Ipswich City Council seeking revised Supercars deal

Ipswich City Council (ICC) is seeking a revised two-year sponsorship agreement with Supercars to ensure the championship remains at Queensland Raceway until 2019.

ICC had signed a 10-year deal to host Supercars at Queensland Raceway last year which was part of a larger plan to buy back the lease of the council owned circuit operated by John Tetley.

This process has been abandoned following a change of leadership at the Council which saw the newly created Ipswich Motorsport Park company, aimed to take control of the venue, wound up.

As part of the deal, Supercars would only return to the venue once safety upgrades, costing up to $1 million, required to bring the track up to the required FIA Grade 3 licence were completed after the lease was secured.

The championship has told Speedcafe.com that it has been assured by ICC that the upgrades will be completed before this year’s event from July 20-22.

ICC is understood to be footing the bill for the improvements and in its current state the circuit fails to meet the criteria to secure a permit to host the championship.

A report from Tuesday’s City Management, Finance and Community Engagement committee meeting has confirmed that the ICC plans to negotiate a new deal with Supercars.

“With the changes to management and investment in the motorsport precinct, Council’s event agreement with Supercars required substantial adjustment to many of the agreement specifications related to commitments that could only be delivered under the envisaged owner manager model,” read the report.

“Council has been actively engaged with Supercars on this matter and has reached mutual agreement to revise the relationship as a more traditional major event sponsorship, in line with agreements between Council and Supercars in previous years.

“Council is finalising the new agreement specification to ensure maximum outcomes and leverage for the 2018 and 2019 events.

“Council’s financial commitment to the Supercars events will be consistent with previous years and the introduction of a performance based payment structure will drive increased interstate and international attendance leading to greater economic impact for the event.”

With regards to the safety improvements, ICC is yet to approve costs to implement the upgrades at the circuit.

“Negotiations between V8 Supercars and CAMS, on behalf of Council, are continuing with Council’s preferred position to be acceptance of the FIA requirements rather than those of CAMS,” the report reads.

“But ultimately Council will need to approve the cost to upgrade the track, relevant to the 2018 and 2019 event sponsorship agreement in order to ensure that the works are completed prior to the 2018 event.”