Supercars confirms new Queensland Raceway deal
Supercars has confirmed that its secured a new track hire deal with Queensland Raceway, the first step in keeping the series at the Ipswich circuit for the foreseeable future.
Photo by: Dirk Klynsmith
The deal is an important step in shoring up the track’s Supercars future, with a report on the series website confirming that the additional agreements with the Ipswich City Council and the Queensland government required to lock down the event are expected to be done in the coming weeks.
“This contract puts Virgin Australia Supercars in the position it needs to be to conclude its arrangements with the Queensland Government and the Ipswich City Council for the Willowbank round,” said Supercars CEO Warburton.
“Our Queensland teams are looking forward to exploiting their hometown advantage and, being the round to follow Townsville, it means we get to enjoy Queensland’s beautiful winter climate just that much longer.”
According to a statement from Queensland Raceways CEO John Tetley the deal runs for three years.
Tetley also mentions that another three years could be added before this fresh deal runs its course.
“In addition to this contract, an option for a further 3 years has been tabled and discussed,” said Tetley.
“ Whilst we are not looking to finalise that contract just yet, we expect it will be ratified well before the end of the current term. It is obviously in nobody’s interest to keep running from year to year with no guarantee of continuity on either side pushing everyone to stressful last minute discussions.”
Queensland Raceway securing a longer-term deal could prove crucial for the circuit should competition for spots on the calendar heat up over the next couple of seasons, thanks to the Australian Grand Prix being given points status, plans for The Bend in South Australia to be added to the schedule, and a desire from series bosses to expand into Asia.
The preferred SuperUtes calendar, revealed last week, indicates that Queensland Raceway is likely to retain a similar position in the 2018 Supercars schedule. Using the SuperUtes outline as a rough guide, Darwin is set to precede Townsville once again, ahead of the Queensland Raceway and Sydney Motorsport Park events.
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