V8 Street Circuit At Homebush Approved

[BezerkR32]

i hope this is not the case as then i should not have sold my kart.

is the loss of OP that bad as we still have 2 tracks, thats one more than most states. i know its a good track but could sacrificing one help with the maintenance of the others?

Closing circuits is part of Cokrun's master plan to have a monopoly for V8SuperCars. No circuits = no other categories of motorsport to compete for the almighty advertising and TV dollars. No other places for spectators to go, you want to watch circuit racing then you have no choice, it's V8SuperCars or nothing. It's the same reason he wanted to take over the Indy Car event on the Gold Coast, deprive QIR of its major money maker for the year and remove Indy Cars as a competitor for TV time.

There is nothing good in this for motorsport competitors or fans, it's all bad news. Especially since it will kill off any chance of a replacement for Oran Park.

Cheers

Gary

[Roy]

i agree, as a spectator it will be excellent, lets give it our full support and see how it goes,

if less whinging and more support was thrown towards motorsport as spectators it might also open doors for us the little people to get involved also. all the whinging and the first thing mentioned is the admission price to go watch.......

Thats the other thing...street circuits are famous for one thing. Being crap for spectating. Even the best vanatge points typically only allow you to see two corners and a big screen tv....so there is no way they can complain about EC being bad for spectators.

Anyway, will see how it goes...i love my motorsport but all i heard about when i was away was how the NSW Govt coffers were dry...schools, health, education....$15million is better spent on the same form of motorsport that already holds 3 rounds in the same state?

[JAS-25T]

So, I had the pleasure to talk to a government official last night about the homebush event.

He just spent the other weekend (paid by us tax payers) up at Townsville watching their setup to see what they can do at homebush.

He gleefully told us, when asked what he did for a crust, that he worked for the government in getting the homebush bid going, and how much more money they are making from it. Also didn't mine telling me that $30 million of the peoples money is going towards the setup and they hope to get more people to the street circuit than OP or EC.

He also is going to the A1GP at GC (also paid by us) to see what thats all about.

In my hour or so of being graced by his presence, he was gloating as much as he could. When I left, I mentioned I might run into him at homebush, when he replied "Yeah I'll be in the 250 seat box, paid to be there" or something to that effect.

Some numbers he mentioned, but I'm not sure how accurate they are (one should assume that the government would have accurate numbers though) ............

25 thousand attend OP.

they expected 80k at Townsville to break even........they got 160k+

he reckons at least 130k at Homebush.......

Just in general, you could tell that grass roots sports are stuffed in this state, and it's all about the $$$

[Chris-06R]

You should have taken the opportunity to ask him how his fantastic $10million/day street circuit would provide the necessary driver training and club level motorsport facilities to replace Oran Park.

[JAS-25T]

I didn't want to push it on our first date , but I might be lucky enough to run into him again.....

[Beer Baron]

well 25,000 people at Oran park is a bloody amazing feat since there is no bloody train within cooee of the joint, no buses I've ever seen go there and a taxi ride from the big smoke would cost you about $200 each way. in a car it's 1.5 hours drive from the city and when you get there, there's only parking for a small number of cars on any kind of flat surface (unless you want to walk 20min each way to the actual track). and if you park on the back of the track you have to take a nice drive down a dirt and gravel road with holes big enough for a family of 4 to live in. and there is seating for what? 1,000 people in one grand stand? on the plus side the track is great, pit access is good and easy to get close to the drivers and cars. there are also lots of different vantage points around the circuit which are all good viewing.

so given those barriers it's amazing how many people they get. if they spent some money on good level parking, and upgrades to stands, food and access roads it would be a fantastic track for years to come for both drivers and spectators but we just know that's not the case.

[JAS-25T]

I dare say $30 mil from the government wouldn't be short for those improvements.....

[benm]

The reason why Townsville was so successful is because it's 1500km away from another track, let alone any other form of sport. I'd put a large sum of money on it that 1/3rd of the attendence have never seen a v8 race on tv before and never will again... they went simply because of the experience and it was the biggest show in town.

If Harrington Park didn't exist, Oran Park would continue to exist. It was simply the next large block of land along The Northern Rd ready to be developed and their was too much money on offer for the owners to pass up.

Homebush will be another average turnout although because it is a street race you will once again get part of the attendence that have never seen a v8 race before and never will again, simply go for the experience. I say average because unlike Townsville, their are many different sporting codes around Sydney for the population to follow.

[Sydneykid]

Hang on.....the Townsville numbers (160K) are 3 days added together, typical Cockrun rubbish. So it's really only 53K average per day, despite the spin the fact is there weren't 160K people visiting Townsville. Last year's Oran Park attendance was hushed up by Cockrun because he was aiming for the street race, but the crowd on Sunday was close to 50K. Hardly a big deal difference when you know the truth.

Cheers

Gary

[benm]

It was only that because it was the last v8 event held there, just like it was 50k back when it was brocks last race.

[Chris-06R]

On a somewhat related note... Gary, are you in the inner circle of the mob proposing this new track up on the Central Coast, or do you at least know some goss?

[Sydneykid]

On a somewhat related note... Gary, are you in the inner circle of the mob proposing this new track up on the Central Coast, or do you at least know some goss?

Sorry I'm not in that loop, try Boz, the driver trainers are plugged in as it's their livelyhood on the line when OP close. I will be at the CAMS office for a meeting tomorrow, so I will ask if anyone there knows anything.

Cheers

Gary

[fatz]

oran is shit for spectators

no pa no tv no nothing

you sit around and wonder ETF is happening in big croud

good access to the pits though

[boxheadmr]

the only reason it is shit pete is becasue they haven't spent any money on it in 10years, the last money they spent was the sheds on pit lane and it was only so they could continue to get he V8's.

Shame it is going as is a really great track, i think the homebush event will be great especially with the transport side of things.

Matt

[old mate]

my understanding was the track was leased to who ever ran it and thats why it is now up for development because the owners (gov) will make a bundle. if thats correct that probably why you saw no maintnance as the tennants were probably only allowed to do so much and anything major would have to go through the owners who have probably known they were going to put houses there for a long time. i know indy or a1 is attracting heaps on the coast cause its a party town to begin with and they are putting on more events. u got the porches and the a1 plus demos and now a drift track at the car park which is expected to get huge numbers aswell as everyone is there for a 3 day weekend on the coast. homebush would want to offer more than a day at the races and a bus ride home.

[Beer Baron]

the government does not own the land at oran park. it's been in one family for a long time now.