By Greg Thomson, Community Newspaper Group editor-in-chief
THE spectacle of V8 Supercar racing in WA appears to be lost forever, and the punters seem none the wiser as to why.
Talks between the owners of the national series and the WA Sporting Car Club broke down last week, with V8 Supercar bosses branding conditions at Barbagallo Raceway as “third-world”.
WA has been stripped of the traditional June round, with Ipswich in Queensland installed as the new host.
For diehard WA motor sport fans, it means an end to a truly national circuit, and the loss of a significant event on the State’ s sporting calendar.
The motor sports hierarchy is blaming the WA Sporting Car Club, saying it failed to meet a set of agreed deadlines under which a new five-year agreement needed to be signed and sealed.
The WASCC says it has done its best to negotiate, claiming that criticism of the track facilities was a side issue, with negotiations bogged down over money.
The Supercar management says the Perth event was costing them $2.5 million a year to run while their calls for redevelopment of the facilities at Barbagallo went largely unheeded.
If there is one thing both sides ought to agree on, it is that talk about the facilities at Barbagallo has gone on for long enough – the place is below par.
While the club may have felt it prudent to play hardball over the cost of hosting the event, the fact is that state governments around the country have been falling over themselves in the pursuit to attract big-dollar tourism drawcards – with subsidies and direct grants being poured into interstate tracks.
The WA State Government’s offer of $5 million to boost track facilities last year is a case of too little, too late.
With the event now lost, the State will need to pitch an all-together new concept to stand any chance of winning the event back to Perth.
Whether it is held at Barbagallo or at a new street circuit, money talks in this sport, and Perth will need to find some.