2008 home of WRC Rally Australia Revealed

[Livewireshock]

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...rom=public_rss

http://www.rallysportmag.com.au/home...=1233&Itemid=2

A new motor racing facility has been announced for Queensland, Australia, that will play host to the 2008 WRC Rally Australia. As part of a total complex combining many forms of motorsport in the one place.

Total cost of the project is reported at approx. $AU 650 Million (Half a billion Euros). The nature of the venture is to hold & run major motor racing events with out the need of any government funding from either State or Federal level.



This will include a purpose built service park soley for rallying needs according to earlier statements.

Super Special Stage plus shakedown & maybe short forestry stages possible on site.

F1 standard road circuit is to be built, hopefully by Hermann Tilke (Does anyone else design race circuits anymore????)

Stand alone drag racing strip.

Driver training & testing facilities.

Technology park for motorsport industries.

Create around 5,000 jobs in construction & afterwards.




This area, for our international friends, is between Brisbane, pop. 1.2mil, & the Gold Coast with 500,000 people. Brisbane is the state capital & the Gold Coast is Australia's answer to Miami & a tourist mecca. It currently has an eight lane freeway running right beside the site plus a commuter railway. Two international airports are within 50km. The area has several major Touring Car teams within several kilometres of the proposed site. Several driver training facilities already exist close by at Darlington Park & Mount Cotton but nothing on the scale of the new proposal.

There was a still born plan several years ago at Pimpalma, roughly the same geographical area as the i-METT proposal. This included massive 100,000 seat football & sporting stadiums as well as motor racing, all paid for by gambling revenue & pay TV rights. This never got off the ground & it is not known if any connection can be made with this new venture.

The Queensland Government is heavily supportive of motorsport with major support building Willowbank race circuit in Brisbane plus financial support for the Gold Coast Champ Car Grand Prix & V8 races. Yesterday before today's announcement, the Government announced funding for infrastructure for a street race in Townsville. Whilst no tax payer money will be given out for this new proposal, land rezoning issues would be favourable to them.

The best bit of this announcement, to me at least, is that it will only be 1 & 1/2 hours drive from my home. Roll on 2008.

[Erki]

F1 standard road circuit is to be built, hopefully by Hermann Tilke (Does anyone else design race circuits anymore????)

Oh dear, hopefully NOT!

[Livewireshock]

Oh dear, hopefully NOT!

Thus my tongue in cheek comment. Maybe Hermann will get tied up & be too busy building the rumoured race circuit at Paris' EuroDisney.

But whoever the circuit designer is, I hope they do a better job than Willowbank race circuit. It does not have the Paperclip nickname for nothing.

[AndyRAC]

What do circuit owners see in Hermann Tilke? All his circuits are bland and boring, please, please , NO,NO,NO,NO!!!
I'm surprised Ron Walker hasn't made a bid to hold Rally Australia in Melbourne, it's obviously not worth much, otherwise he would have. That's how good the WRC is then.

[Livewireshock]

What do circuit owners see in Hermann Tilke? All his circuits are bland and boring, please, please , NO,NO,NO,NO!!!
I'm surprised Ron Walker hasn't made a bid to hold Rally Australia in Melbourne, it's obviously not worth much, otherwise he would have. That's how good the WRC is then.

This new Queensland complex is trying to poach the F1GP off Melbourne. While the ARC Rally of Melbourne is on shaky ground let alone attempting to obtain Rally Australia. That is not to say they did not think of it originally when Perth dropped the bundle in the west.

[Artep]

so typical. I move to the UK so they move Rally OZ within 50km of my house.




grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

[bstrat]

This new Queensland complex is trying to poach the F1GP off Melbourne. While the ARC Rally of Melbourne is on shaky ground let alone attempting to obtain Rally Australia. That is not to say they did not think of it originally when Perth dropped the bundle in the west.

What do you mean by obataining Rally Australia. I thought Queensland had it all ready. I would be soooooooo happy if Melbourne was picked for the WRC.

[Christina]

Oh my god!!! :O hehehe! that's great!!

Guess where i might be moving? Canungara, on the side of mount tambourine, which is about 60km from Brisbane and 40km from the gold coast quite near the pacific highway. so it sounds like i'm gonna have aussie motorsport mecca on my doorstep!! *crosses fingers and hopes it happens*

[J4MIE]

Is there a proposed date for the event? Will they have to run a candidate event at all?

[bowler]

around september 2008. rally australia does not need to run a candidate event as it has had full wrc status in 2006, then dropped for one year as there was no venue for 2007.