium has developed a "low impact, high sustainability" proposal and placed it before government.
The government remains tight-lipped but said "a proposal" had been received and "a decision would be made in due course".
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One of Canberra's biggest property developers, Doma Group managing director Jure Domazet, owns almost one-third of the Supercars franchise which he said he bought into primarily for business reasons. He was upbeat and supportive of a round of Australia's premier motorsport coming to the ACT.
The ACT has a local driver, Cameron Hill, competing in the series for the first time since 2004 and a raft of ACT-based companies are also sponsors of another racer, Thomas Randle.
One of the key elements to staging a race within Exhibition Park would be the building of a multi-purpose building which could serve as a pit facility.
A new, 10,000-square-metre multi-purpose building - which is now seen as too small to suit either this proposal or other major events - had been mooted by the government almost three years ago as part of a fresh look at how the precinct potentially would be redeveloped.
To make it race-suitable, any proposed new building would need to knit within the racetrack design, and serve as the pit facilities.
All three development options for Exhibition Park first aired four years ago included placing the new building along the Flemington Rd side of the precinct, closest to the existing main entrance. However, it is understood that fresh options for the building location are now being considered.
Part of the proposal submitted to the ACT government referenced the positive economic impact of a V8 race for other cities, such as Newcastle and Townsville. Should similar economic impacts be reproduced in the ACT, it would be the biggest revenue-generating event held in the territory.
An Ernst and Young consultant's report in 2021 found that, on average, the long-running Newcastle 500 race delivered $36.2 million annually in total economic impact. This equated to $22.60 being returned to the local economy for every $1 the City of Newcastle invested in the race.
Exhibition Park is used to stage a number of major events including Summernats - which regularly generates around $30 million for the ACT economy - the Royal Canberra Show, National Folk Festival, Groovin' the Moo, and the Spilt Milk music festival.
V8 Supercars ran on Canberra's streets for three years from 2000, on a street circuit within the Parliamentary precinct.
The original contract was for five years but the race was effectively torpedoed by a 2002 ACT Auditor General's report which found the economic benefits for the ACT were overstated and the "actual net direct financial costs of conducting the 2000 and 2001 races were greater than the government's original expectations".
V8 Supercar racing is tipped to head overseas next year, with a round in Singapore.
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