The Sydney speedway community is in turmoil after it has been revealed that the entirety of the 2023-24 Eastern Creek season, scheduled to commence on Saturday week, has been cancelled.
An email sent to each division association, for categories that race at the track, advised that the entire season had indeed been cancelled.
The email contained no information surrounding reasons behind the cancellation.
It was first reported on the Sprintcar Association of NSW Facebook page, with a post stating “Unfortunately the season, which was due to begin on September 23 at Eastern Creek Speedway, has been cancelled”.
“No further details have been provided”.
Photos posted on social media as recently as yesterday show works continuing on the problematic surface which has been plagued by drainage issues since the venue opened in 2021, followed by a prolonged period of event cancellations due to the problems caused by heavy rain and subsequent saturation of the racing surface.
The issue is thought to be caused by the “saucer” design of the track, with crowd viewing areas sloping toward the racing surface without sufficient sub-surface drainage in place to deal with rainfall.
Reaction to the cancellation was swift, with racers and fans questioning the absence of an official communication from either the promoters of Eastern Creek Speedway, or the NSW Government who own the facility.
Eastern Creek Speedway was a response to public outcry when Sydney’s former home of speedway at Parramatta was resumed by the NSW Government as part of the Metro West rail Project.
A tender process selected a consortium of John/Kathy Kelly and Scott/Leonie Anderson as the initial promoters for the venue.
The original budget of $40m quickly ballooned to $80m, and it is speculated that the total figure once the rectification works are complete will be north of $100m.
The venue opened almost seven months later than originally scheduled.
The cancellation of the season is the latest in a series of setbacks for the sport in Australia following the closure of Archerfield Speedway in Brisbane, the cancellation of World Series Sprint Cars for 2023 and public clashes between promoters regarding events on the Australia Day weekend in 2025.
No official statement has been made by representatives of the NSW Government or the Promoters regarding the cancellation of the season, or any reasons surrounding the cancellation.
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